article: David Cameron will launch a multi-billion pound sale of Lloyds Bank shares if he wins the Election – in what would be the largest privatisation bonanza since the Thatcher era. The Prime Minister will today pledge that if he is returned to Downing Street he will offer the public £4 billion of Lloyds shares still held by the Government after Gordon Brown’s £20 billion panic bailout with taxpayers’ money during the 2008 economic crisis. Individuals will be allowed to buy up to £10,000 worth of Lloyds Banking Group shares, which were worth 78.7p when the stock market closed on Friday – comfortably above the 73.6p paid by Mr Brown’s government. Scroll down for video . David Cameron will launch a multi-billion pound sale of Lloyds Bank shares if he wins the Election . The shares will be offered at a discount of at least 5 per cent on the market rate at the time, with the proceeds used to help pay down the national debt. It is the latest ‘retro’ Conservative policy to hark back to the 1980s, following Mr Cameron’s revival in the manifesto of the Thatcherite ‘Right to Buy’ offer for housing association tenants. But while investors 30 years ago took overnight profits on their stakes in privatised companies such as British Gas and British Telecom – leading critics to claim that it encouraged ‘carpetbaggers’ – Lloyds shareholders will be encouraged to hang on to their holding. A loyalty bonus will be offered of one free share for every ten held for at least a year after the sale, up to a maximum bonus value of £200. The sale of Lloyds shares would be the biggest privatisation since the 1980s when Mrs Thatcher’s government sold £3.9 billion of BT shares and £5.6 billion of British Gas shares in the famous ‘Tell Sid’ campaign. Thirty-three major companies were privatised under Mrs Thatcher between 1984 and 1991, which supporters said led to a dramatic improvement in their efficiency and a boost to tax revenues for the Treasury. Like Right to Buy, it also helped to entrench Tory support among voters who benefited from the windfalls. No 10 strategists hope Mr Cameron’s pledge will remind voters of the economic problems that blighted the country under Mr Brown’s premiership. The recovery under Chancellor George Osborne has allowed him to sell £9 billion of shares in Lloyds to City investors for more than the price that former chancellor Alistair Darling paid in 2008. CLAIM: Jesse Norman and the chocolate cake he allegedly gave out while campaigning for re-election . Police are investigating a Tory MP over claims he attempted to bribe voters with chocolate cake. Jesse Norman allegedly gave out cake while campaigning for re-election at an Asda supermarket in his Hereford constituency. West Mercia Police last night said it was investigating reports of a breach of the Representation of the People Act 1983, which bans Election candidates from providing food, drink or entertainment in a bid to win votes. The probe follows would-be Ukip MP Kim Rose, who is standing in Southampton Itchen, being grilled by police for giving out sausage rolls at a party event earlier this year. Detectives are expected to speak to Mr Norman after he was photographed with trays of baked goods on April 2. He described the allegations as ‘nonsense’, saying: ‘We had a couple of small boxes of chocolate muffins ... we may have given out one or two to children, who are not even voters.’ There have been two sales to big pension funds and City institutions in 2013 and early in 2014. Late last year, UK Financial Investments, the Treasury body that manages the Government stake, hired investment bank Morgan Stanley to sell a few million Lloyds shares in the market every day over a six month period – a practice known as a ‘dribble-out’. The Government still owns £12.5 billion of Lloyds shares and experts expect £4 billion worth to be offered to the public, with the rest sold to City institutions. With the share price currently above 78p, the Tories will be able claim they have banked a profit running into billions for the taxpayer. However, while Lloyds has been a success story, the Government’s other big bank investment – Royal Bank of Scotland – has not. The Treasury under Mr Brown paid an average of 502p a share for RBS when it was rescued. They were changing hands on Friday for 349p. In Mr Cameron’s announcement today, he is expected to say: ‘The £20 billion bailout of Lloyds Bank by the last Labour government became a symbol of the crisis that engulfed the British economy under Labour. After the public bailed it out, people feared they wouldn’t see their money returned. Today they are. ‘Today’s announcement marks another step in the long journey we have been making repairing our banks, turning our economy around and reducing our national debt, only made possible by our long-term economic plan. ‘That’s why it is so important that we don’t put all that progress at risk, but instead build on what we’ve done so we can deliver a brighter, more secure future for our country.’ COUNTRY LIFE: A 'beater' at work and below,  a bottle of Sipsmith Dry Gin . The Prime Minister indulged his love of country sports by taking part in a secret country shoot near his Oxfordshire constituency home. And he celebrated with a nip of a specially prepared ‘Chipping Norton’ cocktail. But witnesses say that David Cameron did not himself use a gun – despite his reputation as a skilled marksman. Instead, he acted as a ‘beater’ to flush out the game. The event took place on New Year’s Eve but until now has been kept a closely guarded secret. It took place near Chipping Norton, the Oxfordshire town which has given its name to the ‘Chipping Norton set’ of high-profile local residents from the world of politics, media and showbusiness such as Mr Cameron and Jeremy Clarkson. Last night, the man who served Mr Cameron the cocktail said other people on what he described as a ‘country walk’ had no idea there would be a VIP guest. Jared Brown, master distiller at the West London ‘artisanal’ gin company Sipsmith, said: ‘No one but the landowner knew the Prime Minister would be joining us.’ He fought shy of describing the event as a shoot, but added: ‘I can say with utter certainty that Mr Cameron did not handle a gun.’ Mr Brown confirmed, though, that the PM did sample the cocktail, based on Sipsmith London Dry Gin. Last night, the drink, also containing manuka honey, raspberry tea and extract of echinacea, was being dubbed the ‘Chipping Norton cocktail’.
highlights: David Cameron will pledge to sell Lloyds shares if he wins the election .
  Government hold shares after Labour's £20billion bailout in 2008 .
  The £4billion sale would be the biggest privatisation since the 1980s .
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