A CONSERVATIVE MP who wants to replace Theresa May as Prime Minister accepted a lavish dinner from a tobacco company, the Morning Star has found.

Sir Graham Brady was chair of the powerful 1922 Committee of backbench Tory MPs until he stood down on Friday to consider running for Downing Street.

But his suitability for the top job is now in question after it emerged he received £600 in hospitality from Japan Tobacco International (JTI).

The cigarette giant took Mr Brady and his wife Victoria Lowther to dinner at the British Museum in March, according to the MP’s latest register of interests.

The cosy meal has angered campaign group Action on Smoking & Health (Ash), which said it was “completely inappropriate.”

Ash chief executive Deborah Arnott told the Star: “It’s hard to understand why Sir Graham thinks it’s acceptable to be wined and dined by Japan Tobacco, when its profits come from products which kill hundreds of constituents every year.

“Furthermore the UK has legal obligations to protect its health policy from the commercial and vested interests of the tobacco industry, so it is completely inappropriate for a candidate for the Tory leadership, and therefore potential Prime Minister, to cosy up to a tobacco manufacturer in this way.”

JTI’s portfolio includes flagship brands Benson & Hedges, Winston and Silk Cut.

It also claims to have products that are “at the forefront of the vaping tobacco products market,” which are believed to be of a lower risk to health than smoked tobacco.

JTI says it supports regulation that is “evidence-based, proportionate and effective.”

Mr Brady’s office was approached for comment.

Mr Brady’s cosy dinner at the British museum may anger some, but it pales in comparison to the handouts enjoyed by Tory frontrunner Boris Johnson.

He was paid £10,000 an hour to speak at a Swiss bank last month, trousering £25,298 from the ultra-posh Banque Pictet in Geneva.

It was just the latest in a series of eye-wateringly expensive speaking tours that Mr Johnson profited from.

In March, he received £122,900 to speak for three hours on-air with news magazine India Today — owned by Living Media India Limited.

That same month he earned £38,250 plus VAT from talking to Citigroup bank in Canary Wharf for two-and-a-half hours.