Swift move to stop ‘entryists’ getting vote

THE Conservative Party will move this week to stop “entryist” activists from signing up as members for £25 each in a bid to stop Boris Johnson becoming Conservative party leader.

The party board is due to rubberstamp the rules for the leadership campaign tomorrow and formally start the leadership contest.

The decision will mean that any new members will not have a vote in the leadership election. One backbench 1922 committee member said anti-Boris campaigners had spent the weekend persuading people who would vote against Mr Johnson’s leadership to join the party for £25 each.

The Tory party is desperate not to make the same mistake as Labour, which allowed people to join for £3 each and elect the hard-Left Jeremy Corbyn as leader last year.

The source said there were fears of “entryism into the party” with the sole purpose of stopping Mr Johnson becoming leader.

The source said “anti-Boris people” were already trying to sign up members: “It started in London and it is rolling out. It is happening. Right now there is a growing threat of entryism to the party.”

It has emerged that David Cameron is under pressure from MPs to stay on longer as Prime Minister, to allow more time to decide who will succeed him as party leader.

Philip Lee, a Tory MP, has written to the 1922 committee, which will submit the election rules to the party’s board, asking that the board pressure Mr Cameron to delay his resignation.