Boris Johnson Gets Tory Donor To Gift £23,000 For Lavish Post-Wedding Bash

The generous donation came from Lord and Lady Bamford, who hosted the party at their Cotswolds estate in July.
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Lord Bamford, chairman of JCB, has been a long-running supporter of Boris Johnson.
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Boris Johnson received over £23,000 from Tory donors to help pay for a lavish post-wedding bash in the Cotswolds.

The £23,853 donation came from Lord and Lady Bamford, who hosted the party at their country estate in July.

Johnson married Carrie Symonds last year but the pair were forced to hold a small wedding at Westminster Abbey due to covid restrictions.

They had originally planned to throw a wedding anniversary party at the prime minister’s official country residence, Chequers, following his resignation earlier this year — but the plan was ditched following a significant backlash.

Instead the event was hosted at the 18th-century Daylesford House in the Cotswolds owned by Bamford.

Johnson’s supporters, including Nadine Dorries and Jacob Rees-Mogg, were seen at the bash, as was his 81-year-old father Stanley and his sister Rachel. 

Lord Bamford, chairman of JCB, has been a long-running supporter of  Johnson.

The former prime minister has appeared before JCB diggers on a number of occasions, which earned him some criticism. 

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The marquee on the grounds of Daylesford House, Gloucestershire, where Johnson and his wife celebrated the first anniversary of their wedding.
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During the 2019 general election campaign, he famously smashed through a fake wall emblazoned with the words “Get Brexit Done” in a JCB digger.

The donation, published in the MPs’ register of interests on Thursday, covered the cost of a marquee, catering, waiting staff, Portaloos, flowers, a braai [a South African BBQ] and an ice cream van.

At the time, Johnson was criticised for holding the party as the scale of the cost of living crisis became clear.

Meanwhile, new prime minister Liz Truss raised more than £400,000 for her leadership bid, according to the register.

The largest donations came from Fitriani Hay, wife of construction millionaire James Hay, who donated £100,000 to her campaign, and from a Natasha Barnaba, who also gifted a £100,000 donation to Truss.

Leadership rival Rishi Sunak raised more than Truss, receiving almost £450,000 for his campaign to be prime minister.

The former chancellor, who lost the leadership on 43 per cent of the vote compared with 57 per cent for Truss, received £443,570 in donations.

The largest donation to Sunak’s campaign came from Chris Rea, a businessman from Northern Ireland, who donated £100,000. 

He also received a donation of £28,570 from Conservative peer Michael Farmer for use of a plane during the contest.