THE Conservative Party’s decision to end its long-standing support for grammar schools in Kent and elsewhere has cost it the backing of one of its biggest donors.

Sir Tom Cowie, who has donated some £630,000 to the party, said he would no longer be giving it any money.

He cited the party’s decision to abandon its traditional support for the 11-plus as one of the reasons.

In an interview, Sir Tom said: "I was particularly angry about David Cameron’s decision on grammar schools. I come from a very humble background and I passed my 11-plus which means I got to grammar school."

He stressed: "This made all the difference to my life. It took me into a different world, and to take this away from other people is not right."

Sir Tom believes the privileged educational background of Mr Cameron, and many of his close friends who run the party, means they do not appreciate how other people live.

"The Tory party seems to be run now by Old Etonians and they don’t seem to understand how other people live. They seem to be very arrogant, like I suppose Old Etonians can be. They certainly don’t understand about grammar schools."

Sir Tom made his comments in an interview with The Guardian newspaper.

The party’s move to end its support for grammars provoked a backlash among Kent Conservatives. With 33 grammars, the county has the largest number of selective schools of any authority in the country.

Party chiefs were eventually forced into a partial U-turn by promising that new grammars could open where population growth meant new schools were needed.