A SENIOR Tory strategist revealed yesterday that he leads a double life as Britain's leading organiser of upmarket sex parties.

By day Dougie Smith, 41, is the respectable co-ordinator of Conservatives for Change (Cchange), the influential Tory think tank whose board members include Theresa May, the Conservative party chairman.

It was founded last year by Francis Maude and supporters of Michael Portillo. Archie Norman MP, the former Asda boss, also sits on its board.

However, by night Smith runs Fever Parties, a London-based organisation that hosts "five-star" orgies for swingers.

The revelation that Smith is promoting orgies will anger those on the traditional wing
of the party. It will also test to the limit the social liberalism of the modernising Tories that Cchange represents.

Yesterday Smith confirmed that for five years he has been bringing together a fashionable London set of professionals for sex parties in Mayfair town houses and country mansions. The parties, attended by up to 50 couples at a time, carry on until dawn, with participants swapping partners and taking part in unusual combinations.

According to Fever's website and guests who have attended, the parties start with couples, most of them strangers, mingling over drinks and canapes served by waiters in a candlelit lounge. Guests then gradually drift off into adjoining rooms furnished with enormous beds.

Smith, himself a swinger, confirmed he organised the parties but insisted he had done nothing wrong:

"I have never made a secret about the fact that I run both Cchange and Fever.

"The two things don't overlap and therefore do not pose a problem. Fortunately we're living in the 21st century and even naturally censorious people tend to feel slightly self-conscious about wagging their fingers at what consenting adults do behind closed doors."

Smith is a well-known figure in Conservative circles. He has acted as an adviser to several senior right-wing figures, including the late Sir James Goldsmith and has written speeches for a number of leading Conservative MPs.

He is also a prominent member of the Aspinalls poker set that play for high stakes at the London casino. After becoming involved in Conservative politics while at university, he became vice-chairman of the frequently controversial Federation of Conservative Students. He has also acted as a political adviser to Sir James Mancham, former president of the Seychelles and a well-known playboy.

Maude, the former Tory shadow chancellor who, as the chairman of Cchange, is Smith's boss, stood by him last night: "I have no idea what he gets up to in his private life, and as long as it's legal I don't care," he said.

Some on the traditional wing of the party were not so tolerant. Ann Widdecombe, the former shadow home secretary, said: "For those who wonder if the modernising agenda of Cchange is going too far, this is precisely the sort of thing that gives cause for that wonder.

"I certainly don't regard it lightheartedly. I take a dim view of that sort of behaviour."

Fever parties are held every few months, mainly in smart areas of London, although the organisation has recently expanded operations to Manchester and has held an event in an 18th-century mansion in Dorset. The most recent party was in March and the next is on July 26 in a London town house.

According to the website, prospective party-goers must supply Fever with a photograph and a CV, including their real name and address. Smith and his colleagues then check the bona fides. Each couple is charged £50 a party but Smith said that he did not profit financially and all the money was ploughed back into the organisation.

"Generally we get between 200 and 400 applications for each party. We choose people who are good at partying, who want to come because they are kinky, not desperate," he said.

A journalist who attended a Fever party on behalf of Arena, the men's lifestyle magazine, said: "As I stood admiring the sight of undulating prime UK flesh that was even more spectacular than I had imagined, it suddenly struck me that nobody was going to believe any of it. But it's all true."

He added: "The sight of the huge bed in the main room in full swing — so to speak — with about 30 people in or around it and several couples watching from the sides is staggering."

Emma Jeynes, a 27-year-old marketing director with a company that produces events for Buckingham Palace, has attended two Fever parties.

She said: "Before going I was apprehensive; would I like the people? Would we have anything in common? Would the place be clean? But I had nothing to worry about. The couples are friendly, attractive and easy to talk to."

The Fever Parties website states that men must come with female partners but single women are allowed. It adds that couples who have rows during parties will be ejected and that red wine is banned because "it always ends up on the hosts' carpets".

Explore UK News

• Crime News

• Education News

• Health News

• Science News

• Scotland News

Times Recommends

• Don't despair: great players learn from defeat
• Pope clears way for Cardinal Newman sainthood
• Ecclestone: despots are underrated