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Wine tasting goes for £30,000 at Conservative Party fundraiser

The night of 20 June saw the Victoria & Albert Museum host an auction to raise funds for the Conservative Party. Lots included dinner with three Prime Ministers, a shooting weekend and a wine tasting.

The V&A Museum

In attendance were Conservative Members of Parliament (including the Prime Minister), as well as strategists and donors. Despite the cost of living crisis, reports suggest that tables for the event cost up to £20,000 if there was a Cabinet minister sat there.

The meal during the event was well received, according to Business Insider, with one attendee saying: “The food was fantastic, the wine was even better. They were amazing wines, best wines we’ve had”. The Champagne was reportedly Louis Roederer.

Dinner was salmon tartare followed by fillet steak with asparagus mash and, for dessert, passionfruit meringues. Politico reports that the band was playing ABBA songs.

The prized experience was a dinner with David Cameron, Theresa May and Boris Johnson. The (unnamed) winner of the star lot might not have taken it all, but they will participate in what could be a very awkward experience – the current Prime Minister is not known for having a harmonious relationship with his predecessors, especially due to their differing views on Brexit. It sold for around £120,000.

Bids were high for other experiences for sale too. A shooting weekend in Market Harborough sold for £37,000, a safari went for £65,000 and tickets for Chelsea vs. Arsenal went for £5,000.

The winning bid for the tasting came from Lubov Chernukhin. In 2007 she married Vladimir Chernukhi, former Russian deputy minister of finance. She has been a vocal critic of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. She has also donated approximately £2million to the Conservative Party – though that figure needs to be revised upwards in light of this recent auction.

db has reached out to the Conservative Party inquiring about the details of the tasting. The lot has been described by some media outlets as a “tasting tour”, while others call it a “tasting lunch”. The region and winery/ies involved have not been revealed.

The fundraiser went somewhat better than a recent auction which left the blue party red-faced as one of the listings poked fun at “Partygate”.

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