No cost-of-living crisis here! Tories auction off glittering Swarovski crystal portrait of Rishi Sunak for £25,000 at party fundraiser… hours after minister Therese Coffey urged people struggling to pay for food to work for longer
- Showpiece of auction at the Conservative Winter Ball at London’s opulent Savoy
- Sunak and Akshata Murthy attended before leaving together through a side door
A glimmering image of Rishi Sunak made from Swarovski crystals was sold for £25,000 at a lavish Tory fundraiser last night.
The shimmering portrait of the Prime Minister was the showpiece of the auction at the Conservative Winter Ball at London’s opulent Savoy hotel.
Mr Sunak and his wife Akshata Murthy were both at the event, before they later left together through a side door.
The event may raise eye brows at it came hours after one of his senior ministers was embroiled in a cost-of-living row.
Environment Secretary Therese Coffey – who also attended the ball – was criticised for telling people struggling to feed themselves to ‘work harder’. She also suggested people could replace tomatoes with turnips amid a shortage of the juicy salad fruit in supermarkets.
The shimmering portrait of the Prime Minister was the showpiece of the auction at the Conservative Winter Ball at London’s opulent Savoy hotel.
Mr Sunak and his wife Akshata Murthy were both at the event, before they later left together through a side door.
The event may raise eye brows at it came hours after one of his senior ministers was embroiled in a cost-of-living row. Environment Secretary Therese Coffey – who also attended the ball – was criticised for telling people struggling to feed themselves to ‘work harder’.
Other Tory heavyweights who attended the event included Home Secretary Suella Braverman and Transport Secretary Mark Harper.
The artwork of the PM was created by London-based artist San B, who has previously designed works for Bruno Mars, hip-hop legends the Wu Tang Clan and boxing champion Floyd Mayweather.
The bumper sale raised a comfortable sum for the depleted party coffers. Other lots included a shooting party at Warter Priory in Yorkshire which went for £40,000, and a trip to watch the F! Abu Dhabi grand prix, which went for £50,000, according to the Guido Fawkes website.
Earlier this month reports suggest the Conservative Party is facing a £25 million shortfall ahead of the General Election.
Bloomberg reported that the party’s operating budget was around £5 million in the red. At one point, the party’s bank account went into its overdraft to pay its staff wage bill, it added. But sources at Conservative Campaign Headquarters said they had received some big donations in recent weeks that had not yet shown up in the accounts.
Donations dropped by 45 per cent in the third quarter of 2022, according to the latest data from the Electoral Commission.
Other Tory heavyweights who attended the event included Home Secretary Suella Braverman (top), Health Secretary Steve Barclay (centre) and Transport Secretary Mark Harper (above)
Gaffe-prone Cabinet minister Ms Coffey was branded ‘appalling’ for her ‘shocking’ comments by a Labour MP as they clashed in the House of Commons.
The spat came as she admitted the cost of living crisis was ‘really tough’ for UK families.
She added that ‘one of the best ways’ for people to boost their incomes was ‘potentially to work some more hours, to get upskilled, to get a higher income’.
The row is the latest in a series of controversies to hit Ms Coffey, who has been dubbed ‘Calamity Coffey’ by critics.
On Wednesday she was booed at the National Farmers’ Union conference after she insisted UK egg shortages had not been caused by ‘market failure’.
She has also previously clashed with England footballer Marcus Rashford over his free school meals campaign and came under fire for singing ‘Time of My Life’ as the Universal Credit uplift ended when she was work and pensions secretary.
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