A billionaire playboy and a Russian oil tycoon were among dozens of mega-rich Tory donors who dined with David Cameron and his party pals this summer, explosive new documents reveal.
A list published by the Conservatives today named more than 40 donors who paid at least £50,000 to attend “Dinners with Dave” between July and September.
They included Alexander Temerko, the energy tycoon wanted in Russia on fraud charges, and billionaire art dealer James Stunt, whose wife Petra is the daughter of Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone.
The group has given the Tory Party a monster £17.4million since 2010.
Labour’s Shadow Cabinet Office Minister Jon Ashworth fumed: “David Cameron leads a party with an ever-greater reliance on big money from a small number of mega-rich donors. Ministers’ dinner dates with donors are boosting Tory coffers.”
The revelation comes as political parties prepare to publish the latest batch of donations on Thursday. It is expected to show that Tory finances were swelled further by cash from some of the richest men in Britain.
But the party offers special privileges to anyone who pledges at least £50,000 a year. It buys access to the elite “Leader’s Group” of donors, who are invited to dinners with the Prime Minister or other top Tories.
This summer’s dinners were attended by the most senior Tory ministers, including Mr Cameron, Chancellor George Osborne, Home Secretary Theresa May, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, Commons Leader William Hague, Chief Whip Michael Gove and Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith.
The Tories were tonight battling claims that the dinners are used by rich backers to try to influence party policy.
Since coming to power, the Coalition has slashed the top rate of tax for society’s richest, while cutting corporation tax repeatedly.
Mr Ashworth raged: “The Tories are wining and dining the very millionaires given a tax cut by this Tory-led Government.”
The list names 41 men who dined with senior Tory ministers in the summer after they or their firms coughed up the £50,000 required. No women were on the list.
Among the diners was Mr Stunt, 32, who made billions of pounds from gaming, shipping and mining.
The art dealer married Petra, whose father is also a billionaire, at a Rome castle in 2011 and the couple live in London and Los Angeles, where they own one of the world’s largest houses with 123 rooms.
Mr Stunt likes expensive cars, owning three Lamborghinis and five Rolls-Royces. He tried to buy a rare Van Dyck painting for £12.5million for one of his homes this year but pulled out after a public campaign to keep it in Britain.
Russian oligarch Mr Temerko appears on the list twice, suggesting he may have attended more than one dinner over the summer.
He has personally donated £265,230 to the Tories since 2010, while his wind farm firm Offshore Group Newcastle has given £220,425.
In 2012 OGN got a £4.5million grant from the Department for Business, though Tory sources insisted it was not linked to Mr Temerko’s donations.
Russia’s extradition requests were refused by a judge, who said they were politically motivated. He has since been given British citizenship.
Other big names on the list are Lord Ashcroft, the billionaire Tory peer who has bankrolled previous election campaigns, and Sir John Hall, the ex-chairman of Newcastle United Football Club.
The single biggest donor is City financier Lord Farmer, who has paid nearly £3.6million since 2010. His last donation of more than £330,000 this summer came just weeks before he was handed a peerage.
Second biggest is Sir Michael Hintze, the hedge fund baron who was knighted in 2013 and this year gave the Tories a one-off payment worth £1.5million.
The Mirror has revealed how his City firm CQS made nearly £85million in 2011 but paid less than £30,000 in corporation tax. Last year it settled a £23.5million tax bill after using a loophole to pay staff.
Another top City financier on the list is Sir Adrian Beecroft, who wrote a report for the Coalition in 2012 which called for employers to be able to fire staff at will.
His most contentious sections were blocked by the Lib Dems, with Business Secretary Vince Cable accusing him of trying to “scare workers with threats”.
Other wealthy City figures on the list include hedge fund chiefs Kenneth Costa and Neil Ostrer, investment bankers Roger Nagioff and Jitesh Gadhia and property moguls Michael Gutman and Roger Orf. Also represented is the shadowy United and Cecil Club, used by wealthy donors to channel funds into the party anonymously.
Party funding is one of the most controversial issues in Westminster.
The Tories, by far the wealthiest party, trouser most of their cash from super-rich donors. Labour receives a large portion of its money from trade unions, with some from private donations.
The Lib Dems are funded almost entirely by private cash but this amounts to far less than the main two parties. UKIP and the Scottish National Party have been largely bankrolled by one or two wealthy individuals in recent years.
The Tycoon
City financier Lord Farmer has given £3.59million to the Tories since 2010.
He was awarded a life peerage just weeks after his latest six-figure donation this summer.
The Playboy
Art dealer James Stunt, wed to heiress Petra Ecclestone, was a billionaire before he was 30.
His collection is worth millions of pounds – and even his wine hoard is valued at six figures.
The City Fatcat
Financier Sir Adrian Beecroft was commissioned by the Tories in 2012 to report how to cut red tape.
Lib Dem business Secretary Vince Cable blocked the worst ideas, which would have put staff at risk.
The Mogul
Property boss Michael Gutman was invited to dine after his firm gave the Tories £250,000.
He protested at labour’s plans to reintroduce the 50p top rate of tax for the highest earners.
The Oligarch
Energy boss Alexander Temerko – who is wanted in Russia on fraud charges – and his wind farm company oGN have handed the Tories almost £500,000 since the last election.
He was a senior executive at the russian energy giant Yukos, which was investigated for tax evasion in 2003 and went bust several years later.
Mr Temerko fled to britain and efforts to have him extradited were dismissed by judges, who said he would not get a fair trial back home.
He was granted British citizenship in 2011 and his company was given a £4.5million grant by the Government the following year. Mr Temerko paid £90,000 for a bust of David Cameron at a Tory fundraiser in 2013, with the cash going to party coffers.
The full list
Alexander Temerko (Russian oligarch who now runs North East wind farm company OGN);
Andrew Brannon (Senior executive at insurance consultancy Charles Taylor Consulting);
Andrew Law (Boss of hedge fund Caxton Associates);
Adrian Beecroft (City venture capitalist who wrote major report for Government on cutting workers’ rights);
Serge Sergeef (Boss of private jets firm Sovereign Business Jets Ltd);
Anthony Gallagher (Property mogul who runs Countrywide Developments);
Rory Brooks (Runs private equity firm MML Capital); Ranjit Baxi (Runs waste paper export firm J&H Sales);
Amjad Bseisu (Boss of North Sea oil firm EnQuest);
Bradley Yam (City broker);
Charles Wigoder (Telecoms entrepreneur who runs Telecom Plus);
Christopher Rokos (Hedge fund manager);
Lord Ashcroft (Tory peer and former party chair who donated cash via Westminster firm Anne Street Partners);
Stephen Catlin (Boss of insurance underwriter Catlin Group);
Michael Davis (Boss of mining giant Xstra); Daniel Green (Wealthy entrepreneur);
James Lupton (Co-founder of Greenhill Investment Bank);
Sir John Hall (Former chairman of Newcastle United FC);
Zameer Choudrey (Boss of Bestway Cash & Carry);
Sir Michael Hintze (Hedge fund baron who runs City-based CQS);
Edward Wray (Co-founder of online betting exchange Betfair);
Christopher Fenwick (representing United & Cecil Club, a member of the wealthy retail family);
Lord Farmer (Co-founder of the Red Kite Group, a metals trading and investment firm);
Ian Mukherjee (Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Amiya Capital, a fund that invests in emerging markets);
Ian Taylor (Chief Executive of oil traders Vitol plc);
Sir Henry Keswick (Chairman of the Jardine Matheson trading group);
David Lilley (Co-founder of the Red Kite Group); Michael Gutman (Director of Westfield Europe);
David Mayhew (JP Morgan Cazenove banker); Jitesh Gadhia (Senior adviser to financial services firm Blackstone Advisory Partners);
Ali Mosawi; John Guthrie (Director of property firm Broadland Properties);
Kenneth Costa (Former chairman of Lazard asset management firm);
Rami Ranger (Chairman of marketing firm Sun Mark Ltd);
David Ord (Managing director of the Bristol Port company);
Neil Ostrer (Portfolio manager of Marathon Asset Management);
David Roper; Roger Orf (Partner and head of Apollo Management real estate business in Europe);
Sir Michael Heller (Chairman of London and Associated Properties); Roger Nagioff (Founding partner of JRJ private equity investment firm);
James Stunt (Philanthropist and entrepreneur married to the daughter of F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone’s daughter Petra).