WHO had given the order was hard to say, but as the organiser of Cherie Blair’s tour of Australia and New Zealand personally escorted me out of the Star City Convention Centre in Auckland last night he was gracious enough to offer me my £100 ticket fee back.

Max Markson, who has masterminded the six-city tour for which the Prime Minister’s wife is receiving a reported £100,000, said that the British press were barred from reporting Mrs Blair’s words of wisdom. “I would let you in, but I have been instructed not to allow the media inside,” he added, before forcing me through the front door.

As the boss of Markson Sparks!, the Sydney-based marketing agency that organised the fundraising function, surely Mr Markson issued the instructions, I inquired? Or was it Mrs Blair? The 1,000 people who did hear her talk for 30 minutes were divided about the value of their tickets. Some were mildly amused by her account of family life at Downing St; others saw it as a plug for her book The Goldfish Bowl: Married to the Prime Minister. Signed copies were available for £30.

Nor were they impressed at Mrs Blair calling them “Australians” — twice. Nothing upsets a Kiwi quite as much as being mistaken for an Australian. One person present called it “the worst faux pas you can imagine”.

Another, Caroline Canning, 34, a British migrant, said: “I thought she would talk about human rights or other big issues, but it was all a bit disappointing. I’d give her three out of ten.” Peter Mathias, a celebrity chef, had not expected Mrs Blair to talk about her book: “I thought she’d have something more intelligent to say.”

In an interview on local radio she gave a hint of what the audience might have endured. “One of the challenges is just making time to talk to each other as a couple,” she said. “By the time you have done the children and all the jobs, there’s not always enough time for each other.”

On food: “Tony would never have married me if he didn’t think I was a good cook, because he loves his food.” On children: “One of the things we wanted when we went to No 10 was our children to still live like their friends . . . so we try to keep things low-key.”

Mrs Blair’s fee for the charity tour has angered members of the public and some local commentators, but Mr Markson said that reports of the size of Mrs Blair’s fee were “embarrassingly wrong” and that he was contractually bound not to disclose the sum.

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