The Foreign Office minister Tobias Ellwood, who battled to save the life of a police officer in the Westminster terror attack, and the security minister, Ben Wallace, have been honoured for their roles in responding to the atrocity.
Downing Street announced that the Queen was “pleased” to approve the appointment of Ellwood and Wallace to the privy council.
Ellwood, ran towards gunfire to help PC Keith Palmer, who was stabbed in the attack, while Wallace helped coordinate the government’s response.
The pair will now be entitled to be referred to as “right honourable” and receive top-secret national security briefings as members of the privy council. It is mainly composed of senior politicians, but includes some bishops and judges, and has advised the monarch since the Norman era.
Theresa May praised the “extraordinary” bravery of Ellwood in her House of Commons statement on Thursday. The former soldier was pictured with blood on his face and clothes as he tried to give Palmer mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and stem the blood amid the carnage in New Palace Yard on Wednesday, but the officer died from his injuries.
The Bournemouth East MP’s bravery was praised by many colleagues, who had gathered in the Commons chamber to listen and respond to the prime minister’s statement on the terror attack. But Ellwood, whose brother Jonathan was killed in the 2002 Bali terrorist bombing, shook his head as a fellow MP called for him to be recognised in the honours list.
