Cherie speech 'boring book plug'

When Cherie Blair arrived in New Zealand for the start of her controversial charity tour, it was treated with all the excitement of a royal visit.

Despite criticism of the Prime Minister's wife for accepting a fee said to be more than £100,000, audiences were said to be looking forward eagerly to hearing her speak.

But the first event of her six-date speaking tour left guests - who had paid up to £380 a ticket - feeling badly let-down, with many dismissing her speech as a "boring book plug".

Mrs Blair even committed the cardinal sin of confusing New Zealand with Australia.

"I thought Cherie was very poor," said insurance executive Caroline Canning, 34. "She flogged her book and I think for a woman of her credentials she could have talked about a lot more meaningful subjects.

"It was all about who painted which walls in Downing Street. I'd give her three out of 10."

Local celebrity chef Peta Mathias said: "I was expecting something more intellectual. I had no idea she would be talking about the book."

The sensitivities surrounding the tour were highlighted when Mrs Blair banned UK newspapers from hearing her speech, delivered against a backdrop illustrating her book The Goldfish Bowl. Reporters from several British newspapers, including the Evening Standard, were barred from the SkyCity Convention Centre in Auckland, where Mrs Blair addressed more than 800 guests, including Prime Minister Helen Clark.

"There is no media access at all," said Max Markson, the Sydney-based PR consultant promoting the tour, despite the presence in the audience of several New Zealand television and newspaper journalists.

Some of the guests and performers were unable to hide their distaste at the suggestion that Mrs Blair may end up being paid more than the charity itself. A leaked "draft budget" for the tour lists Mrs Blair's fee as £102,600 while the Children's Cancer Institute, the beneficiary of the Australian dinners, is guaranteed only £99,800 - about a fifth of the overall budget.

Hinewehi Mohi, one of New Zealand's foremost Maori singers, said: "It sort of seems a contradiction in terms, charity and then a fee, but as I understand it Volkswagen are paying the costs of her coming out so that the charity makes some money out of it.

"Maybe it's a win-win situation but certainly I would be expecting to have my socks knocked off by her speech."

In the UK, Mrs Blair has come in for blistering criticism. Conservative co-chairman Liam Fox said: "She is Cherie Booth in her professional life, but it is Cherie Blair whenever there's cash to be made."

Others, however, defended her. New Zealand TV personality Mary Lambie said: "Cherie Blair is the drawcard, so pay her, fantastic. The girl's got to earn a dollar."

Her appearance was in aid of the Starship Foundation, the fundraising arm of Auckland's children's hospital. Andrew Young of the foundation said they "desperately" needed the money and the charity was "very grateful". At the hospital, Mrs Blair held two sick six-month-old babies, one a car crash survivor and the other a spina bifida sufferer.