Since July 2019, when Johnson appointed Elliot the Conservative party’s co-chair, the impeccably connected nephew of Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, has been at the centre of the operation to provide the cash to keep the Conservatives - the western world’s most successful political party - in office. ‘Ben squeezes the pips from the donors,’ says one Tory HQ insider.’ He’s like a bailiff’ © Dave Benett/Getty Images It was convened by an adept high-society operator installed by the prime minister to ensure the Tory party was bankrolled at the last election, is flush today and will be well into the future: Ben Elliot.īoris Johnson with his Conservative co-chair Ben Elliot, who deploys his charm and connections to raise record sums for the party. The evening was not organised by Johnson. And before he left for the night he vowed to press ahead with “freedom day” - the controversial lifting of most of England’s Covid-19 restrictions on July 19. Johnson, as is often his way, told them what they wanted to hear: that he hadn’t forgotten his closest supporters. “The top donors are Thatcherite free marketeers, and they have no qualms about giving Boris a piece of their mind.” “They’re fed up with all this state intervention,” one party insider with knowledge of the discussion says. Many were also members of the secretive “Advisory Board,” a hitherto unknown group of elite donors who enjoy frequent and direct access to the most powerful people in government.Īlthough Johnson was warmly received, those present say the donors boxed the prime minister’s ears over the troubles in his cabinet as well as the economic direction of the country under his leadership. These were some of the money men who had supported Johnson’s rise to power.
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