Action stations! It’s go go go this weekend as the old campaign vehicles crank into life once more. Are you (still) ready for Rishi? A Boris backer? Or a Mordaunt man? As the three candidates scramble around to tot up their tallies of parliamentary supporters, a rather different madcap muddle is happening in associations across the country. For those whizz kids at CCHQ – Tory high command to you and me – are in something of a pickle.
Up to 20,000 members lack an email address which mean they will be unable to vote in a membership vote, if the indicative vote tomorrow night fails to persuade one candidate to stand down. A 36-hour race is now on then to track down every offline member and try to establish an alternative way for them to vote. CCHQ are currently coordinating telephone canvassing sessions tonight and tomorrow to reach out to these grassroot Tories, with association chairmen being given huge Excel sheets and being asked to get on the phone as soon as possible.
A national task force of volunteers is currently being recruited to assist in this, with associations told to only get volunteers who have not endorsed a candidate and are choosing to stay neutral. Some associations are going round knocking on members’ doors this weekend to collect contact details, with one London district alone having more than 125 members without an email address.
Looks like it’s not just the MPs in Westminster who have a sleepless night ahead of them…
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