He is by far the wealthiest individual so far linked with a bid for The Telegraph, which is being put up for sale by Lloyds Banking Group. The lender took control in June by winning court approval to appoint receivers. The unprecedented action followed a lengthy dispute over loans of more than £1bn secured against the company by its previous owners, the Barclay family.

The Barclays have since made offers to buy back The Telegraph and The Spectator magazine, which was also seized by Lloyds, with the help of investment from the Gulf. Their latest approach, which has been rejected, valued the businesses at £725m.

The media analysts Enders have valued The Telegraph at between £480m and £600m. Goldman Sachs is preparing to run the auction on behalf of the receivers.

Lloyds is seeking a swift and smooth sale to a new owner. It hopes to avoid any perception of potential conflicts of interest were it to remain the owner of The Telegraph going into next year’s General Election.

Enders on Monday warned that a bid from a rival publisher which triggered a full competition investigation could take more than a year to navigate. Public interest considerations such as risks to free expression and accuracy in news could also trigger reviews. It is understood that the receivers may impose a limit on the proportion of money coming from potentially controversial investors, such as those linked to Middle Eastern states, to avoid such a risk to a prompt sale.

As a novice investor in news publishing from a closely allied nation, Mr Griffin would cause no such concerns.

He has a long history of activity on the centre-right of politics. His philanthropic foundation has made championing free speech one of its top priorities, particularly on university campuses. Last week he was among wealthy Americans to meet Volodymyr Zelensky in Washington DC to discuss potential donations to help rebuild Ukraine.