Billionaire gives Tories their largest donation in 20 years

Mohamed Mansour says he wants to help Rishi Sunak get ‘full five-year term’

(USA TODAY Sports via Reuters)

The Conservatives have received their largest donation in more than two decades from an Egyptian-born billionaire.

Former politician Mohamed Mansour has revealed he has handed Rishi Sunak’s party £5m – helping to turn round a slump in Tory donations.

It follows the defection of ex-Tory donors to Labour, including entrepreneur Gareth Quarry, who has accused the Tories of making Britain “a laughing stock”.

But Mr Mansour, a senior treasurer of the Tory party, said he believed Mr Sunak could get the economy growing again and described the prime minister as “very capable”.

Writing in the Telegraph, the British-based businessman says the PM “understands how growth is generated in the modern economy” and “gets the importance of innovation”.

Mr Mansour – a former minister under the Hosni Mubarak government in Egypt – stated: “I want to give [Mr Sunak] the best chance of having a full five-year term and so have donated £5m to the party’s election fighting fund.”

“I look at what he has achieved in his first months in office and think what he could do in five years,” added the billionaire chair of the Mansour Group conglomerate.

Mr Mansour was transport minister from 2006 to 2009 under Mubarak, the president who quit during the Arab Spring revolt of 2011. He is also co-owner of a new football team in San Diego, the latest franchise given the right to play in the US Major League Soccer (MLS).

In December, Electoral Commission figures showed that Labour was taking in more donations than the Tories were for the first time in a year. Mr Sunak’s party slumped to £3m for the quarter, while Labour was handed £5.4m for the same period.

Labour received a major boost in February when David Sainsbury, the former supermarket chair who withdrew support during the Jeremy Corbyn era, provided £2m.

Previous analysis by The Independent showed that Labour increased its donations from wealthy individuals by a significant amount during 2022, while the Tory party has seen a slump in support from rich backers.

Labour raked in more than £2.8m from individual donors last year – up £1.3m from the previous year, according to Electoral Commission data.

The Tories still boast more wealthy supporters than the opposition, but donations from individuals fell by £1.6m to £11.3m last year amid the turmoil overseen by Mr Johnson and Liz Truss.