Conor Burns, who was sacked from the Conservative Party yesterday due to a "serious misconduct" complaint, appears set to receive a knighthood in Boris Johnson’s resignation honours list.
The Times reported that Burns is "among a handful of loyalist MPs expected to be honoured by the former prime minister".
Prime Minister Liz Truss is thought to be unable to block the nomination, the newspaper also reported.
Burns had held the position of Minister of State for Trade Policy in Liz Truss's Government, but has now had the whip suspended.
This is pending an investigation into “allegations of inappropriate behaviour” earlier this week at the Conservative party conference in Birmingham.
A No 10 spokesperson said yesterday: “Following a complaint of serious misconduct, the Prime Minister has asked Conor Burns MP to leave the Government with immediate effect.
“The Prime Minister took direct action on being informed of this allegation and is clear that all ministers should maintain the high standards of behaviour – as the public rightly expects.”
1/3 Earlier I received a call from the Chief Whip Wendy Morton. Ms Morton informed me that a complaint had been received about me and she had passed it to Conservative Campaign Headquarters to investigate. I was not given any information about the complaint nor was I asked to
— Conor Burns (@ConorBurnsUK) October 7, 2022
In a tweet responding to this Burns said that he "look forward to clearing my name" and that he hoped the party would be quick to conduct an enquiry into the situation as they were to "rush to judgement".
What are resignation honours?
According to The Gazette website, resignation honours are "are honours granted at the behest of an outgoing UK Prime Minister following his/her resignation."
It went on: "In such a list, a Prime Minister may request the reigning monarch to grant peerages, knighthoods, damehoods or other awards in the British honours system to any number of people."
The list is sent to the Cabinet Office for propriety checks, with peerages sent to the House of Lords Appointments Commission for vetting.
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