In 1917, Wingate succeeded Sir Henry McMahon as High Commissioner in Egypt, a post he held until 1919. He was not a successful administrator in the very different political climate in that country, and was made a scapegoat for the riots incited by Saad Zaghlul and his party that spread across Egypt. Angry at his treatment, Wingate refused to actually resign, even after he was officially replaced by Lord Allenby, and threatened to embarrass the British Government. He was refused a peerage or another appointment, although he was created a baronet in the 1920 King's Birthday Honours, gazetted as a Baronet, of Dunbar, in the County of Haddington, and of Port Sudan. He never held another public or military office, retiring from the Army on 1 February 1922, but became a director of a number of companies. He continued to hold honorary positions in the army: as Colonel Commandant, Royal Artillery and Honorary Colonel of the 7th Battalion Manchester Regiment (appointed 1914), of the 57th (Lowland) Medium Brigade, Royal Artillery (appointed in 1922), and of the 65th Anti-Aircraft Regiment Royal Artillery (6th/7th Battalion Manchester Regiment) (appointed in 1941, which he retained until 27 September 1949.)). For many years he was the senior general of the British Army.