A former MP for Delyn has been awarded for his political services.

Sir David Hanson, who was the Labour MP for Delyn for nearly 28 years and a government Minister for 12 years, was given a knighthood for his services to politics on Tuesday at Windsor Castle.

He said: "I was awarded a knighthood in the queen's birthday honours list which was announced in October of last year 2020 and I obviously knew about the award for about four months before, so it was quite hard keeping it quiet. Because of covid it's taken just over 12 months to actually have a physical investiture."

The investiture was undertaken by Princess Anne, the Princess Royal.

Sir David Hanson said it came as a surprise to be offered the knighthood.

He added: "You don't go into political life or things like that to come out with the honours that you might get later on in life, and I never expected that, so it was just a nice surprise, it literally came out of the blue.

"There was an email into my inbox to say 'there's a knighthood proposed would you like to accept it' and I said yes, obviously. It's a recognition of the work that's been done and I appreciate the support that I've had from people in Flintshire, from the Labour party in Flintshire, and from my family over the time I've been a candidate and a member of parliament."

He described the day, which he attended with his wife Margaret, as "special", with all the other recipients around to enjoy the day.

He said: "There's music and there's the general relaxed atmosphere and then I get in the position whereby I have to kneel down and be knighted by the sword so it's very odd really for that to happen but it's an enjoyable day and we're very proud of it."

He thanked the people of Flintshire, the Labour party and his family for the support they have given him, saying that he couldn't have done it without them.