King’s Birthday Honours 2023: Every person in Leeds and West Yorkshire recognised by the King

Adil Rashid, who is being awarded an MBE, was a two-time cricket World Cup winner in 2019 and 2022. He is England's highest wicket-taker among spin bowlers in both One Day Internationals and Twenty20 Internationals, and England second-highest wicket-taker in Twenty20 Internationals overall behind Chris Jordan.

Along with Jos Buttler, he holds the world record for highest seventh-wicket stand in One Day Internationals: 177 against New Zealand in 2015. Rashid made his England debut in 2009 during the World Twenty20 Internationals, playing in all four of England's games.

James Simpson, who is also being honoured with an MBE, lost both his legs after tripping an IED while serving in Afghanistan in 2009. He began playing Wheelchair Rugby League with Leeds Rhinos in 2013 and has been a mainstay of their emergence as a dominant club, with three consecutive Challenge Cup wins in 2019, 2021 and 2022 - and has been established in the England squad since the 2017 Rugby League World Cup.

The England Wheelchair Rugby League won the World Cup for the second time in 2021. It was the first World Cup where the Wheelchair tournament was played simultaneously with the Men’s and Women’s tournament, and all players received equal participation fees and prize money. Anecdotally, a number of Wheelchair Rugby League clubs have seen high numbers of new joiners as a result of the England team’s performance in the tournament. After years of campaigning to promote wheelchair rugby, Simpson is now focusing on coaching.

The honours list also includes Suzanne Rappaport-Ripton, who is being awarded a BEM. Her parents were arrested by the Gestapo in 1942 as she was saved by a fast-thinking neighbour who pretended to be her mother. She has worked with the BBC on two different programmes about her childhood: The Hidden Children in 2006, and Children of the Holocaust in 2015.

Martin Kapel, who is also being honoured a BEM, was arrested with his family by the Nazis, only to be abandoned somewhere in Poland. With his sister, he was granted a place on a Kindertransport. He later became a lecturer in Chemistry at Leeds University, a position he held for 35 years. He has given his testimony on the Holocaust and has shared his experience for the education of others.

Here is every person from Leeds and West Yorkshire to be recognised in the King’s Birthday Honours List 2023:

Members of the Order of the British Empire (MBE)

Adil Rashid, 35. Cricket World Cup winner. For services to Cricket. (West Yorkshire)

James Simpson, 36. Rugby League World Cup winner. For services to Wheelchair Rugby League. (West Yorkshire)

Rizwana Mahmood-Ahmed, 52. Headteacher, Carlton Junior and Infants School, Dewsbury. For services to Education. (Dewsbury)

Nigel Sylvester Guy, 57. Director, Windrush Generations UK. For services to the Windrush Generation. (West Yorkshire)

Susan Taylor, 66. Chair, British Amateur Rugby League Association and Vice President, Rugby Football League. For services to Rugby League Football. (West Yorkshire)

Medallists of the Order of the British Empire (BEM)

Katy Merrington, 39. Cultural Gardener, The Hepworth Wakefield. For services to the Arts and to the community in Wakefield, West Yorkshire. (Wakefield)

Perminderjeet (Pam) Kaur Banwait, 40. Founder and managing director of Banwait Group Holdings, which owns and operates Strong Life Care Ltd. (Wakefield)

Tracey (Tee) Sandra Tatum, 47. Lately Manager, Mill View Care Home, Bradford, West Yorkshire. For Services to People with Dementia. (West Yorkshire)

Lynva Jane Russell, 66. Co-founder and trustee of environmental charity River Holme Connection. For services to the Environment in West Yorkshire. (West Yorkshire)

Andrew Michael Green, 67. Physical Education Teacher, New College Pontefract, West Yorkshire. For services to Sport and to Education. (West Yorkshire)

Kathleen Margaret Evans, 76. Chair, Leeds Lieder. For services to the Arts. (West Yorkshire)

Suzanne Rappaport-Ripton, 86. First Chair of the Holocaust Survivors’ Friendship Association. For services to Holocaust Education and Remembrance. (West Yorkshire)

Martin Kapel, 93. A Vice-Chair of the Holocaust Survivors’ Friendship Association for over 10 years. For services to Holocaust Education and Remembrance. (West Yorkshire)