Conservative Party is handed biggest donation in more than 20 years

The Conservative Party is handed its biggest donation in more than 20 years as Egyptian-born billionaire Mohamed Mansour gives the Tories £5 million

• Mohamed Mansour gave £5million to Conservatives to boost election war chest
• Business chairman was once transport minister in Egypt but has moved to the UK

An Egyptian-born billionaire has given the Tory party its biggest donation in more than 20 years.

Mohamed Mansour has handed £5million to the Conservatives – equal to the amount given by Sir Paul Getty in 2001 – to boost its election war chest.

The global business chairman was once transport minister in the Egyptian government but has since moved to the UK.

He was appointed senior treasurer by the Conservatives in December, having previously given £600,000 to the party through one of his companies.

Mr Mansour, who is worth an estimated £2.9billion, said Rishi Sunak is ‘very capable’ and ‘understands how growth is generated in the modern economy’, adding: ‘He gets the importance of technology and innovation. He can make the modern economy work for all UK citizens.’

Mohamed Mansour (pictured) has handed £5million to the Conservatives – equal to the amount given by Sir Paul Getty in 2001 – to boost its election war chest

The 75-year-old told The Daily Telegraph: ‘I want to give him the best chance of having a full five-year term and so have donated £5 million 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.’

It is a welcome boost to the Tories, as wealthy backers have withdrawn support lately – in some cases defecting to Labour, who received £5million in donations last year, slightly more than the £4.75million given to the Conservatives.

Electoral Commission figures show that the Conservatives received £4.75 million from donors in 2022, slightly less than Labour’s £5 million. 

Mr Mansour’s donation is the biggest one-off amount given to a political party since the £8 million handed to the Liberal Democrats by Lord Sainsbury of Turveille ahead of the 2019 election. 

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