Tory grandees have approved a string of rules aimed at preventing any cheating or ballot-rigging for the party’s leadership contest.
Officers of the backbench 1922 Committee, which oversees the election of Theresa May’s successor, revealed that they would use special coloured ballot papers, private voting booths and identity checks in a bid to ensure ‘confidence’ in the outcome.
MPs may even face having to hand over their mobile phones in a bid to prevent any unauthorised photographs of ballot papers.
The election will formally start on Friday, once May sends a letter to the Committee’s co-chairmen announcing that she will step down and become ‘acting’ leader of the Conservatives.
She will remain as prime minister until late July, once the 160,000 party members finally chose from two contenders who have been chosen by MPs from a longlist of candidates.
Committee co-chair Dame Cheryl Gillan, who will act along with Charles Walker as returning officers for the MPs’ section of the election, said that she was a former election observer in Bosnia and would follow internationally recognised practice.
Among the measures that will be put in place are choosing particular coloured ballot papers the night before a round of voting, checking MPs’ Westminster passes and setting up private voting booths in the Commons room where the election takes place.
No photographs of ballot papers will be allowed and the committee made clear MPs will be banned from tweeting out their own papers, as some did during the vote of no confidence in May last December.
“I monitor international elections, I did Turkey, I led the team in Bosnia-Herzegovina, there will be not photographing of the ballots,” Gillan said.
When asked why the party was going to such lengths on ballot paper and identity checks, she replied: “We do trust our colleagues but we also have to have a process in which people have confidence.
“As we are in charge of it we have to go to those lengths to make sure this is a process the party does have confidence in.
“That includes different coloured papers, we’ve done that for years. They may need to leave their pass and their phone whilst they go and vote. We haven’t decided on that [but] it is not reasonable to expect the ballot papers to be photographed.”
If MPs do tweet photos of their ballot papers, Dame Cheryl said, “they will incur the wrath of the 1922 executive.”
Walker added: “You would expect high standards from us and that’s absolutely right. You will be reporting on this election and we want to make sure you have confidence in it as well.”
The party grandees also made clear that they would expect all of the candidates to go ahead with a full election among party members.
Unlike in 2016, when Andrea Leadsom withdrew from the race to allow Theresa May to be elected unopposed, all contenders will have a ‘strong expectation’ to carry on.
Walker said that the committee had made clear at its briefing for candidates on Wednesday that anyone who ended up on the ballot paper for members would have to stay in the race.
“The expectation is that if they are in the final two, they will put themselves through the membership hustings,” he said.
“We’ve had a conversation with those who have indicated they are going to put their papers in.
“There is a great recognition across the parliamentary party that this does need to go to the membership this time. Potential candidates are fully aware of that and hopefully relishing the prospect.”
The 1922 Committee confirmed on Thursday its timetable for the MPs’ section of the contest.
It will host formal hustings on June 11 and 12, followed by the first round of voting by MPs on Thursday June 13.
A further hustings with the remaining candidates is set for 17 June and the second round ballot will take place the day after.
Up to five MPs ballots are expected to take place, with the last two candidates standing announced on 20 June. The final two will go forward for a postal ballot of Tory Party members, with the winner expected to be announced by 22 July.