Inside the secretive Tory party where millionaires buy access to ministers, pheasant shooting and a ride in Jacob Rees-Mogg's Bentley
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Millionaire Tory donors blew tens of thousands of pounds to secure luxury dinners with ministers, ­private hunting trips and a ride in Jacob Rees-Mogg’s Bentley during a ­lavish fundraiser.
Guests paid up to £1,500 a head for the annual Summer Party, held on Monday at London’s exclusive Hurlingham Club and hosted by PM Theresa May.
As her Cabinet teetered on the edge of implosion over Brexit, desperate ministers had to rattle the Tory donation tin.
Boris Johnson, David Davis, Michael Gove, Liz Truss and Gavin Williamson were seen “working the room”, getting rich supporters to part with their cash.
Scroll down to see the items up for auction
(Image: PA)
But Labour Party chairman Ian Lavery said: “Rather than swanning about at fancy dinners, ministers should be hard at work fixing the mess they are making of Brexit, the crisis they have created in our public services and the falling living standards of people across the country.”
Anger among Remain-backing City donors has made this year’s fundraiser all the more crucial for Mrs May.
Contributions from the party’s biggest hedge fund backers have collapsed as they fear she is “botching” Brexit.
One Conservative donor reportedly said yesterday: “A group of us were at the Tory bash last night. We were all asking why we fund this sh**show.”
Speaking at the event, Mrs May pleaded with her party to “stand together”.
She said: “The stakes are high - perhaps higher than we have ever known in our political lifetimes. We each have a choice to make. Will we come together and stand together as a party, as a government and as a country?
“Or will we be divided, and allow the scale of the challenge, the complexity of the questions to overwhelm us?”
Desperate Tories pulled out all the stops to appease disillusioned backers during the event, with guests dining on smoked trout and beef fillet.
And I’m A Celebrity winner Georgia Toffolo posed for selfies with activists and ministers.
The Menu
MPs and guests at the Conservatives’ Summer Party were served a starter of Oak smoked trout, semi dried tomatoes, avocado cream, shallot and lemon oil dressing.
The main course was Scottish beef fillet, mini cottage pie, creamed spinach and oyster mushrooms.
A ‘mix of desserts’ was served to finish the meal.
The meal was accompanied by a choice of a 2015 Mas Rabell white wine, from Torres in Catalonie and a 2015 Montes Classic Series Merlot from Chile’s Colchagua Valley.
Both wines retail for around £10 a bottle.
The Venue
The fundraiser was held at the Hurlingham Club, a Georgian private sports and social club set in 42 acres of grounds along the Thames in Fulham, West London.
Originally a gun club which boasted King Edward VII as an early patron, it is also famous for having published the original rules of polo.
The Duchess of Cambridge and her sister Pippa Middleton regularly play tennis on the club’s , and Prince Philip is the current patron.
There is currently a thirty-year waiting list for membership, and new joiners must be proposed and seconded by two current full club members.
And the items up for auction
A ride in Jacob Rees-Mogg's Bentley
One paid thousands to be driven around Somerset by leading Brexiteer Mr Rees-Mogg in one of his vintage Bentleys. The sale’s brochure boasted the posh MP would also serve a “home-cooked meal”.
Labour MP John Mann said: "Rees-Mogg can only afford a Bentley through his second job. He should have it embossed with the logo ‘paid for whilst moonlighting’.
"My raffle prizes are being donated by retired miners, cleaners and textile workers. The price may differ, but the value is greater."
Lib Dem leader Vince Cable added: "I imagine the drive around his estate alone would be a long one - giving nanny plenty of time to prepare luncheon.”
Dinner cooked by Michael Gove, in his kitchen
Environment Secretary Mr Gove and journalist wife Sarah Vine offered up a “fascinating evening of dinner and discourse” – including a meal prepared by them and served at their kitchen table.
University Challenge with David Lidington
(Image: BBC)
Mrs May’s deputy David Lidington auctioned off a chance to challenge him to a round of University Challenge.
He was captain of the Sidney Sussex College team that won the 1979 series of the TV quiz.
'Women and the Conservative Party' with Esther McVey
Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey promised a tour of the Conservative Party archives, with particular focus on female Tories. She will also join the winner for lunch.
A Museum tour with Boris Johnson
And Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson offered the chance to benefit from his “vast historic knowledge” with a guided tour for five around a Central London museum.
An actual lectern used by David Cameron
(Image: Daily Mirror)
Among the memorabilia sold in the silent auction was a signed portrait of Margaret Thatcher and a lectern used by David Cameron.
The auction brochure boasted the lectern could be used “to inspire your own speech practice at home!”
Luxury holidays
Luxury holidays on offer included a private villa for 12 on the Caribbean island of Mustique, a stay in a five-bedroom converted barn designed by supermodel Kate Moss and a “cheetah experience” in Namibia.
Pheasant shooting in Leicester and quail hunting in Texas
(Image: Getty Images Europe)
Donors also bid to shoot pheasant and partridge on a private Leicestershire estate, and quail on a 14,000-acre ranch in Texas.
"The hunt will provide guns and ammo and a lunch afterwards," reads the brochure.
The League Against Cruel Sports claimed the hunting trips “fly in the face” of Michael Gove’s attempt to address public concern over animal welfare.
Campaigns director Chris Luffingham said: “Millions of birds are shot and killed every shooting season in the UK in the name of ‘sport’. Many are shot for fun and their bodies dumped or incinerated rather than making it to the dinner table. We hope the Conservative Party will take steps to address rather than promote ‘game’ bird suffering.”