A FORMER district MP has spoken of his joy after he was knighted by the Princess Royal.

Sir Philip Davies – who held his Shipley seat, which includes Cullingworth and Denholme, for the Conservatives from 2005 until the general election earlier this year – received the honour at Windsor Castle.

Sir Philip, whose wife is former minister Esther McVey, was knighted on the recommendation of ex-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

Sir Philip said: “It was wonderful to be knighted by Princess Anne – someone I have the highest respect for – and it was a very special day at Windsor Castle with my family.

“I am especially grateful to the people of the Shipley constituency, without whose support over so many years this honour would never have happened.

“Representing them in Parliament for almost 20 years was the greatest honour of all.”

People have been sharing their views on Sir Philip’s knighthood via Facebook, and there were mixed reactions.

Kevin Hargreaves said: “Well done Philip – been a good MP for Shipley.”

Will Lister said: “Well deserved. Re-elected five times, can’t have been too bad an MP.”

But Julie Trigg said: “Please give it to someone more deserving.”

And Oswaldo Jasper said: “A great example of why the honours system needs to be abolished.”

Sir Philip was amongst 130 people recognised by Princess Anne.

It comes after a difficult time for the 52-year-old, who recently suffered a sudden heart attack.

As reported last month, he underwent a quadruple heart bypass and described the episode as “really scary”.

Sir Philip praised the NHS following his treatment in the A&E department at Wythenshawe Hospital, Manchester.

He says he is “feeling much better now” and “gradually getting back to normal”.

Labour’s Anna Dixon won the Shipley constituency from Sir Philip in the general election on July 4.

Speaking to the media after his election defeat, he said: “I take full responsibility for my defeat – I’m not going to blame anybody else. I congratulate Anna.”

Before the election, it emerged Sir Philip had placed a bet that he would lose his seat.

He said at the time: “What I’ve done isn’t against any rules, it’s not against the law – it’s a perfectly acceptable thing to do.

“If Parliament wants to pass a law saying candidates can’t bet in elections, that’s fine, and I’d abide by it. But such a law doesn’t exist currently.”