Tory donor stumps up £15,000 for dinner with Ruth Davidson

Ruth Davidson's status as the darling of Conservative members - and the party's donors - was confirmed after over £15,000 was bid to at a gala fundraiser to secure dinner with the Scottish Tory leader.

Dinner with Ms Davidson is reported to have raised more than seven times the sum offered to dine with a key member of Theresa May’s cabinet, the International Trade Secretary Liam Fox.

Hundreds of guests paid as much as £10,000 a table to attend the Black and White Ball and rub shoulders with senior Conservatives including the Prime Minister, Amber Rudd, David Lidington, Jacob Rees-Mogg and Zac Goldsmith.

Mrs May is said to have thanked donors gathered in the central hall of London’s Natural History Museum for not having been “fairweather friends” despite her party’s troubles in the past year.

Dinner with Ms Davidson in Edinburgh raised at least £15,000 compared to just £2,000 for a meal with Mr Fox, one of the leading Brexiteers in cabinet who recently returned from accompanying the Prime Minister on a trade mission to China.

However, the Scottish Tory leader was outbid by a lot offering dinner with the Defense Secretary Gavin Williamson in the Churchill War Rooms, which fetched £30,000.

One donor paid £55,000 to shadow the Prime Minister for a day.

A home-cooked dinner for four at the residence of Environment Secretary Michael Gove and his wife, columnist Sarah Vine raised £12,500.

Guests also bid for an I’m A Celebrity get together for 12 friends with Stanley Johnson and his co-star Georgia Toffolo at the Boisdale restaurant in Mayfair.

Kezia Dugdale is not believed to be part of the prize.

Ms Toffolo, a cult figure for combining being a 23-year old reality TV show winner and a Tory, told the Times that she briefly discussed her status as “queen of the jungle” with Mrs May.

She added that Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson was “campaigning” for her to run as an MP.

Guests dined on cured confit sea trout followed by slow cooked blade of beef, washed down with Nyetimber Classic Cuvee Multi Vintage sparkling wine from West Sussex, a 2016 Domaine Louis Moreau Chablis, and a 2014 Chateau Calvimont Bordeaux.