DETAILS of the Prime Minister’s wedding party, held at the lavish country estate of a major Tory donor, have been revealed.
The party, held a year after Boris Johnson’s marriage to Carrie, saw guests including close allies of the Prime Minister descend on Daylesford House, in the Cotswolds, owned by Lord Anthony Bamford, the chairman of JCB, who has donated around £14 million to the Conservative Party since 2001.
Among the guests were Cabinet members Ben Wallace, the Defence Secretary, Jacob Rees-Mogg, Minister for Brexit Opportunities, and Nadine Dorries, reports The Times.
Also in attendance were Lord Zac Goldsmith, an environment minister, and John Whittingdale, former culture secretary.
The party was held at the 18th-century country house, set in a 1500-acre estate, after Johnson was shamed out of hosting it at Chequers, the grace and favour country residence of the Prime Minister, following the scandal surrounding his resignation.
The Johnsons were married in May last year but their celebrations were curtailed by Covid restrictions, which they have said were followed.
It is the third time Johnson has been married.
Both he and Carrie were fined by police earlier this year for breaking coronavirus restrictions in lockdown in 2020.
Rachel Johnson, the Prime Minister’s sister and a journalist, gave the first speech of the event which the paper reports went late into the night with music and dancing.
The outgoing Prime Minister then delivered a speech in which he joked the effort to oust him from office was “the biggest stitch-ups since the Bayeux Tapestry”, according to a source at the party.
He reportedly added he had received “masses of letters to resign, mostly from my closest family”.
The event was protested by staunch Remain activist Steve Bray, who pitched up on a road near the venue with a giant banner reading “corrupt Tory government”.
Staff were this week seen going in and out of the bunting-topped tent amid apparent party preparations.
Guests were able to relax on hay bales and benches placed outside the marquee and eat and drink at casks and small tables as they enjoyed views across vast meadows and orchards.
Billionaire Lord Bamford is covering at least some of the cost of the party, the Mirror reported, quoting unnamed sources.
It is not the first time Johnson has benefited from the JCB chairman’s backing.
The Tory peer supported his 2019 leadership bid, with Johnson knocking down a wall with a JCB digger at the Staffordshire factory in a stunt to demonstrate he could “get Brexit done”.
Lord Bamford’s wife, Lady Carole Bamford, set up the upmarket Daylesford Organic Farm, with a chain of shops selling its produce across London.
Johnson reportedly received food from the Daylesford farm shop worth an estimated £12,500 during the pandemic, though Downing Street said he paid for the cost of all food for “personal consumption”.
When asked about the wedding celebrations, No 10 declined to comment on the “private matter”.
