Champagne signed by Johnson sold off as partygate ‘souvenir’
A BOTTLE of champagne signed by Boris Johnson was labelled a “souvenir of partygate” as it was auctioned at a charity event.
Oliver Dowden, the Conservative Party chairman, donated the item “in good faith” months before Thursday night’s auction and the partygate row.
It ended up being listed by sale organisers with the description: “A bottle of champagne signed by Boris: hugely valuable as a souvenir of partygate and the exemplary behaviour and morality of our dear leader!”
Objections gained momentum after Jay Rayner, a food writer at The Guardian, posted a photograph from the event brochure on social media. This was shared thousands of times and Mr Rayner claimed it showed the Tory party did not take partygate “seriously”.
A spokesman for Mr Dowden was quick to distance him from the caption, and said: “This item was donated in good faith several months ago for a local charity auction ... Oliver Dowden had no prior knowledge of the description and this is obviously not his view.”
The event took place on the same day that Scotland Yard revealed it had issued another 50 fixed-penalty notices over lockdown-breaking gatherings in Downing Street and Whitehall, bringing “partygate” fines so far to more than 100.
The Hertfordshire Community Foundation, which organised the fundraiser, has apologised for the caption’s wording and said Mr Dowden was not involved in its composition.