Egyptian tycoon Mohamed Mansour tops list of Tory donors who filled pot with £12.3m

Billionaire businessman has donated £5 million to Conservatives since Rishi Sunak became Prime Minister

Egyptian businessman Mohamed Mansour, co-owner of San Diego FC, says Rishi Sunak is 'a very capable prime minister'. Photo: USA Today Sports

Britain’s ruling Conservative Party collected £12.3 million ($15.4 million) in donations in the first three months of this year, in part thanks to Egyptian billionaire Mohamed Mansour who contributed the largest sum.

Mr Mansour gifted the Tories £5 million ($6.2 million) after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak became Britain's leader following a tumultuous period in Downing Street.

His package represents the biggest to have been received by the Conservatives since 2001.

Figures released by the Electoral Commission showed the ruling party continued to rake in more cash under Mr Sunak compared to the months leading up to his arrival in No 10 in October.

The party took £4.9million in October to December, up from £3million in July to September, when Boris Johnson and then Liz Truss were the prime minister.

Mr Mansour, 75, has described Mr Sunak as “a very capable prime minister”.

The tycoon, who served as transport minister in former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak’s cabinet, previously opened up about his journey to success in an interview with The National.

Born into a prominent business family in Alexandria and educated in the US, he told of how working as a waiter in a pizza restaurant earning $1.25 an hour taught him the value of money.

He told the Financial Times that the five key pillars of Mr Sunak’s premiership have “added purpose and accountability to the government.”

The Prime Minister has pledged to halve inflation, grow the economy, reduce debt, cut National Health Service waiting lists and stop migrants crossing the Channel illegally.

“I believe this country has a very capable prime minister, Rishi Sunak,” Mr Mansour said.

“He understands what growth is about in a modern economy. He understands innovation and he understands technology, which is vital to the future of growth.”

Mr Mansour became a senior treasurer of the Conservative Party last December.

Following his time studying stateside, he has maintained strong links with the US and is co-owner of San Diego Football Club.

His financial and moral support for the Tories will be welcomed as the party continues to trail Labour in opinion polls.

The Prime Minister suffered a battering in local elections last month which saw his party lose more than 1,000 seats.

The opposition Labour Party, led by Sir Keir Starmer, gained £5.9 million in donations from January to March this year – a drop from £7.2 million in the previous quarter. The party’s total included £1.4mn of public funding.

Party leaders are gearing up for the next general election, which is scheduled to be held by January 2025 and expected to take place sometime next year.

Writing in The Telegraph in May, Mr Mansour said he remained hopeful that the Tories, under Mr Sunak, could beat the odds and win the next nationwide ballot.

“I want to give him the best chance of having a full five-year term and so have donated £5m to the party's election fighting fund,” he said.

“I look at what he has achieved in his first months in office and think what he could do in five years.”