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A major Tory donor has been given a knighthood in a surprise round of honours recommended by Rishi Sunak, No 10 has announced.
Egyptian billionaire Mohamed Mansour, who was appointed as a senior Treasurer of the Conservative Party in December 2022, has been awarded a knighthoood for “business, charity and political service”.
He donated £5m to the Conservative Party last January, which at the time marked the biggest one-off donation to the Tories in more than 20 years.
Mr Mansour, who served as a transport minister under former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak from 2006 to 2009, said he had given the money to assist Mr Sunak.
He described Mr Sunak as “a very capable Prime Minister” who understood the economy.
Mr Sunak’s decision to award him a knighthood on Thursday will raise questions over the awards process, with the latest list of gongs landing without prior warning ahead of the Easter Bank Holiday weekend.
Four Tory MPs have also been awarded honours on the recommendation of Mr Sunak, including Philip Davies, whose wife is the Government’s “common sense” minister, Esther McVey.
Farming minister Mark Spencer has also been given a knighthood, while former sports minister Tracey Crouch has been awarded a damehood alongside Treasury Select Committee chairwoman Harriett Baldwin.
Democratic Unionist Party MP Gregor Campbell has also been made a CBE. The Prime Minister recommended the honours to the King.
Mr Mansour’s family wealth was valued at $6.8bn (£5.4bn) in November, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He was forced to suspend business operations of one of his companies following his appointment as Treasurer to the Conservative Party by Mr Sunak.
Mr Mansour is the chair and co-owner of Mantrac, a global Caterpillar equipment dealer that has been operating in Russia through a subsidiary. A Mantrac spokesperson told Bloomberg last May that one of the company’s unit, Mantrac Vostok Ltd., had scaled back its operations significantly and was in the process of suspending all business activities in Russia.
i understands Mr Mansour’s knighthood has been given in recognition of his charity work.
While honours are usually handed out twice a year at New Year and the monarch’s official birthday, gongs are routinely handed out for judges on an ad hoc basis and political honours have been bestowed outside of the usual two lists in the past.
In November 2018, Sir John Hayes received his knighthood under then-prime minister Theresa May. Mrs May and opposition parties also nominated a host of peers in May 2018 and knighted a pair of Tory MPs in October 2017. David Cameron knighted Eric Pickles in May 2015.
But the latest list appears to be the most extensive honours list outside of the normal schedule for some time.
A Government source defended the honour handed to Mr Mansour, insisting he was a “big figure” in the charity community who “has a very compelling case for being recognised publicly for the amount of work that he does”.
The honouring of Ms Crouch, a widely respected MP, was timed to coincide with the Football Governance Bill being introduced to Parliament while Philip Davies was knighted as a longstanding MP and campaigner makes a “very active contribution to Parliament and public life”, the source said.
The source rejected suggestions Mr Sunak was handing out honours before calling a general election, amid speculation of a June vote, saying the list was “unconnected” to the timing of any vote.
Six people have also been added to the Privy Council, including Vaughan Gething, the recently-appointed First Minister of Wales.
A Government source said the Prime Minister viewed the necessary update of the Privy Council as an opportunity to “capitalise” on Britain’s triumphs in the film awards season and the success of his artificial intelligence (AI) summit last year.
Other public figures including Christopher Nolan, the Oscar-winning film director, and his wife Emma Thomas Nolan, were also awarded gongs for services to film.
Ted Sarandos, the co-chief executive of Netflix was awarded an honorary Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to the creative industries.
