A Conservative donor paid £25,000 on Thursday night for a multi-course Japanese dinner with the chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, as part of an annual ball that raised more than £200,000 for the party, the Guardian has learned. The unknown bidder won the exclusive dinner for themselves and three other people during the event at the five-star Raffles hotel in Westminster, which was attended by Rishi Sunak and several of his cabinet ministers. The prize was one of five multi-thousand-pound lots auctioned during the invitation-only event, sources said. Other lots included a five-night stay at a Caribbean villa owned by the billionaire entrepreneur Bassim Haidar, a seven-night stay at a manor house in Barbados, a box at York races and a signed photograph of the cabinet. The event is further evidence of the Conservatives’ continued ability to attract significant donations even as they trail Labour in the polls by about 20 points. The party brought in just under £16m in donations in the third quarter of last year, three times as much as Labour. Labour’s Emily Thornberry, the shadow attorney general, said: “As ever, the one place in Britain that remains oblivious to the cost of living crisis is the inner circle of the Conservative party. When Jeremy Hunt delivers his budget in a few days’ time and says there are no extra funds available to mend our broken public services, we will remember where his true priorities lay this week.” The Conservative Winter Party, once known as the Black and White Ball, is a staple in the party’s fundraising calendar. Thursday night’s event was attended by several millionaire donors, including Haidar, who arrived in a personalised Rolls-Royce. A Conservative spokesperson said the party was not going to comment on the ball, describing it as a private fundraising event. Haidar, a Nigerian-born Lebanese entrepreneur whose business empire includes a financial services company and investments in medical cannabis, has become an increasingly prominent Tory donor in the last year. In 2023 he gave more than £320,000 to the party, £75,000 to the failed London mayoral candidate Moz Hossain and £10,000 worth of advertising to Lee Anderson, the recently suspended former Tory MP.
Haidar has attracted attention in part for his luxury lifestyle, which includes a fleet of yachts. The entrepreneur told Boat International magazine in December that his lifestyle at one point resembled the 2013 film The Wolf of Wall Street. Other high-rolling guests included Mohamed Mansour, the billionaire businessman and former Egyptian transport minister, and Henry Angest, the Swiss-born British banker. The event raised more than £200,000 for the party, including a bumper winning bid of £110,000 for the signed photo of the cabinet. The stay at Haidar’s beach house raised £50,000 while one at the Caribbean estate known as Colleton Great House raised £30,000. Sunak was among those to give speeches during the night, and personally presented the cabinet photograph to the winning bidder. Despite the high-profile guest list, one person who was there said the overall mood of the night was “downbeat”, reflecting the Tories’ perilous poll position less than a year from a general election.