Boris gives parting honor to hairdresser

The most surprising part about Boris Johnson’s honors list, which allows him to approve lifetime peerages and other awards for his allies, is that he has included his hairdresser. That’s right, the famous blonde mop isn’t just something that he wakes up with, but rather an intentional look crafted by House of Commons hairdresser Kelly Jo Dodge, who is set to get a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) from the former UK prime minister. Johnson is standing down as a Member of Parliament after receiving a report into “Partygate” scandal.

The honors announcement, needless to say, has turned heads. It was approved by British prime minister Rishi Sunak on Friday, along with almost forty honors and seven peerages. Sunak has just returned from a brief trip to the United States, where he had a bilateral meeting with President Biden and didn’t throw out the first pitch at a Washington Nationals game.

A pair of Johnson political aides, Ross Kempsell and Charlotte Owen, will become two of the youngest members of the House of Lords. Johnson also gave a knighthood to Ben Elliot, the former chair of the Conservative Party, and Jacob Rees-Mogg MP (who will be profiled in the forthcoming July issue of The Spectator World).

While Cockburn understands that a good hairstylist is hard to find, he did wonder why Ms. Dodge was awarded the OBE, which is usually set aside for contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organizations and public service outside the civil service. Then again, perhaps the honors indicate the respect and familiarity Boris maintained with Commons staff and his aides. After all, he always was a man of the people.

While Cockburn isn’t knocking Ms. Dodge for her hard work as the long-serving manager of Parliament’s in-house hair salon, he’s not totally convinced that it constitutes being made a Member of the Order of the British Empire…