Asians shine in New Year's honours list

COMMUNITY leaders, campaigners, academics, and medics are among more than 60 British Asians who were recognised in King Charles' 2025 New Year Honours List. Ranil Malcolm Jayawardena, a Tory member of Parliament of Sri Lankan and Indian heritage, has been conferred a Knighthood for political and public service along with recently resigned England men's football team manager Gareth Southgate, for services to the game.

More than 1,200 recipients were named on the 2025 honours list across all sectors, with particular commendation to role models in sport, healthcare, academia and voluntary service.

“Every day, ordinary people go out and do extraordinary things for their communities,” said prime minister Keir Starmer. “They represent the very best of the UK and that core value of service which I put at the centre of everything this government does. The New Year Honours List celebrates more of these unsung heroes, and I thank them for their incredible contribution."

Complete list of Asian honour recipients

Knights Bachelor
Knighthood
Ranil Malcolm Jayawardena, lately MP for North East Hampshire, for political and public service (Bramley, Hampshire)

Sadiq Khan, mayor of London, for political and public service (London, Greater London)

Order of the Bath
Companions of the Order of the Bath

Jaee Kamalnath Samant CBE, director-general, public safety, Home Office, for public service
(London, Greater London)

Commanders of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)

Dr Jalal Bagherli, co-chair, semiconductor advisory panel, for services to the semiconductor sector (Woking, Surrey)

Dr Fazal Dad, principal and CEO, Blackburn College, Lancashire, for services to further education (Dudley, West Midlands)

Satwant Kaur Deol, lately principle and CEO, the Henley College, Oxfordshire, for services to further education (Maidenhead, Berkshire)

Charles Pritam Singh Dhanowa OBE KC (Hon), registrar, United Kingdom competition appeal tribunal, for services to competition law (London, Greater London)

Sehba Haroon Storey, lately principal judge, asylum support tribunal, for services to diversity and inclusion (Whyteleafe, Surrey)

Professor Sneh Khemka, surgeon, business leader, investor and chair, Qured, Habitual Healthcare and AllergyRhino, for services to healthcare, science, and innovation and technology (London, Greater London)

Leena Nair, global CEO Chanel and lately global chief human resources officer, Unilever, for services to the retail and consumer sector (London, Greater London)

Leena Nair ASUS

Mayank Prakash, president, British Computing Society, for services to the advancement of technology professionals (London, Greater London)

Purnima Murthy Tanuku OBE, chief executive, National Day Nurseries Association, for services to early years education
(Blackburn, Lancashire)

Officers of the Order of the British Empire (OBE)

Professor Sanjay Arya, medical director and consultant cardiologist, Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS
Foundation Trust, and medical director, Centre for Remediation, Support and Training, for services to black and minority ethnic
doctors and healthcare in North West England (Bolton, Greater Manchester)

Hina Bokhari, co-founder, Naz Legacy Foundation, for services to young people, charity and inter-faith relations (London, Greater London)

Professor Nandini Das, professor, early modern literature, and culture and tutorial fellow, Exeter College, University of Oxford, for
services to interdisciplinary research in the humanities and to public engagement (Oxford, Oxfordshire)

Dharshini David, chief economics correspondent, BBC and author, for services to economics (London, Greater London)

Tarsem Singh Dhaliwal, CEO, Iceland Foods, for services to the Welsh economy, retail and charity (Mold, Clwyd)

Imtiaz Dharker, poet, artist and video filmmaker, for services to the arts (London, Greater London)

Jasmine Dotiwala, for services to broadcasting, to music and to equality, diversity and inclusion (London, Greater London)

Sarwat Tasneem Ebbett, behavioural change consultant, Thrive Foundation, and volunteer, for services to faith and to integration (Oxford, Oxfordshire)

Abdul Karim Fatehi MBE, CEO, United Corporation, for services to international trade (Purley, Surrey)

Monica Kohli, president, Women’s International Shipping and Trading Association UK, and chair, Indian Maritime Association UK, for services to promoting diversity in the maritime industry (London, Greater London)

Soumya Majumdar, head of unit, Proceeds of crime division, Crown Prosecution Service, for services to law and order (Chelmsford, Essex)

Seema Misra, campaigner for subpostmasters, for services to justice (Woking, Surrey)

Seema Misra was wrongly imprisoned in 2010 after being accused of stealing £75,000 from her Post Office branch in Surrey, where she was the subpostmistress. (Photo credit: Getty Images) AFP via Getty Images

Professor Shahina Pardhan, founding director, Vision and Eye Research Institute, Anglia Ruskin University, for services to optometry and preventing blindness (Cambridge, Cambridgeshire)

Ushma Manhar Patel MBE, prime minister’s diary manager, Prime Minister’s Office, for public service (London, Greater London)

Gian Singh Power, founder and CEO, TLC Lions, for services to mental health (London, Greater London)

Sravya Rao, deputy director, economy and strategic analysis, Department for Business and Trade, for public service (London, Greater London)

Ubaid-ul Rehman, senior diversity and inclusion advisor, College of Policing, and co-founder, Imaan and chair, Goslings Badminton
Club, for services to equality in the LGBTQ+ community (Watford, Hertfordshire)

Mandeep Kaur Sanghera, project manager and philanthropist, Coventry, for services to refugee resettlement (Coventry, West Midlands)

Savraj Singh Sidhu, assistant head, Ukraine Task Force, Security Policy and Operations, Ministry of Defence, for services to defence (London, Greater London)

Smruti Sriram, CEO, Supreme Creations (Bags of Ethics), for services to fashion (London, Greater London)

Professor Zaheer Raza Yousef, consultant cardiologist, University Hospital of Wales, for services to the treatment of heart failure (Penarth, South Glamorgan)

Members of the Order of the British Empire (MBE)

Usman Ali, social mobility ambassador, Ministry of Justice, Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangement, HM Prison and Probation Service, for services to the public and to the civil service (Bradford, West Yorkshire)

Shagufta Parveen Asam, foster carer, London borough of Redbridge, for services to foster care (London, Greater London)

Dalim Kumar Basu, honorary chair and volunteer, British Computer Society, North, Central and South London Branches, for services to young people and the promotion of science and technology (London, Greater London)

Mohammed Younis Chaudhry, owner and founder, Regal Food Products Plc, for services to business and to the community in Bradford (Bradford, West Yorkshire)

Marimouttou Coumarassamy, deputy COO, Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health, NHS Foundation Trust, and founder and chair, British Indian Nurse Association, for services to supporting international nurses (Birmingham, West Midlands)

Professor Bhaskar Dasgupta, consultant rheumatologist, Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, for services to people
with giant cell arteritis and polymyalgia rheumatica (Westcliffon-Sea, Essex).

Fazilet Hadi, head of policy, disability rights UK, for services to promoting the interests of disabled people (Letchworth, Hertfordshire)

Rabiyah Kauser Latif, Near Neighbours coordinator, Thrive Together Birmingham, for services to faith and community cohesion (Walsall, West Midlands)

Ahsan Zameer Rafeeq, deputy head, international marketing, Department for Business and Trade, for services to investment
and marketing (London, Greater London)

Ishaque Benny Aslam Rafiqi, founder, Let’s Feed Brum and Tabor House, for services to tackling homelessness and to the community in Birmingham and the West Midlands (Bromsgrove, Worcestershire)

Salma Bibi Ravat, CEO, One Roof Leicester, for services to tackling homelessness (Leicester, Leicestershire)

Soma Sara, founder, Everyone’s Invited, for services to the eradication of sexual abuse against women (London, Greater London)

Imran Hussain Shah, chair, Police Independent Advisory Group and community leader, West Yorkshire Police, for services to policing and to the community in West Yorkshire (Leeds, West Yorkshire)

Aman Sharma, CEO, Totus Digital, for services to building and fire safety (Richmond, Greater London)

Professor Ajay Jaikishore Vora, lately consultant paediatric haematologist, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust, for services to childhood leukaemia (London, Greater London)

Chandni Kalpesh Vora, COO, Vascroft Contractors Ltd, for services to business and charity (London, Greater London)

Medallists of the Order of the British Empire

Aisha Younis Abdus Samad, Short Breaks carer, Slough Children First, Berkshire, for services to children and young people
with SEND (Slough, Berkshire)

Kamran Ishaq Abdus Samad, Short Breaks carer, Slough Children First, Berkshire, for services to children and young people
with SEND (Slough, Berkshire)

Mirza Khudadad Ahmed, immigration officer, Home Office, for public service (Birmingham, West Midlands)

Nazim Ali, founder, Creating Smiles Hospital Gifts Initiative, for services to charity and to homeless and vulnerable people in Bradford, West Yorkshire (Bradford, West Yorkshire)

Sanjib Bhattacharjee, for services to the community in the London boroughs of Newham, Redbridge and Waltham Forest
(London, Greater London)

Mohammad Fayyaz, councillor, Chesham Town Council and Buckinghamshire Council, for services to the community in
Chesham (Chesham, Buckinghamshire)

Hemandra Hindocha, postmaster, Westcotes Post Office, for services to the Post Office and to the community in the Midlands (Leicester, Leicestershire)

Enoch Kanagaraj, founder, One Vision and vice-chair, Hertfordshire County Interfaith, for services to charity and to the community in Hertfordshire (Dunstable, Bedfordshire)

Jaswinder Kumar, president, management committee of Sri Guru Ravidass Sabha Bedford, for charitable services in Bedford (Bedford, Bedfordshire)

Safeena Karen Mohammed, foster carer, Warwickshire County Council, for services to foster care (Coventry, Warwickshire)

Preshanthi Devarani Navaratnam, executive assistant, Department for Education, for public, voluntary and charitable service (Doncaster, South Yorkshire)

Asma Pandor, lead Admiral nurse, Dementia UK, Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, for services to nursing (Gloucester, Gloucestershire)

Kasim Mohamed Sharifi, foster carer, Warwickshire County Council, for services to foster care (Coventry, Warwickshire)

Balbir Singh (Balbir Singh Khanpur Bhujhangy), musician, for services to bhangra music and Punjabi culture in the West Midlands (Smethwick, West Midlands)

Overseas and international MBE

Sakeena Alam, deputy head, Counter Terrorism Department, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, for services to British nationals overseas

BEM

Nalini Sadai, head, murder and manslaughter case team, Consular Directorate, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development
Office, for services to British nationals overseas.