New Year Honours: Andrew RT Davies becomes a CBE

Andrew RT Davies is a Conservative Assembly Member for South Wales Central

Former Welsh Conservatives leader Andrew RT Davies has become a CBE in the Queen's New Year Honours list.

He led the party in Wales between 2011 and 2018, with the honour recognising his political and public service.

Rhian Mannings, who set up a charity to help bereaved families after she lost her baby son and husband within days of each other, has been made an MBE.

And Cardiff councillor Jayne Cowan, who has served for 20 years, has been appointed MBE.

A Holocaust survivor and a police officer who was stabbed by a fleeing drug dealer have also been recognised.

South Wales Central AM Mr Davies said being appointed CBE was "a huge surprise" and "very humbling".

"I'm by no means done yet and this award only inspires me to continue standing up for my constituents, promoting the important causes that are closest to me, and ensuring we deliver a better future for people and communities right across Wales," he added. 

Mr Davies was leader of the Conservative group in the Welsh Assembly at the time of the 2016 referendum on Europe, in which he backed Brexit while the then prime minister David Cameron campaigned to remain in the EU.

• Wales' New Year Honours round-up

• Honours for Newton-John and England cricketers

Rhian Mannings set up a charity to help others after her one-year-old son George died in February 2012 following a seizure at home. It was later discovered he had been suffering from pneumonia and Type A influenza.

Her husband Paul Burke, 33, took his own life five days later while suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Ms Mannings, from Miskin, near Cardiff, who went on to set up 2 Wish Upon A Star to help bereaved families, said she "so proud to have been given this honour".

But she added: "Every recognition I get is bitter sweet. I would send it back in a heartbeat if I could bring back my boys and change the past."

Nicholas Cann cycled 108 miles from Cardiff to Tenby after suffering a stroke

Nicholas Cann, from Chepstow, who has taken part in sponsored cycling and running events since a major stroke in 2013, receives a British Empire Medal.

Mr Cann, 57, who has regained much of his speech and mobility since his stroke, has been left with communication disorder aphasia and dyspraxia.

During his recovery, he wrote a blog and has since set up the Phoenix Project, which offers supports to stroke survivors in Monmouthshire, including helping them return to work or seek new opportunities.

He is a dedicated fundraiser for the project and has raised thousands of pounds cycling 108 miles (174km) from Cardiff to Tenby, and running the Devauden 5K race.

"Cycling from Cardiff to Tenby was one of the hardest things I've ever done - puffing up the hills and constantly wobbling to the right with my dodgy balance - but I'm so glad I did it," he said.

"Keeping busy with the cycling, walking and choir, and being in a position to help others in my situation has really aided my own recovery."

Jayne Cowan, 46, has been serving the Cardiff ward of Rhiwbina as a Conservative councillor since 1999. In both 2012 and 2017, she was re-elected with the largest majority of any councillor in Wales.

Jayne Cowan dedicated her award to her constituents and her late father

Her work in the community includes being an ambassador for Autism Puzzles, a Cardiff-based charity that supports hundreds of children and parents living with autism.

She has led several major campaigns throughout Cardiff, most notably campaigning against local school closures.

"This award is a huge recognition for everyone in Rhiwbina but, more than anything, it's in honour of my dad," Ms Cowan said.

"We lost Bob to dementia earlier this year, and everything I've tried to do in charity and community work is following in his footsteps.

"Even on a local level, politics is a much harder, and nastier place than it was when I started 20 years ago, but seeing the passion of people in Rhiwbina is all I need to keep me carrying on."

Other recipients in south east Wales include:

• Scott Cawley, 61, from Rhiwbina, Cardiff, is appointed MBE for services to people with diabetes

• Christopher David Brereton, the chief environmental health officer for the Welsh Government, is appointed OBE for services to environmental and public health in Wales

• Ian Charles Cole, of the Defence Electronics and Components Agency, is appointed OBE for services to defence

• Former Cardiff council leader Russell Goodway also becomes an OBE for services to local government

• Prof Phillip Jones is appointed OBE for services to architecture and decarbonisation

• Michael Hugo James Plaut becomes an OBE for services to business and entrepreneurship

• Prof Ian Weeks, dean of clinical innovation, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, becomes an OBE for services to knowledge transfer and medical innovation

• Cerian Angharad becomes an MBE for services to science promotion and engagement with young people

• Constable Graham Budd of South Wales Police becomes an MBE for services to community policing in Cardiff

• David Davies becomes an MBE for services to the manufacturing sector in south Wales

• Lynne Janetta Garwood, a nurse consultant with the Cwm Taf Morgannwg health board, becomes an MBE for services to mental healthcare and nursing in Wales

• Sharon Lovell is appointed MBE for services to children and young people

• Martin Semple, of the Welsh Government, becomes an MBE for services to nursing

• Kerry Wade, leader of the Gwent Missing Children's Hub, is appointed MBE for services to the protection of vulnerable children

• Llinos Davies, 56, from Hirwaun, Rhondda Cynon Taff, received a British Empire Medal for services to music in south Wales

• Sara Goode, 50, from Pontypool, Torfaen, receives a British Empire Medal for services to emergency planning in Wales

• Brian Ellam, 55, from Monmouthshire, receives a British Empire Medal for services to music

• Jeffrey Lloyd, 80, from Porthcawl, Bridgend, receives a British Empire Medal for services to orchestral music

• Amanda Say, 58, from Cwmbran, Torfaen, receives a British Empire Medal for services to people with disabilities in Wales

• Patricia Finch, 70, from Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, receives a British Empire Medal for services to people with disabilities

• George Evans, 84, from Rhoose Point, Vale of Glamorgan, receives a British Empire Medal for services to table tennis in Wales

• Mark Frost, 57, from Penarth, Vale of Glamorgan, receives a British Empire Medal for services to cricket in Wales

• Ali Abdi receives a British Empire Medal for voluntary service to the BAME community in Cardiff

• Renate Collins receives a British Empire Medal for services to Holocaust education

• Deborah Farrar, a protecting vulnerable people investigator for South Wales Police, receives a British Empire Medal for services to policing