Senior Tories have privately expressed skepticism about a poll demanding that party members be given a vote on Boris Johnson’s sacking, after party headquarters found that less than half of a sample of signatories were members of the party.
The authors of the petition have said that the addresses and membership numbers provided by signatories are subject to strict checks and that Conservative campaign headquarters (CCHQ) have not yet received the vast majority of signatories. The Conservative Post website, which organized the petition, said it was being overseen by a team of experienced professionals.
The petition is being championed by Tory donor Peter Cruddas and former MEP David Campbell Bannerman, who said on Tuesday the campaign had nearly 14,000 signatures.
However, The Guardian understands that CCHQ has turned up several hundred names calling for Johnson’s reinstatement and most were not party members. Organizers say CCHQ has not yet received most of the names and their sampling would not be representative.
The petition on the Conservative Post website claims it has “accumulated more than 10,000 member signatures in just one week” and that signatories are “required to enter proof of membership to sign the petition, which is then immediately sent to the Conservative Party “. chairmen Ben Elliot and Andrew Stephenson MP.” This statement is expected to be revised and the petition will be sent in full at a later stage of the leadership contest.
The poll has led Johnson’s supporters to claim that one in 10 Tory members support his reinstatement as prime minister or put his name on the ballot, and suggest a possible membership revolt against the two candidates, Rishi Sunak and Liz. Truss
But internally, senior officials said the party had so far received around 300 messages containing the text of the petition. The names were checked and less than half came from people with active Tory party membership.
The party is likely to receive many more names when the final petition is sent out, but while the petition has space to enter a Conservative member number and address, a fake or random number can be put in its place.
The petitioners say they have systems in place to detect any false information and have contacted CCHQ to verify the numbers are correct. Membership number information is only held by CCHQ.
Online, several social media accounts have filled the petition with false information, including under the names of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Organizers of the petition said that all fake names had been detected and that the IP addresses of each signer had been checked.
Lord Cruddas has said the petition represents the will of members, echoing how former Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn won the members’ vote for a second time following attempts by MPs to oust him. Many of the signatories have written lengthy comments expressing distress over Johnson’s defenestration.
Cruddas has claimed Johnson “doesn’t want to resign” and “wished he could go on” as prime minister, comments he said the prime minister made to him over lunch at Checkers on Friday.
“Members are very upset about what has happened to our elected leader and we demand our say,” he said, announcing the petition.
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“This is nonsense and all part of the coup to get rid of Boris. We have had hackers and now this. They are all trying to undermine democracy and now they are trying to cast doubt on our petition. Thank you to all partners that they have signed and have continued to sign. The truth will come out and everything will be verified.”
A Number 10 spokesman said: “The Prime Minister has resigned as party leader and expressed his intention to step down as Prime Minister when the new leader is in place.”
Campbell-Bannerman said there were more than 12,000 people who had completed forms which would be emailed to CCHQ. “As with all polls, there are some done out of malice or humor, but that seems like a very small proportion,” he said.