New Year Honours 2026
Samantha Des Forges CBE
Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)
Director • Conduct
“For services to Equity and Justice in Defence.”
Timeline
Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)
For services to Equity and Justice in Defence.
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London Gazette notice
Order of the British Empire
Civil Division
Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood
St. James’s Palace, London SW1
30 December 2025
THE KING has been graciously pleased to give orders for the following promotions in, and appointments to, the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire:
C.B.E.
To be Ordinary Commanders of the Civil Division of the said Most Excellent Order:
Samantha Louise DES FORGES
Director, Conduct, Equity and Justice, Ministry of Defence
For services to Equity and Justice in Defence.
Source: The London Gazette, issue 64940 · Crown copyright, Open Government Licence v3.0
Location
See other people honoured from St Albans →
Location comes from the Cabinet Office / gov.uk published honours list, not the Gazette notice, and isn’t available for every honour.
In context
Each honour in context
Role, region and citation as recorded for each award.
Commander of the Order of the British Empire
New Year Honours 2026- Role at the time
- Director, Conduct
- Region
- St Albans, Hertfordshire
“For services to Equity and Justice in Defence.”
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New Year Honours 2026
Samantha Des Forges
Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)
“For services to Equity and Justice in Defence.”
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New Year Honours 2026
Samantha Des Forges
Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)
“For services to Equity and Justice in Defence.”
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New Year Honours 2026
Samantha Des Forges
Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)
“For services to Equity and Justice in Defence.”
Print · from £5.99
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In context
The bigger picture
How common is this award?
The Commander of the Order of the British Empire was awarded 103 times in the New Year Honours List 2026 — about 7% of the list.
In their area
36 Commander of the Order of the British Empire recipients are from Hertfordshire.
What organisation were they with?
Director, Conduct.
How widely is this recognised?
981 people have been recognised for Defence & Armed Forces.
Counts reflect the 2000–2026 honours lists in our records; earlier years are not yet included.
Honoured alongside them
Others awarded the Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the New Year Honours 2026
Adrian Burns
PersonCommander Of The Order Of The British Empire · 2026
Alexandra Mahon
PersonCommander Of The Order Of The British Empire · 2026
London, Greater London
“For services to Broadcasting and Diversity.”
Alice Coote
PersonCommander Of The Order Of The British Empire · 2026
Suffolk
“For services to the Arts.”
Andrew Mcnaughton
PersonCommander Of The Order Of The British Empire · 2026
Truro, Cornwall
“For services to National Infrastructure.”
Andrew Scott
PersonCommander Of The Order Of The British Empire · 2026
London, Greater London
“For services to Economics.”
Angela Salt
PersonCommander Of The Order Of The British Empire · 2026
London, Greater London
“For services to Girlguiding.”
Ann Mcneill
PersonCommander Of The Order Of The British Empire · 2026
London, Greater London
“For services to Research into Addiction and Mental Health.”
Antony Travers
PersonCommander Of The Order Of The British Empire · 2026
London, Greater London
“For Public Service.”
Buffini
PersonCommander Of The Order Of The British Empire · 2026
Weybridge, Surrey
“For services to Philanthropy and to Young People.”
Catherine Francis
PersonCommander Of The Order Of The British Empire · 2026
Buckhurst Hill, Essex
“For Public Service.”
Cathryn Riley
PersonCommander Of The Order Of The British Empire · 2026
Staines-Upon-Thames, Surrey
“For services to Business Leadership and Inclusion.”
Christopher Ordway
PersonCommander Of The Order Of The British Empire · 2026
Claire Burgess
PersonCommander Of The Order Of The British Empire · 2026
Pershore, Worcestershire
“For services to Children’s Social Care.”
Colin Booth
PersonCommander Of The Order Of The British Empire · 2026
Newton Aycliffe, County Durham
“For services to Further Education.”
Daniel Levy
PersonCommander Of The Order Of The British Empire · 2026
Potters Bar, Hertfordshire
“For services to Charity and the community in Tottenham.”
David Garbutt
PersonCommander Of The Order Of The British Empire · 2026
Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh
“For services to the Health and Social Care Sector.”
David James Bickers
PersonCommander Of The Order Of The British Empire · 2026
David Kemp
PersonCommander Of The Order Of The British Empire · 2026
Hatfield, Hertfordshire
“For services to Auditory Sciences and Public Health.”
Deborah Jones
PersonCommander Of The Order Of The British Empire · 2026
Banbury, Oxfordshire
“For services to Children, Young People and Families.”
Debra Gray
PersonCommander Of The Order Of The British Empire · 2026
Dronfield, Derbyshire
“For services to Further Education.”
Dhruv Patel
PersonCommander Of The Order Of The British Empire · 2026
London, Greater London
“For services to Civic Leadership and to Charity.”
Dorothea Hodge
PersonCommander Of The Order Of The British Empire · 2026
London, Greater London
“For Parliamentary and Political Service.”
Edward Baker
PersonCommander Of The Order Of The British Empire · 2026
London, Greater London
“For services to Healthcare.”
Edward Holder
PersonCommander Of The Order Of The British Empire · 2026
London, Greater London
“For services to Defence.”
In the same field
Others recognised for Defence & Armed Forces
Across the 2000–2026 honours lists in our records, 981 people have been recognised for Defence & Armed Forces. See the full list →
John Peel
PersonBritish Empire Medal · 2026
Bideford, Devon
“For voluntary service to the Royal Marines, the Royal Marines Charity and the Veteran Community.”
Martin Kinsey
PersonBritish Empire Medal · 2026
Diss, Norfolk
“For services to Military Personnel and their Families.”
Scott Caswell
PersonBritish Empire Medal · 2026
Leamington Spa, Warwickshire
“For services to Policing and to Veterans.”
Andrew Burden
PersonBritish Empire Medal · 2026
Grimsby, Lincolnshire
“For services to Defence, to Veterans and to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and Maritime Safety.”
Richard Boswell
PersonBritish Empire Medal · 2026
Wallington, Hampshire
“For services to Flood Defence.”
Donna Armstrong
PersonBritish Empire Medal · 2026
Lochwinnoch, Renfrewshire
“For services to Veterans and to the community in Renfrewshire.”
Roderick Wood
PersonMember Of The Order Of The British Empire · 2026
Inverness, Inverness-shire
“For services to Youth, to Veterans and to the community in the Highlands.”
Frederick Stewart
PersonMember Of The Order Of The British Empire · 2026
Larne, County Antrim
“For services to Military History in Northern Ireland.”
Heather Spence
PersonMember Of The Order Of The British Empire · 2026
Ware, Hertfordshire
“For voluntary services to Veterans.”
Mark Rowlands
PersonMember Of The Order Of The British Empire · 2026
Portishead, Somerset
“For services to Defence.”
Pandora Reilly
PersonMember Of The Order Of The British Empire · 2026
London, Greater London
“For services to Defence.”
Helen Ralph
PersonMember Of The Order Of The British Empire · 2026
London, Greater London
“For services to Defence.”
Margaret Pedder
PersonMember Of The Order Of The British Empire · 2026
Caldicot, Gwent
“For services to Armed Forces Families.”
Alexandria Page
PersonMember Of The Order Of The British Empire · 2026
London, Greater London
“For services to Defence.”
Michael Murray
PersonMember Of The Order Of The British Empire · 2026
London, Greater London
“For services to the Armed Forces Community in London.”
Duncan Macdonald
PersonMember Of The Order Of The British Empire · 2026
London, Greater London
“For services to Defence.”
Steven Lord
PersonMember Of The Order Of The British Empire · 2026
Plymouth, Devon
“For services to Defence.”
Roger Lewis
PersonMember Of The Order Of The British Empire · 2026
Penarth, South Glamorgan
“For voluntary services to Service Personnel and Veterans.”
Heather Harrison
PersonMember Of The Order Of The British Empire · 2026
Stockport, Greater Manchester
“For services to Defence.”
Nicholas Goddard
PersonMember Of The Order Of The British Empire · 2026
Chichester, West Sussex
“For services to Defence.”
Andrew Cooper
PersonMember Of The Order Of The British Empire · 2026
Coventry, West Midlands
“For services to Manufacturing and to Defence.”
Anne Carr
PersonMember Of The Order Of The British Empire · 2026
Southampton, Hampshire
“For services to Royal Navy and Royal Marines Personnel and Veterans.”
Stewart Booth
PersonMember Of The Order Of The British Empire · 2026
Tadley, Hampshire
“For services to Defence.”
Samuel Boardman
PersonMember Of The Order Of The British Empire · 2026
Hereford, Herefordshire
“For services to Defence.”
Source & provenance
Where this record comes from
Commander of the Order of the British Empire · 2026
London Gazette (official record), issue 64940, notice 5027585. View the official notice ↗
Cabinet Office / gov.uk published honours list (New Year Honours List 2026).
Published 29 December 2025.
Location (St Albans, Hertfordshire) comes from the Cabinet Office / gov.uk published honours list, not the Gazette notice, which records no recipient home location.
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