Look who’s coming to dinner

Tory election coffers are being swelled by hundreds of thousands of pounds in donations from rich backers including hedge fund bosses, bankers and big business.

And the way to the Tory heart seems to be through food washed down with plenty of drink.

The Tory Party runs a so called “Dave’s Diner” club if you have a cool £50,000 a year to spare. But don’t worry if you don’t – there are cheaper options on Dave’s Diner’s menu.

A la carte is the Leaders Club option. That is if you have ÂŁ50,000 a year to spare and could stand dining with Cameron, Osborne, IDS and Michael Gove.

According to Tory HQ website, “Members are invited to join David Cameron and other senior figures from the Conservative Party at dinners, post-PMQ [prime minister’s question] lunches, drinks receptions, election result events and important campaign launches.”

Party donors include some industry bosses. And businesses linked to two of the Party’s largest donors have received £7.8m in grants from the department for business innovation and skills in the last two years.

Sir Anthony Bamford has the £3bn JCB business empire – yes, that JCB. He would need one his own diggers to move the cash he and his businesses have donated to the Tories in 2014 alone.

According to the Electoral Commission, one of his companies – JCB Research has donated £840,000 to Tory MPs, constituencies or Tory Central Office in 2014. On April 23 this year the department for business innovation and skills announced JCB was awarded a grant of £3.3m with a partner business to develop digger technology.

Alexander Temerko, is a member of the ÂŁ50,000 a year Leaders Group, and another big Tory donor both individually and through his firm Offshore Group Newcastle. On October 19, 2012, the company announced it had been awarded a ÂŁ4.5m grant from the business innovation department to develop a new factory to build parts for wind turbines.

There has never been a suggestion of any link between the supply of donations to the Tory party and government grants. But there is little doubt that tax cuts for the wealthy will assist each and every large Tory donor.

The Leaders Group is packed with men – it is almost exclusively male – from finance, banking and hedge funds. According to the Labour Party, hedge funds benefited from ÂŁ145m in new tax breaks last year.

Tory HQ has its central “Dave’s Diner” menu of clubs for a fee. But for those who can’t afford the £50,000 for the Leader’s Group there is the Treasurers’ Group – a snip at only £25,000 a year.

The Tory website says this group “is aimed at substantial financial supporters with a keen interest in politics. Members are invited to join senior figures from the Conservative Party at dinners, lunches, drinks receptions, election result events and important campaign launches.”

Only £10,000 to spare? Never mind – you can still join the Renaissance Forum. The Tory website says this is, “For our closest supporters to enjoy dinners and political debate with eminent speakers from the world of business and politics. Members are invited to all Team 2000 events.”

Feeling less flush? The Front Bench Club – £5,000 a year – gets you lunches and dinners with Tory MPs. The Business and Entrepreneurs Group – £2,500 a year – gets you the same.

And finally on the menu is Team 2000, only £2,000 a year. It is, according to the website, “The principal group of donors who support and market the Party’s policies in government, by hearing them first hand from the Leader and key Conservative politicians through a lively programme of drinks receptions, dinner and discussion groups.”

There seems to be a lot of drinking and eating by a lot of Tory backers funding the Party. This is at a time when the Party and its MPs are attacking food banks for the poor.

Jennie Formby, Unite political director said, “The Tory Party’s big backers look like a few hundred super-rich donors mostly from finance and hedge funds. Most privileged is a group of very fat cats paying £50,000 a year to eat at the same table as Cameron and other senior Tories.

“This at a time when growing numbers of poor are relying on food banks. What we see here shows the sharp contrast between the haves and the have nots.

“There are those who have plenty of money for food dining at the tables of the powerful. On the other hand are those forced to rely on charity food handouts who have no money and no power,” she added.