I'm off the champagne, claims David Cameron

Published on Wednesday 7 October 2009 16:05

AN EMBARRASSED David Cameron said today he was now off the champagne after being snapped with a glass of bubbly at a conference party.

The Tory leader was caught sipping Pol Roger the night before shadow chancellor George Osborne unveiled a severe package of public spending cuts.

Party chairman Eric Pickles has warned against the Tories appearing triumphant at the Manchester gathering this week – their last before the general election.

"I want to see less champagne bubbles and more bubbling activity," Mr Pickles said.

But, as well as Mr Cameron, shadow prisons minister Alan Duncan and former leader Michael Howard have also been photographed indulging in the luxury tipple.

Asked this morning whether he would now be avoiding champagne, the Tory leader told an ITV News crew: "You bet".

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His wife, Samantha Cameron, added: "He's had a good talking to."

The episode comes as Mr Cameron's privileged upbringing is under particular scrutiny, with questions about the extent of his wealth and his time in Oxford University's controversial Bullingdon Club.

His and Boris Johnson's years at Eton and Oxford will be under the spotlight tonight in a More4 documentary called When Boris Met Dave.

Mr Cameron was spotted with champagne at a party thrown by The Spectator magazine on Monday night.

Spectator editor Fraser Nelson said he had given Mr Cameron the champagne, thinking that the room had been cleared of photographers.

Mr Osborne, who yesterday called for a wage freeze for millions of public sector workers in a new era of financial austerity, said he had been drinking only water this week.

Mr Duncan joked about his own champagne incident, claiming it was all that the "lefties" had been serving at the New Statesman party he was attending.

There is more potential for embarrassment at a champagne reception being thrown by the Conservative Councillors Association this evening, the final night of the conference.

MPs and shadow ministers might now give it a wide berth, however, given the heightened interest in bubbly-quaffing Tories.

One conference-goer claimed today he had overheard a bar conversation in which champagne was requested on behalf of a Conservative frontbencher – but served in a wine glass.