Former Communities Secretary Eric Pickles is set to be knighted for his service to local government.
Conservative politician, Mr Pickles, who first became the MP for Brentwood and Ongar in 1992, will be made a Knight Bachelor in recognition of his service as an MP and a Cabinet Minister, Number 10 Downing Street announced this afternoon.
Mr Pickles served as the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government from 2010 until last week.
He also served as Chairman of the Conservative Party from 2009 to 2010.
The news that Mr Pickles would not be retained as a member of David Cameron’s new Conservative cabinet was announced on May 11.
The loss of the frontbench role was a result of the Prime Minister’s ongoing reshuffle after forming a majority Conservative government on May 8.
Mr Pickles, who will be replaced by Greg Clark, MP for Royal Tunbridge Wells, won with 59 per cent of the votes, a total of 30,534, in the 2015 general election.
Taking to Twitter, the future Sir Eric Pickles said he was "very pleased" after The Queen approved the decision to knight him.
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