Major Tory donor and party treasurer Mansour knighted in surprise honours list

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 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 awards list 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.

This story is being updated