YORK MP Hugh Bayley has been knighted at Buckingham Palace.

The outgoing Labour MP for York Central was awarded his honour by Prince Charles in a special ceremony at Buckingham Palace yesterday. He was joined by his wife Fenella Jeffers and children Ben and Elli.

Sir Hugh, who was first elected to represent York in 1992 and will stand down in May, has been honoured for his work with NATO.

His knighthood was announced in the New Year's Honours list this year, for "services to Parliamentary engagement with the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation."

He was one of those on the Foreign Office list, something that is unusual for an MP, he said, with a citation that praises his "outstanding and very active role in strengthening and raising the profile of NATO and advocating NATO reform and improved financial management, which has benefitted UK defence and security."

Sir Hugh said: "When this happened - they telephone you before the list is published - I was astonished. It was a complete and utter shock, it's not something I had ever thought about."

Sir Hugh has served as president of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly which he became involved with when, after losing his place in Blair's government, he wanted to talk American lawmakers about increasing aid to Africa, and reducing carbon emissions.

Although US congressmen and senators rarely engage with worldwide Parliamentary bodies, they do take part in the NATO Parliamentary Assembly prompting Sir Hugh to join the body, soon becoming the chairman of the economics committee where he fought to persuade US representatives that overseas aid could help avoid conflicts.

He said: "They thought this was slightly wacky, as they thought tanks and rockets avoided conflict but they came to think that if people have better lives they are less likely to fight."

He has also spent months working with US congressman Mike Turner to persuade other American lawmakers not to vote to pull troops out of Europe and effectively break up NATO.