Conservatives accused of 'cronyism' after donor who gave £5 million awarded knighthood in surprise honours list
29 March 2024, 08:19 | Updated: 29 March 2024, 08:55
The government has sparked accusations of cronyism by awarding a knighthood to a donor who gave the party £5 million last year.
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Mohamed Mansour, a former Egyptian government minister, was knighted in a surprise honours list that also included a knighthood for Oppenheimer director Christopher Nolan, and a damehood for Emma Thomas, the film's producer and his wife.
Several Conservative MPs and the founder of an artificial intelligence company were also given knighthoods and damehoods.
The surprise honours list, announced on Thursday evening ahead of the Easter weekend, raised eyebrows and may lead to speculation about a snap election in the summer.
The award of a knighthood to Mr Mansour, a senior Treasurer of the party, sparked immediate criticism from the opposition parties.
Read more: Dame Shirley Bassey, Sajid Javid and leading Lionesses among New Year Honours recipients
Labour's Anneliese Dodds said Mr Sunak awarding Mr Mansour a knighthood was "disrespectful" to the office of Prime Minister.
"This is either the arrogant act of an entitled man who’s stopped caring what the public thinks, or the demob-happy self-indulgence of someone who doesn’t expect to be prime minister much longer.
"Either way, it shows a blatant disrespect for the office he should feel privileged to hold."
Richard Tice, the leader of Reform UK, who are challenging the Conservatives from the right, called the knighthood "toxic Tory cronyism".
"Nation is sick of it," he added. "Knighthood for mega donor in unexpected honours list. Whole thing stinks like rotting fish, from the head."
Downing Street sources cited the extensive charity work of Mr Mansour, a naturalised British citizen.
He has supported charities including the King’s Foundation and a Covid-19 victims' memorial.
He was given his knighthood for services to “business, charity and political service”.
Mr Mansour served in the government of Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president who left office in the Arab Spring. He was a transport minister from 2006-2009.
Salma Shah, a former Conservative, special adviser, told LBC that there could be several reasons for the surprise honours list.
"You could say that we're heading towards the solution and so he needs to get his honours through," she said.
"You could say that this is perhaps a way to do some policy management, to thank people for their public service, perhaps make them feel a little bit happier and agitate against the Prime Minister less."
Creative Industries Honours
Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire
• Emma Thomas Nolan; Film producer. For Services to Film.
Knight Bachelor
• Christopher Nolan CBE; Filmmaker. For Services to Film.
Honorary Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)
• Ted Sarandos; Co-Chief Executive Officer of Netflix. For services to Creative Industries.
Technology & Artificial Intelligence Honours
Knight Bachelor
• Dr Demis Hassabis CBE FRS FREng FRSA; CEO and Co-Founder of DeepMind. For Services to Artificial Intelligence.
Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)
• Matthew Clifford MBE; Co-Founder of Entrepreneur First, Adviser to His Majesty’s Government on Artificial Intelligence and Chair of Advanced Research and Invention Agency. For Services to Artificial Intelligence.
• Ian Hogarth; Chair of the Artificial Intelligence Safety Institute. For Services to Artificial Intelligence.
Political Honours
Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire
• Harriett Baldwin MP; Member of Parliament (MP) for West Worcestershire. Formerly Minister of State for Africa and International Development. Currently Chair of the Treasury Select Committee. For Public and Parliamentary Service.
• Tracey Crouch CBE MP; Member of Parliament (MP) for Chatham and Aylesford. Formerly Minister for Sport, Civil Society and Loneliness. For Public and Parliamentary Service.
Knight Bachelor
• Philip Davies MP; Member of Parliament (MP) for Shipley. For Public and Parliamentary Service.
• Mohamed Mansour; Businessman, Philanthropist and Senior Treasurer of the Conservative Party. For Business, Charity and Political Service.
• The Rt Hon Mark Spencer MP; Minister of State for Food, Farming and Fisheries and Member of Parliament (MP) for Sherwood. For Public and Parliamentary Service.
Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)
• Gregory Campbell MP; Member of Parliament (MP) for East Londonderry, and the Democratic Unionist Party Spokesperson for International Development. For Public and Parliamentary Service
Privy Council
• Lord (Iain) Armstrong - Judge of the Supreme Courts of Scotland
• Lord (John) Beckett - Judge of the Supreme Courts of Scotland
• Stephen Flynn MP - Leader of the Scottish National Party in the House of Commons
• Vaughan Gething MS – First Minister of Wales (Labour)
• Gavin Robinson MP - Deputy Leader of the Democratic Unionist Party
• Owen Thompson MP – Member of the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament (SNP)
