‘Arise, Sir Frank Spencer!’ Gavin Williamson’s getting a knighthood – 21 A* responses

Anyone who has even vaguely followed the news since about, ooh, 2016, will have learned by now not to be too surprised by anything anymore.

And yet there was still something about the announcement that Boris Johnson is to gift former education (and foreign) secretary Gavin Williamson a knighthood that made the jaw drop just a little bit lower than usual.

Gavin Williamson, who was sacked by Theresa May over allegations of leaking information from a National Security Council meeting and then sacked by Boris Johnson after presiding over the exams and school closure fiascos, given a knighthood for his services to the nation.

— Adam Bienkov (@AdamBienkov) March 3, 2022

Here’s deputy prime minister Dominic Raab doing his best to explain why Williamson deserved it.

‘Does he deserve the honour?’

Dominic Raab says Gavin Williamson does deserve to be awarded a knighthood ‘in recognition of the service he’s given’. pic.twitter.com/Bft54Bj3yZ

— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) March 4, 2022

And here’s exactly what people made of his knighthood.

1.

Confusion over exams at the start of lockdown. No proper transition to home learning. Children without laptops. Thousands dropped out of education. The algorithm destroyed Uni places. Gap between state and private widened. How does that get rewarded like this? https://t.co/M1zOKf01wR

— Susanna Reid (@susannareid100) March 3, 2022

2.

https://twitter.com/BorisJohnson_MP/status/1499469483391520782?s=20&t=kZYUhv9d5IRMSme_SIuzfw

3.

https://twitter.com/liamyoung/status/1499441589697011720?s=20&t=kZYUhv9d5IRMSme_SIuzfw

4.

Clive Myrie is the one who should be getting a knighthood.

— Chris Bryant (@RhonddaBryant) March 3, 2022

5.

Knighthood for Sir Gavin Williamson announced to keep his mouth shut about Boris Johnson.

— Kevin Maguire (@Kevin_Maguire) March 3, 2022

6.

Worried that saying Arise Sir Gavin Williamson may cause her to die. From laughing. https://t.co/4liMUrDWaA

— David Baddiel (@Baddiel) March 3, 2022

7.

https://twitter.com/paul__johnson/status/1499435955165478913?s=20&t=kZYUhv9d5IRMSme_SIuzfw

8.

Convince people you deserve a knighthood simply by being totally fucking shit at your job.

— Nick Harvey (@mrnickharvey) March 3, 2022

9.

‘Lord’ Ian Botham
‘Sir’ Gavin Williamson

Boris Johnson degrades all our nation’s honours to the point whereby more people just want to throw the whole rotten system out.

— Mike Galsworthy (@mikegalsworthy) March 3, 2022

10.

Let's not be too hasty. He'll have to find Buckingham Palace first.https://t.co/hx71h6Qna8

— @[email protected] (@mrchrisaddison) March 3, 2022

11.

It's a cuntocracy, it really is https://t.co/qCq5NkmIev

— John Harris (@johnharris1969) March 3, 2022