Appointment to the Order of the Companions of Honour
Honour to recognise Lord Strathclyde's longstanding public service to the country.
The Queen has been pleased to appoint the Rt Hon the Lord Strathclyde to the Order of the Companions of Honour.
Notes to editors
Companions of Honour
The Order of the Companions of Honour is conferred on people for recognised services of national importance, for a pre-eminent and sustained contribution in the arts, science, medicine or government.
It confers no Knighthood or other title or status, but recipients are entitled to use the post-nominal letters “CH”.
The Order was instituted in 1917 by George V at the same time as the Order of the British Empire was founded. The Order of CH consists of the Sovereign and 65 members.
The Rt Hon the Lord Strathclyde
Lord Strathclyde entered the House of Lords in 1986, and was a member of the Conservative front bench for 25 years. From 1988 to 1994 he served as a Minister in a number of government departments, including the Scottish Office and the DTI, where he was Minister for Small Firms.
In 1994 he became Lords Chief Whip. He has been a Privy Counsellor since 1995. He continued as Chief Whip into Opposition in 1997 - joining the Shadow Cabinet - until his appointment as Leader of the Opposition in the House of Lords in 1998.
Lord Strathclyde was appointed Leader of the House of Lords and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster after the general election in 2010. As well as being Leader of the House of Lords he was also Leader of the Conservative Party in the House of Lords and sat in the Cabinet.