Tory donor Mohamed Mansour knighted in surprise honours list

Mohamed Mansour has donated to charitable causes including The King’s Foundation and a memorial for Covid victims – Paul Grover for the Telegraph

Rishi Sunak has knighted an Egyptian-born billionaire who donated £5 million to the Tories last year, Downing Street announced on Thursday evening.

The Prime Minister bestowed the knighthood on Mohamed Mansour in a surprise honours list slipped out by No 10 just before the Easter break.

It included four Tory MPs, who have all been made sirs and dames, as well as figures from the film and artificial intelligence, including Christopher Nolan, the Oscar-winning director of Oppenheimer, and his wife Emma, a film producer.

The honouring of Mr Mansour, a businessman who was Egyptian transport minister under Hosni Mubarak, the former presdient, was set to spark controversy.

It comes less than a month after Frank Hester, the Tories’ biggest donor, became embroiled in a row over “racist” remarks he made about Diane Abbott.

The Prime Minister has come under pressure to return the £5 million that Mr Hester has given to the party and not to accept any new donations from him.

Mr Mansour handed £5 million to the Conservatives last May. It was the single largest donation the party had received in more than 20 years.

He is a naturalised British citizen and has donated to many charitable causes including The King’s Foundation and a memorial for Covid victims.

Mr Sunak’s honours list also featured four Tory MPs including Philip Davies, the GB News presenter and husband of Cabinet minister Esther McVey.

He was knighted along with Mark Spencer, the farming minister. Harriet Baldwin, the chair of the Commons Treasury committee, and Tracey Crouch, the former sports minister have been made dames.

Mr Spencer was previously the Tory chief whip and was cleared of telling Nus Ghani, a Muslim minister, that she had been sacked because of her faith.

Mr Sunak has also honoured figures involved in the development of artificial intelligence, a subject in which he has taken a personal interest in No 10.

Ted Sarandos, co-chief executive of streaming giant Netflix, has also been made a CBE.

Matthew Clifford, who helped organise this year’s Bletchley Summit on AI, and Ian Hogarth, the chair of the Government’s AI taskforce, have been awarded CBEs.

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