Sunak allies say delay to leadership vote amid 'hacking' fears 'helps'

Rishi Sunak’s allies say delay to leadership vote amid ‘ballot hacking’ fears could HELP ex-chancellor as he tries to overturn Liz Truss’s 34-point advantage with pair ready to face party members TONIGHT

• Liz Truss has gained the support of 60% of Tories against 26% for Rishi Sunak
• But  Conservative party halted plans to start the voting process earlier this week
• GCHQ warned the mixed postal and online voting system could be ‘vulnerable’

Rishi Sunak could benefit from a voting delay caused by hacking fears in the Tory leadership race, allies claimed today as he and Liz Truss prepared to be grilled by party members.

The party halted plans to start the voting process earlier this week after a warning from GCHQ that the mixed postal and online voting system could be ‘vulnerable’. 

Originally, Conservative party members were going to be given a postal ballot which had a code with it, individual to each voter. 

Afterwards, they could then submit their choice by post or online for the first time- and were able to change their decision later in the contest. 

But that has been abandoned because of fears the vote could be manipulated. Instead once a member has voted they cannot change it.

Sunak ally David Davis today suggested the  delay could be ‘helpful’ to the former chancellor. 

Ms Truss, the Foreign Secretary, opened up an astonishing 34-point lead in the latest opinion poll of Conservative members who make up the electorate, suggesting Mr Sunak has a mountain to climb.

Ms Truss, who has for weeks been the favourite to succeed Boris Johnson as prime minister, is supported by 60 per cent of Conservative members.

Just 26 per cent said they were backing former chancellor Mr Sunak, who has been launching a policy blitz in a bid to catch up with his rival.

The survey by YouGov for the Times also pours cold water on the former chancellor’s hopes of changing their minds, as he prepares for tonight’s third hustings in Cardiff.

More than 80 per cent of those who say they will support his rival insist their minds are already made up and they plan to cast their votes for her as soon as possible. 

Just 17 per cent say they might still change their mind while 29 per cent of Mr Sunak’s supporters say they might still vote differently.

But Mr Davis told the BBC: ‘A degree of delay is helpful to us … exposure to challenge is a very important part of this process.’

The Daily Mail has also endorsed Ms Truss for the leadership as ‘an authentic standard-bearer for low-tax, small-state Conservatism’.

Sunak ally David Davis today suggested the delay could be ‘helpful’ to the former chancellor.

Ms Truss, the Foreign Secretary, opened up an astonishing 34-point lead in the latest opinion poll of Conservative members who make up the electorate, suggesting Mr Sunak has a mountain to climb.

Liz Truss, who has for weeks been the favourite to succeed Boris Johnson as prime minister, is supported by 60 per cent of Conservative members. Pictured: Liz Truss during her visit to Twelve Oaks Farm in Newton Abbot, Devon, as part of her leadership campaign

Just 26 per cent of Tory members said they were backing former chancellor Mr Sunak (pictured), who has been launching a policy blitz in a bid to catch up with his rival

A poll of Tory members revealed yesterday suggested that Mr Sunak was only five points behind Ms Truss

Tory leadership vote delay as spy chiefs warn ballots ‘could be vulnerable to hackers’ 

The Tory leadership vote has been hit by a delay after spy chiefs warned that ballots ‘could be vulnerable to hackers’.

Originally, Conservative party members were going to be given a postal ballot which had a code with it, individual to each voter. 

Afterwards, they could then submit their choice by post or online for the first time- and were able to change their decision later in the contest. 

According to the Telegraph, the chance to change the ballot was scrapped due to National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) advice, after the organisation raised concerns about online hackers changing votes online which could have thrown the process into disarray.

Advice from the NCSC was more general and focused on the vulnerabilities of the voting process- there is believed to have been no threat from a hostile state. 

The new plans mean that each voter will have their unique code deactivated after they have made their candidate choice.

A Truss campaign spokeswoman said:  ‘We have great momentum and Liz’s message of economic growth, low taxes and her ability to deliver from day one is resonating with members. 

‘We are not complacent and will continue to fight for every single vote. Liz is out across the country meeting as many members as possible and showing why she is the candidate who will deliver on our 2019 manifesto promises, unleash the full opportunities of Brexit and unite the Party.’ 

Tory MP David Davis, who is backing Rishi Sunak in the leadership contest, has played down the significance of recent polls.

Speaking to Sky News he said: ‘To be fair to the polls, these are difficult to do – how do you find Tory members? You know we don’t publish their names. You ring someone up – ”Are you a Tory member?”, ”Well, I voted Tory so that makes me a Tory member”, ”No, it doesn’t”.’

Mr Davis said the poll that does count is the one which comes in after around August 11 when people start sending their ballots in.

He added that the polls which came out on Wednesday were taken before Liz Truss’s U-turn on restricting public sector workers’ salaries.

‘I think the public will come to a view on judgment on that,’ he said. ‘It’s very, very important in this process.’

Miss Truss bolstered her lead despite pledging on Monday night to save £8.8billion by ending the process where civil servants’ pay is set nationally.

Her campaign said the introduction of regional pay boards would not only save money, by paying staff in the North or South West less than those in London, but also boost growth in areas where private firms struggle to match state wages.

But the policy was criticised by many who claimed that it would mean a pay cut for millions of public sector workers.

Tees Valley’s Tory mayor Ben Houchen said: ‘There is simply no way you can do this without a massive pay cut for 5.5million people including nurses, police officers and our armed forces outside London.’

The policy unravelled within a few hours yesterday morning after critics – including many in Miss Truss’s own party – warned it would undermine the Tories’ drive to ‘level up’ the country including the areas of the North and Midlands that secured the party’s majority at the last election.

Boris Johnson would remain in No10 as prime minister if he was allowed to run for Tory leader again, a new poll shows today.

Conservative members lashed out at party MPs who forced Mr Johnson to announce he was stepping down last month in a sign of the divisive nature of his leadership.

Some 53 per cent of those polled by YouGov for the Times said that the more than 60 ministers who quit to bring down an administration cripple by sleaze has been wrong to act.

Those MPs included leadership contender Rishi Sunak, who quit as chancellor, but not Liz Truss, who remains Foreign Secretary.

However, the poll also suggested Mr Johnson would beat both of them, were he allowed to run. 

Some 40 per cent of those surveyed said they would back the current PM if the party altered its rules to allow him to defend his position.

A grassroots campaign by some of Mr Johnson’s closest allies has pushed for this to happen but there are no plans for the rules to be changed.

St Austell and Newquay MP Steve Double said: ‘This would be hugely damaging to public services in Cornwall where we already struggle to recruit NHS staff.

‘The billions saved would be coming straight out of rural economies. This is levelling down, not up.’

Yesterday Miss Truss’s campaign ditched the plan for regional pay boards. A spokesman said: ‘Over the last few hours there has been a wilful misrepresentation of our campaign. Current levels of public sector pay will absolutely be maintained. Anything to suggest otherwise is simply wrong.

‘Our hard-working frontline staff are the bedrock of society and there will be no proposal taken forward on regional pay boards for civil servants or public sector workers.’

Speaking for the first time about the U-turn, Miss Truss insisted: ‘I never had any intention of changing the terms and conditions of teachers and nurses. But what I want to be clear about is I will not be going ahead with the regional pay boards. That is no longer my policy.’

And asked if it had been an error of judgment, she said: ‘I’m being absolutely honest, I’m concerned that people were worried – unnecessarily worried – about my policies and therefore I’m being clear that the regional pay boards will not go ahead.’

Conservative former Northern Ireland secretary Brandon Lewis, who is backing Liz Truss, said ‘there was never any risk to the pay of the brilliant public sector’.

Asked about the Truss campaign abandoning a flagship policy to slash £8.8 billion from public sector pay outside London, he told Times Radio: ‘You do see during leadership campaigns obviously people putting out ideas – we’ve seen Rishi Sunak’s team have put out eight or nine different things that they’ve changed around.

‘The reality of yesterday is, what Liz was outlining was part of a package of dealing with Whitehall waste. We all want to see that dealt with, it’s part of a programme of work actually to get the Civil Service – it’s grown by about 91,000 just in the last few years, back down to levels where we’re using taxpayers’ money efficiently and effectively.

‘What Liz was looking at yesterday and what the campaign was looking at is what you do in new contracts as people come in, but look, she made it very clear yesterday, we’re not taking this forward, this isn’t something that’s going to happen and we value obviously all of the work – and there was never any risk to the pay of the brilliant public sector who’ve done so well through the Covid period and the challenges that we’ve seen over the last couple of years.’

‘There is simply no way you can do this without a massive pay cut for 5.5million people including nurses, police officers and our armed forces outside London,’ said Tory critic of Liz Truss Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen. Pictured: Rishi Sunak (left) speaks with Tees Valley Mayor, Ben Houchen, during a visit to Teesside Freeport, Teesworks, in Redcar

Mr Sunak’s camp had hoped that the hostile reception to Miss Truss’s plans and her U-turn would have helped turn the contest in his favour.

But the latest poll shows just 26 per cent backing for the former chancellor, while Miss Truss is 34 points ahead of Mr Sunak.

The Foreign Secretary is more popular among all age groups and regions across the country, with Mr Sunak only coming out on top with Remain voters, last night’s YouGov poll revealed.

Conservative members said Miss Truss trounced Mr Sunak on the major issues, with 55 per cent saying she would handle the cost of living situation more effectively, while more than two-thirds backed her defence plans.

Some 74 per cent said she was in touch with ordinary people, which compared to just 11 per cent for Mr Sunak.

The findings suggest Miss Truss’s campaign has gained huge momentum in recent weeks.

The previous YouGov poll – in the wake of Penny Mordaunt’s elimination from the leadership race – had just an 18-point gap between the final two contenders.

Miss Truss then gained momentum after a series of Cabinet ministers and other big names in the Conservative Party threw their weight behind her.

Her calls for immediate tax cuts have also been well received while Mr Sunak initially rejected similar promises before belatedly saying VAT on energy bills should be removed.

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