Conservative members are facing delays in getting their ballot papers in the mail to vote for who they want to be the next party leader due to security fears.
In a letter sent to Conservative members seen by Sky News, the Conservative Party’s head of membership confirmed that postal ballots will arrive “a little later than we originally said” as “we have taken some time to add extra security” to the process
Members were due to receive their votes in the mail this week.
However, the email sent to members says they should receive their ballot by Thursday, August 11.
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The correspondence adds that voting more than once in the ongoing leadership contest will be treated as “an offence” and warns that any member found to have voted multiple times “will have their party membership withdrawn”.
He adds that Conservative members can vote by post or online.
But the Conservative Party has confirmed that security fears have forced it to abandon plans to allow members to change their vote for the next leader later in the contest.
Allies of leadership hopeful Liz Truss were believed to be concerned that the original rule allowing Tory members to change their vote in the contest would work to the advantage of her rival Rishi Sunak.
The rules of the leadership contest, established by the Conservative Party backbench committee and board of 1922, state members should only vote once, but if a “duplicate” vote is recorded, the second
CCHQ described it as a slight delay and was unable to provide any further guidance.
A Tory Party spokesman said: “We have consulted with the NCSC throughout this process and have decided to improve security around the voting process. Eligible members will start receiving ballot papers this week.”
Earlier on Tuesday, a new poll suggested Ms Truss has widened her lead over Sunak in the leadership race.
It comes as Mr Sunak struggles to regain ground in what is a key week in the race for the keys to No.10.
The latest YouGov poll of Tory members for The Times newspaper shows Ms Truss’ lead has stretched to 34 points in the Tory leadership race, with 60% of party members now saying they will vote for the Foreign Secretary to succeed Boris Johnson as Prime Minister.
This compares with just 26% for former chancellor Mr Sunak.
The poll, conducted over the past five days, shows Ms Truss is now ahead of Mr Sunak across all age groups, in different parts of the country and with men and women.
The only category where she beats Ms Truss is among Tory Remain supporters.
The YouGov poll published on Tuesday also found that almost nine in 10 Tory members have already decided how they will vote before the ballots go out this week.
But it will worry the two potential leaders that more than 50% of party members believe that whoever is elected to succeed Mr. Johnson would lose the party’s majority in the next election.
Just 19% of members thought Mr Sunak could lead the Tories to victory, while 39% thought Ms Truss could fend off a challenge from Labour.
Voting will close on September 2nd and the winner is expected to be announced on September 5th.
As the leadership race continues to heat up, Sunak and Ms Truss will face the cameras again this week on Sky News.
Taking place on Thursday 4 August at 8pm at Sky Studios in west London, The Battle for Number 10 will see the candidates take part in back-to-back questions from the live studio audience made up of members of the Conservative Party who remain largely undecided about who. to vote
This will be followed by an in-depth interview with Kay Burley.
The program will be broadcast live for 90 minutes and free-to-air on Sky News channel 501, DTT channel 233, Sky Showcase channel 106 and Sky News digital channels.