Boris Johnson’s long-awaited resignation honours list has been released, with the former prime minister handing peerages to key allies.

Former cabinet ministers Jacob Rees-Mogg and Priti Patel were given a knighthood and a damehood respectively.

Former co-chairman of the Conservative Party Ben Elliot and William Lewis, a political adviser to Mr Johnson, are also in line to become knights bachelors.

The former head of operations at No 10, Shelley Williams-Walker, will also receive a damehood, along with Mr Johnson’s former personal assistant, Ann Sindall.

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Former culture secretary Nadine Dorries and Sir Alok Sharma, president of the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow, were absent from the list, following reports the Government cut them at the 11th hour to swerve potentially damaging by-elections in their seats.

But Ms Dorries earlier announced she was standing down as an MP “with immediate effect”, triggering an early election battle in her Mid Bedfordshire constituency.

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Downing Street appeared to try to distance Rishi Sunak from Boris Johnson’s resignation honours list.

The Prime Minister’s press secretary said: “As is convention, the Prime Minister forwarded the former Prime Minister’s peerage list to Holac unaltered.

“Holac then passed back their approved list.

“The Prime Minister then accepted Holac’s approved list and forwarded it unamended to the Sovereign for their approval.

“He had no involvement or input into the approved list.

“It is a point of fact that it is made public by the Commission if a Prime Minister overrules the Commission’s advice.”

Labour’s Angela Rayner called the resignation honours list a “sickening insult”.

The deputy leader said: “Instead of tackling the cost-of-living crisis, the Tories are spending their time doling out rewards for those who tried to cover up rule-breaking and toadied to a disgraced former prime minister.

“It’s a sickening insult that those who planned Covid parties and held boozy lockdown bashes while families were unable to mourn loved ones are now set to be handed gongs by Rishi Sunak.

“As Boris Johnson faces yet more allegations and investigations about his conduct, the privilege of an honours list is spectacularly ill-judged and wholly undeserved.

“It’s shameful that Rishi Sunak has failed to stand up to his former boss’s outrageous demands and agreed to hand out prizes to this carousel of cronies.

“He promised integrity, but this weak Prime Minister is once again showing his appalling judgement by doing Boris Johnson’s bidding.”