Lord Harris has been influential in Tory circles since the 1980s, during which time he has donated to a number of Conservative prime ministers. Photo: Eddie Mulholland
The Conservative Party «doesn't deserve» to win the next election, long-time Tory donor Lord Harris of Peckham has said, just weeks after he donated £5,000 to Rachel Reeves.
The The Carpetright founder and fellow Conservative said he had lost faith in the party's ability to govern the country after a series of political disappointments.
He told the Telegraph: “The whole situation in politics at the moment is very bad for the party. UK.
«Whether a party like the Conservatives, given what they've done over the last three years, deserves to be returned [to power], I don't think so.
«You can't remember much good that the Conservatives have done and what they adhered to. At the last election they said they were going to open 40 new hospitals in the next five years. Where are they?
The comments come after Lord Harris, a former close ally of Margaret Thatcher, gave £5,000 to the shadow chancellor in August.
The peer insisted that this was not so. switched sides to Labor and said the donation reflected the fact that Ms Reeves was a graduate of one of his Harris academies.
However, Lord Harris's sharp criticism of the government and public donations to the Labor Party are a major blow to the Conservative Party and will serve as a wake-up call for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
Lord Harris urged the Tories to “take a clear vision and stick to it.”
Lord Harris, a self-made entrepreneur, has been influential in Tory circles since the 1980s, during which time he has donated to a number of Tory prime ministers, including Baroness Thatcher, Sir John Major and David Cameron.
He was knighted by Baroness Thatcher in 1985, and Sir John made him a Conservative life peer in 1996.
The 81-year-old became the latest high-profile businessman to donate to the cause. The Labor Party ahead of the next election.
Former supermarket chairman Baron David Sainsbury and former Autoglass boss Gary Lubner have made multimillion-pound donations following the offensive by Sir Keir Starmer and Ms Reeves.
Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves received a £5,000 donation from Lord Harris in August. Photo: Lorne Campbell
Lord Harris said he would not vote Labor at the next election but said the government could not continue as it was now, especially as it continued to «change people every five minutes».
He said : “If I were a Labor voter, which I am not, it would not be difficult to beat the Conservatives after what has happened in the last three years.
“The only question is: will Labor do better?”
Lord Harris is perhaps best known for his schools at Harris Academy. The Harris Foundation, a not-for-profit charity, runs more than 50 primary and secondary schools in deprived areas of London and provides education to tens of thousands of children.
Ms Reeves was one of his former pupils and he said that this link was the reason for his donation.
“She went to one of our schools in Beckenham. And she comes back without my knowledge and talks to the children. She never asked me for money, but I decided to send her £5,000.
“I didn’t talk to her about it at all. I only met her once over a cup of tea, about a year and a half ago. As Shadow Chancellor, I can listen to her and see where she's coming from.
“I'm 95% Conservative, but there are good people in the Labor Party.”
Throughout his career He said he had donated money to Labor MPs “four or five times”.
Before Ms Reeves' donation, the last occasion was about five years ago when he gave money to Mitcham and Morden MP Siobhan McDonagh. This, too, was a result of her work with Harris Academies.
His business career began at age 15 when he took over the family market and two stores in Peckham, which he later built into the country's largest carpet chain.
As well as his experience in education, Lord Harris also chaired the Guy's and Lewisham NHS Trust in the 1990s.
He said the state of the British health service was worrying: » You don't have to wait 18 months [for treatment], when you paid 40-50 years of your life with money, and then you can't use it.
“As a country today, I want the best to win the next general election a party that will look after the British people.»
Lord Harris said no prime minister had been prime minister since Baroness Thatcher rivaled her abilities, but said «the next best were Tony Blair and Major.»
Reeves was contacted for comment.
The Labor Party declined to comment.
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