CCHQ has instructed personnel not to attack Burnham too heavily or campaign hard in Makerfield. Leaving that to Reform…
Co-conspirators may have noticed that the Tories – equipped with potent attack capabilities – have gone a little light-touch on the Manchester mayor. Guido hears personal advisers to shadow ministers have been instructed to hold back full fire on him and the by-election for now. Separately Guido has reported that CRD, the research and attack unit in the central party, is holding fire on Burnham for the moment…
The party is keen to deny Reform a big victory. Restore’s Rupert Lowe – who is polling significantly in Makerfield – has been filmed referring to his “agreement” with the Conservatives in the past and Tory sources point out that Restore is not standing in the Tory target Aberdeen South. Helping Burnham in is a double-edged sword…
UPDATE: The Tories insist in their defence that they are going at Burnham through the papers and are sending Shadow Cabinet ministers to Makerfield.
Tory members have just been informed:
“After careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to introduce a small increase of £2 in membership fees from 05 January 2026.”
The previous fee was £39 annually. Already hiked by 56% in 2022…
CCHQ is moving to a new building closer to Victoria after it ends the £1 million per annum lease on Matthew Parker Street. The party goes on to justify its fee increase:
“Membership fees go towards exciting new projects like:
Developing a new Membership Portal to allow members to self-serve and get the most out of their Party membership.
Implementing digital membership cards for new, easy, and practical way to access your card as well as the continuation of the popular physical cards.
Launching a new campaigning app to enable our activists across the country to campaign more easily and effectively.”
Digital Tory ID…
The Tories are battling over how easy it should be for former MPs to be reselected for the next election. Got to get there first…
Guido hears reports of a fight on the Conservative Party Board between senior MPs and the voluntary party about how to treat them. 1922 Committee chairman Bob Blackman and his allies are fighting for a lighter process while the chairman of candidates is pushing for full reassessment. No special treatment…
It has now been broadly agreed that it will be slightly different, but former MPs will still have to go through a pretty full process. That means no special deals for back door readoption. Good luck…
CCHQ has sent out an emergency email alerting local party branches to massive gaps in the party’s membership record-keeping. According to this message, more than 1000 office holder slots are now empty, and 131 associations currently have no office email address on record with Matthew Parker Street. ‘We would rather have duplicates of correct details than no details at all…’
“We have sent out several reminders recently about updating Association and Officer details within Bluebook. Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to update these details for their Association.
However, we are still missing lots of information from Associations across the country. Did you know:
• There are 50 office holders who should receive this bulletin, but don’t because we don’t hold an email address for them.
• There are 1023 office holders whose term ended between 2020- 2025.
• There are 131 Associations that we do not currently hold an office email address for.
It is really important that these details are kept up to date. We use this information to contact you about membership transfers, updates from CCHQ and member queries. We will also use this information to provide login details for Officer Pathway training.
Updating your Association and Officer details only takes a few minutes. Please email […] with a full list of Association Officers and your Association email address.
If you’re not sure whether we hold the correct details for your Association, please do send these in to us – we would rather have duplicates of correct details than no details at all!”
Check your spam folder…
Moles tell Guido that Badenoch’s former strategy director Rachel Maclean is leaving CCHQ and LOTO for good. The Tories briefed that she would take on a new position after Henry Newman took over the LOTO operation at the Shadow reshuffle. Hasn’t occurred…
Guido hears Maclean will stay on the candidates committee with recently-appointed Badenoch ally Bernard Jenkin. They are joined by Clare Hambro and her appointed vice-chairman the remainer Elizabeth Gibson. More on candidates ‘reforms’ as they happen…
Guido was trawling through CCHQ’s job ads this morning to see how Kemi’s “reset” of the party’s campaigning machine is shaping up. Turns out, they’re hiring. Just not for money…
They’re after a “Research/Press” volunteer, working for “0 pay” on “0 specific hours”. Applicants must have “excellent research and analytical skills”, “a strong academic background”, and will be churning out policy “analysis”, “new initiatives”, and “campaign ideas”. All for love of the game…
Also on offer: “Membership Growth Volunteer” and “Political Events & Operations Volunteer” – again, both unpaid. For any co-conspirators hoping to get paid in pounds, there are openings: Two campaign manager roles in Scotland and Havant are available on a “competitive” salary. Kemi needs you…
UPDATE: A Labour source tells Guido: “It’s no wonder the Tories are desperately trying to block new rights for workers. It means they would actually have to pay their staff.”
Badenoch said at her speech on Monday morning: “We are absolutely ready to fight a general election. We saw the results in Aberdeen South: 50% of the vote. Because we can unite the country… It’s about uniting the country, for God’s sake, behind a centre-right agenda.”
