Michael Ashcroft, the former Tory treasurer who twice had his peerage blocked, was a guest at an "intimate" supper at Chequers shortly before Christmas, reports Andrew Pierce's column in The Times.The billionaire Tory peer, who donated £5 million to William Hague's Tory party in the last parliament, sat next to Cherie Booth, the prime minister's wife.

A friend of the peer, who is said to be travelling through a Belize rainforest and not available for comment, said: "The prime minister will have to wait until Hell freezes over before Ashcroft gives money to Labour."