The chief crony to be rewarded is the knighted Lynton Crosby, the blunt-speaking Aussie election guru who masterminded the Tories' 2015 general election victory and helped Boris Johnson win election as Mayor of London in 2008 and 2012.
The most controversial reward for failure is a damehood for Lin Homer, a career civil servant who has been slammed by MPs countless times for presiding over disaster and chaos at the Home Office, Border Agency and now HMRC.
She was boss of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate when Home Secretary John Reid said it was "not fit for purpose".
When she was appointed to run HMRC, Home Affairs Committee chairman Keith Vax warned about "rewarding failure".
But it's not just the political and civil service honours that have been controversial and sparked claims - mostly from Labour MPs - that the Prime Minister is bringing the honours system into disrepute.
Ann Summers tycoon Jacqueline Gold, now a CBE, sat on the Prime Minister's table at the Conservative Black and White fund-raising ball, appeared with George Osborne at a pre-election news conference and hosted a fringe meeting at this year's Tory conference.
Even bubbly soap star and former Carry On actress Barbara Windsor admitted in her autobiography that she is a Tory supporter and was Boris Johnson's "street party ambassador" in a campaign by the Mayor to create a more neighbourly society.
Condemning Sir Lynton's knighthood, Labour's shadow home secretary Andy Burnham told Sky
News: "This outrageous award is the clearest evidence yet that the Tories think they can get away with whatever they like."
But then, in what sounded like a swipe at Jeremy Corbyn amid talk of a New Year "revenge reshuffle" and de-selection threats against Labour MPs, he added: "It is a timely reminder that Labour must make it a New Year's resolution to stop facing inwards and expose them for what they are."
Before his elections triumphs in the UK, Sir Lynton - dubbed "the Wizard of Oz" - helped John Howard win four general elections in Australia, despite once rather unkindly describing the Liberal Party leader as "dull as bat****".
One of the Lib Dem MPs whose 2015 defeat Sir Lynton helped bring about, former energy and climate change secretary Ed Davey, also gets a knighthood.
Just a few months ago he had ambitions to succeed Nick Clegg as party leader.
Sir Ed now becomes the third of the Lib Dems' five Cabinet ministers prior to the general election to be knighted, following former Treasury chief secretary Sir Danny Alexander and ex-business secretary Sir Vince Cable.
The only Tory backbencher to be knighted this time is cricket-loving old Etonian Henry Bellingham, MP for North West Norfolk, who was briefly a junior minister and stood in the election for deputy speaker in 2013.
But there are Labour honours too, most notably for Rosie Winterton, chief whip since 2010, who becomes a Dame.
She has been tipped for the sack in the Labour leader's "revenge reshuffle". Does this honour mean she is on the way out?
So Mr Cameron's opponents should not get too smug or sanctimonious.
All Prime Ministers are guilty of rewarding cronies and party donors. Tony Blair's were known as "Tony’s cronies".
Margaret Thatcher knighted Fleet Street editors whose newspapers were her cheerleaders and Harold Wilson ennobled the boss of the company that made his favourite Gannex raincoats, Lord Kagan, who later went to prison for tax evasion.
Would there have been such a fuss this time if Ms Gold, daughter of porn baron David Gold, sold raincoats instead of racy underwear and sex toys?
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