He was made a life peer in 1997 as a member of the Labour Party, and was on a leave of absence from the House of Lords from 15 July 2013 to his retirement in 2021.

[2] He also made the largest donation in British political history, giving £8 million to the Liberal Democrats.

When the company listed on the London Stock Exchange on 12 July 1973, at the time the largest flotation ever, his family retained control with an 85% stake.

When David Sainsbury announced his intention to give away £1 billion to charity in 2005, his 23% stake was sold down, eventually to 12.9% by early 2007.

His beneficial holding became just 7.75% when he regained control of his shares in February 2007 following his decision to step down as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Science and Innovation in November 2006.

During the private equity takeover bid in the first half of 2007, David indicated he was willing to let the Sainsbury's board open its books for due diligence if someone offered him a price of 600 pence per share or more.

[5] To further his philanthropy interests, he placed 92million of his shares (representing 5.28% of the company's share capital), into his investment vehicle, Innotech Advisers Ltd (which donates all its dividends to charity), meaning his beneficial stake is just 0.57% (lower than JD's 1.6% beneficial interest).

[11] He donated a further £2 million on 7 September 2007, stating that he was impressed by Gordon Brown's leadership and believed "that Labour is the only party which is committed to delivering both social justice and economic prosperity".

[13][verification needed] In April 2006, it was reported Sainsbury "faced a possible probe into an alleged breach of the ministerial code after admitting he had failed to disclose a £2 million loan he had made to the Labour Party – despite publicly stating that he had."

[16] On 10 November 2006, he resigned as Science Minister, stating that he wanted to focus on business and charity work.

[18] From July 1998 to November 2006, he held the office of Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Science and Innovation at the Department of Trade and Industry, serving in the House of Lords and accepting no salary.

[25] After the 2017 general election, Sainsbury announced he would no longer provide financial backing to party political causes, but will donate to charitable causes.

[33] He set up the Sainsbury Management Fellowship scheme in 1987 to develop UK engineers into leaders in industry.

[35] In 2011, Cambridge's Sainsbury Laboratory opened, paid for by an £82 million donation from the Gatsby Foundation made in 2008.

[38] However, his nomination became the first in 163 years to be contested by another candidate when, on 29 May, local shopkeeper Abdul Arain stood in protest at a planning application for a Sainsbury's Local branch in Cambridge's Mill Road district, triggering a contest that would have to wait until an October ballot.

[39] Four days later, a group of Cambridge University alumni successfully drafted actor Brian Blessed as an alternative candidate.

[2] On 2 February 2024, the university announced that Sainsbury had advised of his intention to step down later in the year from his role as Chancellor.