A well-deserved award for the phlegmatic Mr Evans but Arnott is overlooked again

Congratulations to Matthew Evans, awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list announced last night.

A councillor in Newport, Wales, since 1999, Matthew was leader of the city council from 2008-12 and mayor in 2014/15.

Many people who achieve such positions retire from public life when their period in office is over, but Matthew continues to serve his local community.

Leader of Newport City Council’s Conservative group since 2003, he has also stood for Parliament on a number of occasions including twice last year (by-election and general election).

How do I know him? Well, as a smoker, Matthew has been to several events organised by Forest on the Conservative conference fringe.

He’s also been a guest at one or two London events, including our 40th anniversary dinner.

Last year, when I was on my way to Cardiff on business, I visited him at his home in Newport and there, in his garden, was a Forest ashtray, a relic of our campaign against the smoking ban 15 years earlier.

I can’t tell you how thrilled I was to see it still being put to good use!

Anyway, Matthew‘s award is well deserved. Not only has he dedicated much of his life to helping his local community (something I greatly admire) but from what I know of him he is also the embodiment of something we are in danger of losing from public life - the phlegmatic British character (by which I mean calm, composed and not easily excited to displays of emotion).

While all around them are complaining, blaming, or otherwise losing their heads, the phlegmatic Brit just gets on with things, looking for solutions while making the best of it.

Meanwhile, what does Deborah Arnott have to do to get a gong?

The CEO of ASH has been in post since 2003. In July 2006 she appeared to take personal credit for engineering the smoking ban which politicians and public health campaigners insist has made a significant contribution to public health.

Since then she has been at the forefront of just about every anti-smoking law including plain packaging and the ban on smoking in cars with children, and still no recognition.

Why?

It’s not as if anti-smoking campaigners are being ignored. As I have noted previously, several of Deborah’s contemporaries have already beaten a path to the Palace.

Fiona Andrews, director of Smokefree South West, and Andrea Crossfield, director of Tobacco Free Futures (formerly Smokefree North West), each received an MBE.

Ironically, both groups subsequently closed.

Meanwhile Ailsa Rutter of Fresh North East became the proud recipient of an OBE.

Thankfully, Deborah is not alone. That other ray of sunshine, Sheila Duffy, chief executive of ASH Scotland since 2008, has also been overlooked for an award despite the fact that her predecessor Maureen Moore was given an OBE.

Truly, it’s a mystery.

Above: Matthew Evans (second left) at Forest’s 40th anniversary dinner in London last year