DOG walking with Ruth Davidson was one of the star prizes at a lavish and exclusive Tory fundraising do in London last night.
It’s the second year that time with the Scottish Tory chief has been up for grabs at the Black and White ball’s silent auction.
Last year she was won for £20,000 by Lubov Chernukhin, a Russian donor who has put hundreds of thousands of pounds into Tory party coffers.
Chernukhin’s husband, Vladimir, was a former crony of Vladimir Putin, working as his deputy finance minister and then chairman of a state-controlled bank.
It’s understood that Chernukhin and Davidson have not yet had lunch and there is currently no date in party leader’s diary for the two to get together.
According to the Evening Standard’s diary column, auction prizes at the ball included dinner with Environment Secretary Michael Gove and his wife Sarah Vine at their home, and an exclusive “British Cheese Tasting” session with Chief Secretary for the Treasury Liz Truss.
Guests were also offered the opportunity to win a two-night stay in Edinburgh with Davidson, with the added bonus of a walk with her dog, Wilson.
Davidson wasn’t at the ball at the Battersea Evolution venue in south London, and it’s not known who won her or how much they paid.
The auction was presented by actor Wynne Evans, best known for his role as Gio Compario, the opera singer in the Go Compare adverts.
Cabinet ministers in attendance included Gove, Work and Pensions secretary Amber Rudd, the Brexit secretary Stephen Barclay, the Commons leader Andrea Leadsom, and the health secretary Matt Hancock.
Some of the party’s celebrity supporters were there too, including I’m A Celebrity winner Georgia Toffolo.
Theresa May stopped over in between Brexit talks in Belfast and Brussels.
Ian Lavery, the chair of the Labour Party, said: “It’s unbelievable that rather focusing on sorting out the mess she and her party have made of Brexit, the prime minister appears to have jetted back to spend a lavish evening with super rich donors.
“The Tories need to rethink their priorities and start acting in the public’s interest instead of just their party’s.”
He continued: “Tory ministers live on a different planet. While they are busy hobnobbing with super rich donors at a lavish party, our public services are in crisis, people’s pay is being squeezed and councils are at breaking point.”
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