Ian Hislop was applauded on Have I Got News For You on Friday night as he questioned why Rishi Sunak and a Conservative Party treasurer are not in jail.
The TV personality, who captains a team on the comedy quiz show, aired his ire at the Prime Minister's "surprise" honour's list, which included a Tory mega-donor who gave the party £5million. Egyptian-born billionaire Mohamed Mansour, who is a Conservative Party treasurer, was among those given gongs in a surprise honours list snuck out before the Easter weekend.
Mr Hislop, 63, said: "This is specifically not allowed... Mansour has come to Britain and given the Tories a huge amount of money and he immediately gets a knighthood from Rishi Sunak. That seems to me straightforwardly corrupt. Shouldn't they both be in jail?"
The clip has been viewed on X/Twitter hundreds of thousands of times. Many of the responses backed Mr Hislop's opinion. One user posted: "This is the moment we realise that something has gone seriously wrong with our political system. Another shared: "The Conservatives are rotten from top to bottom."
Dad-of-two Mr Hislop, who has been editor of satirical magazine Private Eye since 1986, appeared in the opening programme of Have I Got News For You's 67th series on Friday night. He and Paul Merton, 66, continue to captain the sides.
In Friday's show, presenter Clive Myrie brought the discussion around the honours list to the table after reading a recent headline about Mr Sunak's backlash. Mr Mansour, a former minister under Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak, gave the Tories their largest donation in 20 years in 2023, in a boost to Mr Sunak after donations dipped following Boris Johnson's resignation.
The Mirror reported last year that he organised cosy, undeclared dinner parties for super-rich VIPs, who were given private access to senior ministers. No money was raised at the closed-door soirees in his house in Belgravia, which took place between 2018 and 2022.
In January last year, the Sunday Mirror reported how Mr Mansour had been raking it in from a firm still dealing with warmonger Vladimir Putin's Russia.