Sir Lindsay Hoyle honoured with academic fellowship by UCLan

Today (Friday 17), the Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle MP, was honoured with academic fellowship by the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan.)

Sir Lindsay received the prestigious academic award at a graduation ceremony held in the Sir Tom Finney Sports Centre this afternoon, in recognition of the significant contribution he has made to politics and to the UK Parliament.

During his career history, Sir Lindsay served as a Labour Councillor on Chorley Borough Council between 1980 and 1998, including spells as Deputy Leader and Mayor of Chorley, before being elected as the town’s MP in 1997.

He has since won Chorley’s General Election seat a total of seven times, and was elected to the highest authority of Speaker of the House of Commons in 2019.

Sir Lindsay said: "I'm from Lancashire, then went to Westminster, and then become speaker of the house, so to get recognition of that today was fantastic, very moving for me, especially because it is a Lancashire university, because it's also great recognition, not just for me, but the whole of Lancashire.

It's all about Lancashire, I've been working very hard to secure more jobs for Lancashire, and playing the ambassador role for Lancashire, and part of that, of course, is the university, so that's why it's a privilege and a complete honour to have the fellowship bestowed on me. But of course, how could I walk away without not giving something back to them, some time and whatever they need going forward.

"It's a wonderful job to be Speaker, but to be a speaker from Lancashire, to be able to promote and ensure the voice of Lancashire is heard around the world, that's an absolute privilege for me, because the one thing I never shy away from is my roots."

Sir Lindsay was joined in his ceremony this morning by UCLan 2020 and 2021 graduates from the School of Dentistry and the School of Sport and Health Sciences.

In his message to those graduating today, Lindsay said: "I cannot thank them enough for allowing me to share what is their day. They have come through the most difficult of times, so to pick up their degrees today, is absolutely amazing, and I wish them well in the future. If you can get your degree through times like this then the future is bright for you, so I'm very privileged, as I say, to be able to share part of the wonderful day with them."

As well as Sir Lindsay Hoyle MP, former UCLan Vice-Chancellor Dr Malcolm McVicar also received an honorary award this week.

Dr Malcom McVicar, who was at the helm of the Institution between 1998 and 2013, received an Honorary Doctorate on Wednesday 15 December in recognition of his outstanding achievements in the higher education sector.

During his 15 years in charge, Malcolm accelerated the growth of student numbers and oversaw the expansion of the Preston Campus, along with creating UCLan’s Burnley and Cyprus Campuses.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Graham Baldwin said: “I’m absolutely delighted we are officially recognising two outstanding people who have contributed so much to our area.

“Sir Lindsay has served the people of Chorley with distinction during nearly 25 years as the town’s MP and he is now bringing order to the House of Commons in his prestigious role as Speaker.

“I was fortunate to be a Deputy Vice-Chancellor for a number of years when Malcolm was at the helm and it was great to work alongside him and see how passionate he was about giving every student, no matter of their background, an opportunity to succeed. His determination to make UCLan a name on the national and international stage is why we’re so well thought of across the world and he was a huge driver in creating world-class facilities at all our campuses.”

Both honoury graduates joined around 2,500 students who took to the stage, in the Sir Tom Finney Sports Centre, between 13 and 17 December, with post-event celebrations taking place inside the new multi-million-pound student centre

The ceremonies were also live streamed via the university’s YouTube channel to ensure family and friends around the world can witness the special occasion.