Want To Get Near A Tory Minister? You Might Need To Save Up

This Is How Much You Need To Earn To Dine With A Cabinet Minister
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The Conservative Party's annual Black And White Fundraiser on Monday saw the rich and famous elite splashing hundreds or even thousands of pounds to rub shoulders with top Tories.

This latest donor party was an understated affair - no black tie, just lounge suits. But the guest list was still studded with diamonds and kept under lock and key.

The Black And White Election Fundraiser, looking to bank a cool few million for May, was so secretive they didn't even have any name cards on the tables.

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David and Samantha Cameron at a previous Black And White fundraiser

Due to the guest list being hidden away, we can only know who went based on photographs and eyewitness accounts (and that's just the people who entered through the front door).

The Tories held the same bash last year, featuring 570 guests worth £22bn collectively. Not including the politicians.

Aside from spending £1,500 to attend, you need to be quite minted to even be invited to the event, held at the Grosvenor House Hotel on Park Lane in Mayfair.

Here's what some of the guests are worth and how they made their fortunes:

Conservative Party Donors At The Black And White Fundraiser
Karren Brady - £82m(01 of10)
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Brady kicked off her career in advertising at Saatchi & Saatchi before moving to LBC, where she landed a huge deal with one of her dad's friends - porn peddler David Sullivan.

Sullivan later offered her a directorial role at Sport Newspapers and she bought Birmingham City FC and sold up later, making a hefty profit.

Her net worth is now estimated at £82,000,000.
(credit:Danny E. Martindale via Getty Images)
Nancy Dell'Olio and Ivan Massow - £4.6m(02 of10)
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Massow started his own financial services company, Bowater Financial Services Ltd, in 1990. Starting with only £5000, he was a millionaire within a decade.

He's also a gay rights campaigner and is thought to be worth $7,000,000 (£4,600,000).

Nancy Dell'Olio rose to fame as football manager Sven-Goran Eriksson's girlfriend, then became a celebrity in her own right when she took part in Strictly Come Dancing and started writing for The Sun. Her net worth isn't known, but she did get paid £2,000,000 to move out of a flat after she split with the Swede.
(credit:Danny E. Martindale via Getty Images)
David Gold - £350m and Jacqueline Gold - £537m(03 of10)
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Starting from the ground up, David Gold made his fortune in porn, publishing, lingerie and football. His bank account is bursting with £350,000,000 while daughter Jacqueline, mastermind behind the Ann Summers Party Plan, is thought to have £537,000,000. (credit:Danny E. Martindale via Getty Images)
David Sullivan - £400m(04 of10)
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Alongside buddy David Gold, Sullivan made a fortune in porn, sex shops and football. He sold Sport Newspapers for £40,000,000 in 2007, and is now worth £400,000,000. (credit:Danny E. Martindale via Getty Images)
Charlie Mullins - £60m and Linda Mullins(05 of10)
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The founder of Pimlico Plumbers was spotted at the Tory gala too, flaunting his reported £60,000,000 fortune. (credit:REX)
Peter Stringfellow - £33m and Bella Wright(06 of10)
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Night club and strip club tycoon Peter Stringfellow is said to be worth $50,000,000 (£33,000,000).

His wife is a former dancer at the English National Ballet, but quit to dance at one of Stringfellow's clubs.
(credit:Danny E. Martindale via Getty Images)
Billy Murray and Elaine Murray(07 of10)
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No-one really knows how much Billy and wife Elaine have stored away, but given his illustrious career on The Bill, Eastenders, and the Call Of Duty game series, they're probably quite well off. (credit:Danny E. Martindale via Getty Images)
Ranbir Singh Suri - £40m(08 of10)
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The jewellery tycoon is a big fan of Tory bashes and holds a life peerage in the Lords.

He's worth a whopping £40,000,000, and loves a good donation to his party.
(credit:Andrew Parsons/PA Archive)
Subaskaran Allirajah - £180m(09 of10)
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The owner of LycaTel and LycaMobile, Subaskaran Allirajah is worth £180,000,000 and loves the Conservative Party, despite his company avoiding corporation tax for seven years. (credit:Wikipedia)
Stanley Fink - £70m(10 of10)
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Fink is a hedge fund boss and the former CEO of Man Group PLC.

He has already donated more than £2,500,000 to the Tories, is one of the party's top 20 donors, and is a life peer. He dines with David Cameron at Chequers and was at Monday's party fundraiser.

His worth is estimated at a massive £70,000,000.
(credit:Adam Davy/EMPICS Sport)

According to MailOnline, more than 1,000 people attended the star-studded event, ranging from low-level Tories to hedge fund managers, bankers, porn peddlers and Barons.

The fundraiser was expected to bank £3m for the Conservative Party's election fund, which party bigwigs hope to have at £26m before May.

The donors dined on a starter of smoked salmon with horseradish. The main course was confit of lamb neck with celeriac and a haggis sauce, and they topped it off with panacotta with rhubarb and mint oil.

That was all washed down with a gratuitous supply of wine and champagne.

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No word yet on what brand it was, but we're fairly sure it didn't come from Lidl

According to the Financial Times, a party source said anyone dishing out £10,000 for a table could expect to be seated with a whip, while a contribution of £15,000 would put you rubbing shoulders with top Tory ministers. Anyone who only shelled out £5,000 for a table might be lucky to get a junior minister and a table by the loos.

There was also a silent auction, featuring a host of strange and undesirable prizes as revealed by BuzzFeed, like shoe shopping with Theresa May, afternoon tea with Boris Johnson, and a JCB digger.

A small bronze statuette of the late Baroness Thatcher fetched £210,000 for the party, while a luxury trip to Italy sold for £220,000.

Here's some of the least enticing things auctioned by the Tories at Monday night's event:

A brand new Subaru Outback (What, you couldn't get a Jag or a Rolls?)

Original sketches of Lady Thatcher

A JCB digger

Anya Hindmarch Clutch (It's a handbag that looks like a box of matches.)

A collection of budgets signed by George Osborne

A chicken dinner at Michael Gove's house, cooked by Mrs Gove

Tea & book review with BoJo (Wouldn't it be great to hear the mayor rant about his own work? Sounds riveting.)

Shoe shopping with Theresa May

2015 party manifesto signed by David Cameron

A morning jog with Nicky Morgan

The chance to run a 10km Iron Man event with Iain Duncan Smith

That all follows on from the Conservative summer party last year, when someone payed £15,000 for a jar of honey made by the foreign minister's bees.