MICHAEL Gove left a Tory party fundraiser early in a row over donors' access to MPs, Sky News has reported.
The broadcaster says the incident happened at a Conservative Party conference event in Manchester earlier this month, when a dinner offer gave donors a chance to get a senior minister to sit at their tables.
It's understood that concerns were raised about that behind the scenes as ministers feared they'd face accusations of a conflict of interest.
Sky News said Gove, now Boris Johnson's Housing Minister, refused to be placed with developers who had offered £4000.
It quoted a senior minister as saying that party bosses were putting people "in an impossible position" and adding: "Nobody really wants to do these dinners because there is always a risk of conflict of interest but this one was a joke."
A senior Tory source said the fundraising operation "needs a total reality check".
READ MORE: Michael Gove insists UK is not bypassing devolution but 'augmenting' it
In November 2019, then-housing secretary Robert Jenrick was seated next to party donor Richard Desmond — and later approved his £1 billion property development. That decision was reversed as a result of legal action by the local authority.
A Conservative Party spokesman said: "At no stage in the preparation for this event did CCHQ plan to sit Mr Gove with any property developers. Any claims to the contrary are entirely false."
A spokesman for Gove declined to comment.
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