Conservative party donors drink and dine with Boris Johnson and other ministers at fundraising gala

• Tory donors, grandees, and ministers dined and drank at the Victoria & Albert Museum on Monday.
• They gathered at tables that cost up to £2,000-a-seat to raise funds for the Conservative Party.

Conservative donors had fillet steak and drank "amazing" wine as they bid for prizes including a £120,000 dinner with Boris Johnson and former prime ministers Theresa May and David Cameron at a glitzy London museum.

Ministers, party grandees, and donors attended the Conservative Party's summer fundraising dinner at the Victoria and Albert Museum on Monday evening, greeted to the venue with boos and chants from protesting members of the museum's Public and Commercial Services union and Labour MP John McDonnell. Tickets for the event cost up to £2,000-a-head.

Some guests revelled in the jeers, exchanging remarks with the protesting staff.

Tory donor Lord Peter Cruddas brandished his invitations at protestors. A man on a penny farthing cycling past rang his bell in support of the protest.

After drinks and a speech from Boris Johnson in the V&A's Courtyard, attendees dined in the museum's Raphael Court, surrounded by the Raphael Cartoons, designs for Biblical tapestries by the Renaissance master.

Johnson's attendance was welcomed by guests who noted he had visited despite going under general anaesthetic for surgery Monday morning.

One said he gave "the most amazing speech", which amouted to a "huge list" of the party's achievements. Johnson left after around 30 minutes at the event.

Other ministers at the bash included Chancellor Rishi Sunak, Home Secretary Priti Patel, Party Chairman Oliver Dowden, Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng, and Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi, who Insider saw arriving late.

—Savitha Prakash (ಸವಿತ !) (@SavvyPrakash) June 21, 2022

Ministers and donors had salmon tartare, fillet steak with asparagus mash, and passionfruit meringues, POLITICO reported.

One source, given anonymity due to their role, told Insider there were also cheese platters and truffles with "more developed" versions of gummy bears. As the attendees dined, catering staff had "very nice salami sandwiches" and some "standard chocolates", the source added.

"The food was fantastic, the wine was even better. They were amazing wines, best wines we've had," one attendee told Insider afterwards. One source told Insider most guests had only one or two glasses of wine.

Attendees bid on auction prizes including what The Spectator reported was referred to as the "dinner of the century" with Johnson, May, and Cameron, which went for £120,000, sources told Insider.

POLITICO reported the value of other prizes including a safari trip in South Africa for £65,000, a shooting trip in Market Harborough for £37,000, a wine-tasting lunch for £30,000, and tickets to Chelsea v Arsenal for £5,000.

With the event drawing to a close and guests spilling out the side entrance of the museum, Insider spoke with a number of donors and ministers.

Political strategist Lynton Crosby said it had been a "great event". Scotland Secretary Alister Jack asked where Exhibition Road, the street he was standing on, was.

Work and Pensions Secretary Thérèse Coffey said there had been no "Coffee with Coffey" auctioned off.

Lubov Chernukhin, the largest female political donor in British history and wife of Putin's former junior finance minister, who has given more than £2.2 million to the Conservatives, said "no comment" when asked if she had won anything in the auction.

Maurizio Bragagni, the honorary consul to the UK for the micro-state of San Marino, attended the dinner.

Bragagni, who has been criticised for complaining about "foreign Muslims" in the UK, told Insider he was unhappy with recent media coverage, saying it was "because you are all communists."

Bragagni said the reports were "absolutely" incorrect and his meaning had been translated "the wrong way. That is what you are."

He said he "always" spoke to Boris Johnson and departed.

Conservative supporter Ashraf Chohan was initially happy to speak about the event when asked. "Of course you can! Walk with us, walk with us."

With him was donor and Lord Rami Ranger, given a peerage by May. "We love Boris," Ranger said, echoed by Chohan.

—Dr Ashraf Chohan (@DrAshrafChohan) June 20, 2022

After a member of the group advised Chohan against talking to Insider, he said: "Boris will be prime minister next time as well, and we'll make sure." He added there was "no auction. No money, no money. No, no, no money."

Christopher Harborne, who has recently started financially supporting the Conservatives again, after giving more than £10 million to what was Nigel Farage's Brexit Party, spoke with a protester supporting Julian Assange outside the museum before entering the event.

He told Insider afterwards: "Free Julian Assange. Free Julian Assange. Main message."

Harborne said he had not had the chance to speak about Assange's release with Johnson, Patel, or any other ministers, saying "dinners get busy".

Harborne said he had not bid on any auction prizes, and didn't want to talk about why he was giving money to the Conservatives again.

A Conservative party spokesperson said: "Fundraising is a legitimate part of the democratic process. The alternative is more taxpayer-funding of political campaigning, which would mean less money for frontline services like schools, police and hospitals – or else, being in the pocket of union barons, like the Labour Party."