Thursday, September 11, 2025
Tory donations under question
The paper say that more than 40 donations to the Tories over 23 years have been registered in the name of Rosemary Saïd, a British woman, but leaked documents marked “official – sensitive” renew long-running questions about whether it is her husband, the billionaire businessman Wafic Saïd, who is the real source of the money even though he is barred by electoral law from donating:
One of the documents, an official government log from Boris Johnson’s time in Downing Street, contains the entry: “Political meeting with Wafic Said (donor) and Rosemary Said.”
Wafic also had two separate phone calls with Johnson and senior aides without his wife, according to other logs.
A Canadian citizen resident in Monaco, Wafic, 85, is barred by law from donating because he is not eligible to vote in the UK. Rosemary, 79, is allowed to give money and the Conservative party has declared donations in her name between 2001 and 2024. Johnson declared a £10,000 contribution from her during his leadership campaign.
When contacted for comment, Wafic Saïd said: “My wife is an independently wealthy woman who has been a strong supporter of the Conservative party her entire life.”
He added: “I have not made donations to the Conservative party for at least 25 years, and any suggestion otherwise would be clearly untrue and would be a very serious matter for me, as I always respect the law.”
Whatever the truth, we have yet another news story on donations. It is time to address the inadquacy of electoral law in allowing large donations and associated questions around influence.
