Tory donor Rami Ranger claims that Britain will be seen as ‘racist’ if Conservative members fail to elect Rishi Sunak as the party’s and the country’s first non-white leader
- Peer said choosing Liz Truss would give the nation and the party ‘a bad name’
- India-born businessman has given £1.5million to the party and MPs since 2009
- Remain-backer said: ‘Calibre matters, and Rishi’s calibre is above everyone’
Britain will be seen as ‘racist’ if the Conservatives fail to elect Rishi Sunak as their new leader, a millionaire party donor has said.
Lord Rami Ranger said that choosing Liz Truss over the ex-chancellor would give the nation and the party ‘a bad name’.
The India-born businessman, who has given £1.5million to the party and MPs since 2009, spoke out as Mr Sunak struggles to reduce the Foreign Secretary’s poll lead.
The winner of the race to replace Boris Johnson will be announced in September.
But speaking to Indian news network Bharat Tak, Lord Ranger said: ‘If people reject him, it will be a bad name for the party and the country because this will be perceived as racist.
‘And so there is pressure on them to prove that here race does not matter. Calibre matters, and Rishi’s calibre is above everyone.
Lord Rami Ranger said that choosing Liz Truss over the ex- chancellor would give the nation and the party ‘a bad name’.
The India-born businessman, who has given £1.5million to the party and MPs since 2009, spoke out as Mr Sunak struggles to reduce the Foreign Secretary’s poll lead.
He doubled down on his comments today. Answering critics of his views, he tweeted: ‘Since Rishi Sunak has been elected by the majority of parliamentarians … if he is overwhelmingly rejected by the public then it may be perceived as racism.’
‘I am optimistic that people here will be fair and will not reject anyone on the basis of race.’
Mr Ranger is a former supporter of Theresa May, who hailed her Brexit deal for allowing ‘the UK to remain a great trading nation’.
He was one of three donors who tried to prevent Tory MPs from forcing a vote on her leadership in 2018. She later nominated him for a peerage in her resignation honours.
Since then the founder of export firm Sun Mark has supported Boris Johnson.
He doubled down on his comments today. Answering critics of his views, he tweeted: ‘Since Rishi Sunak has been elected by the majority of parliamentarians … if he is overwhelmingly rejected by the public then it may be perceived as racism.’
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