Hedge fund boss Ric Lewis dubbed Britain’s most influential black man donates £50,000 to Tory mayoral hopeful Shaun Bailey’s campaign to oust Sadiq Khan
- US-born Ric Lewis made £50,000 donation, his first ever pledge to Tory party
- The 57-year-old is the chief executive of real estate firm Tristan Capital Partners
- Named Britain’s most-influential black man and handles £11billion of property
Hedge fund boss Ric Lewis has donated £50,000 to Tory London mayor hopeful Shaun Bailey’s campaign to oust Sadiq Khan.
The hefty donation made by US-born Mr Lewis – who was named Britain’s most-influential black man in 2019 – marks his first ever donation to the Conservative Party, sources told MailOnline.
The 57-year-old is the chief executive of real estate investment management firm Tristan Capital Partners and is responsible for £11billion-worth of property.
In 2019, his firm was crowned the largest black-owned business in the UK.
Mr Lewis’s donation ahead of the 2021 London Mayoral election follows a £30,000 private equity pledge from Wol Kolade – managing partner at private equity firm Livingbridge.
Hedge fund boss Ric Lewis (left) has donated £50,000 to London mayor hopeful Shaun Bailey’s (right) campaign to oust Sadiq Khan
Current mayor Mr Khan (pictured) hit the headlines this week after repeatedly refusing to deny he believes the Met Police is institutionally racist
Mr Kolade made the list of Britain’s most influential black people in 2020.
He spearheaded the ‘100 black interns’ scheme which aided countless young black people in launching a career in the financial services sector.
Another leading businessman who has thrown his support behind Mr Bailey, but asked not to be named, said: ‘We need change in London, we have parts of this once great city that are now no go areas for the police.
‘It’s becoming like New York in the 1980’s. Shaun Bailey will hold Khan to account for the mess he’s made of the capital’s transport system and his failure to tackle knife crime.
‘Business backs Bailey as they know he will get things done if elected Mayor and we intend to help him make that happen.’
Nick Candy – a property mogul best known for developing One Hyde Park – has donated £20,000, sources claim. He has donated to the Conservative Party in the past.
A Shaun Bailey campaign spokesman said: ‘We don’t comment on campaign donations.
‘We are however delighted at the support Shaun has received from both the public and business.
‘London needs fresh leadership, under Khan crime in the capital is out of control, he’s bankrupted TfL and failed to deliver on housing. The message is clear, Business backs Bailey.’
Current mayor Mr Khan hit the headlines this week after repeatedly refusing to deny he believes the Met Police is institutionally racist as he ordered the force to justify stop and searches on black suspects and double their target for new BAME recruits from 19 per cent to 40 per cent within two years.
Mr Khan has ordered the 40 per cent recruitment target by 2022 because 40 per cent of the London population is from the Black, Asian & Minority Ethnic (BAME) community as he seeks to overhaul Scotland Yard from City Hall.
He has also convinced Scotland Yard Commissioner Cressida Dick that officers will have to review stop and search and justify incidents to community panels.
But their joint race action plan, published on Friday, does not make clear if the panels will have any powers to punish officers they believe have behaved inappropriately.
Mr Khan has previously backed claims the Met was guilty of racial profiling following a series of incidents filmed and shared online, including the vehicle stop of black Team GB athlete Bianca Williams in July and Labour MP Dawn Butler in August.
While the Mayor is responsible for policing in the capital, he will face accusations that he is overreaching his powers ahead of next year’s election.
Met Commissioner Cressida Dick said today her force is ‘not free of discrimination, racism or bias’, despite insisting in August that the Met is not institutionally racist.
But Mr Khan today twice refused to deny he believed the force is ‘institutionally racist’ in an interview with Sky News.
Tory leader at City Hall, Susan Hall, tweeted: ‘Khan has been asked twice if he thinks the @metpoliceuk are institutionally racist and he would not answer directly. Let me help you Mr Mayor – the Met Police are NOT institutionally racist’.