Getty donates £5m to Tory war-chest

John Paul Getty, the American billionaire philanthropist, has made a surprise donation of £5m to the Conservative Party to help William Hague's successor win the next election.

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John Paul Getty, the American billionaire philanthropist, has made a surprise donation of £5m to the Conservative Party to help William Hague's successor win the next election.

The gift fromMr Getty, who revoked his US citizenship in 1997 for a British passport, is the largest single donation made on one day to a political party. A Tory spokesman said that the sum meant that the Conservatives are "better placed for the future".

It meant the Tories finished the election campaign with their finances in the black for the first time. John Paul Getty II, heir to a huge private oil fortune, said that he was "bitterly disappointed" that the Tories had failed to win.

"However, in my view, the Conservative Party is the party best equipped to defend the British way of life," he said. "I hope my donation will help enable a new leader to deliver a Conservative victory at the next election."

Several senior Tory figures including William Hague, Lord Ashcroft, the outgoing Party Treasurer, and Michael Ancram, the party chairman, were involved in discussions with the billionaire about the donation, which was disclosed yesterday.