The Vote No campaign against a European constitution has raised about £500,000 from a dinner at The Savoy.

Most of the money came from an auction of gifts, such as a dinner party supervised by the celebrity chef Marco Pierre White.

Another gift included a day in Westminster featuring coffee with William Hague; a tour of Parliament from Lord Weatherill, the former Commons Speaker; tea with the Eurosceptic Labour MPs Frank Field and Kate Hoey; and drinks with Trevor Kavanagh, the political editor of The Sun.

Meanwhile, supporters of Robert Kilroy Silk claim that the former television presenter is making progress in his attempts to become leader of the UK Independence Party.