Labour friends set to splash the cash at auction
ED MILIBAND is expecting Labour grandees to splash the cash at the party’s election gala dinner tonight, with auction lots from artists Antony Gormley, Anish Kapoor and Grayson Perry featuring a combined reserve price of £140,000.
According to the auction guide seen by CityAM, the party is seeking donations to boost its election campaign, with donors being offered the chance to play football against shadow chancellor Ed Balls and others for upwards of £2,500.
Those attending the gala dinner, where tables cost £15,000, can also bid for an answerphone message from Star Trek star Patrick Stewart for a reserve of £1,000, or lunch with Jack Straw MP for £350.
The dinner, at the Roundhouse in north London, has already come under scrutiny after it emerged Labour has set the donation element of the ticket at £7,000, just below the price at which donations have to be declared.
The party will no doubt be hoping to match the money raised by the Conservative Party at its election dinner last week, when a tennis match with Prime Minister David Cameron and London Mayor Boris Johnson fetched an impressive £160,000.