Tory MPs face having their mobile phones seized before vote on new leader, to prevent cheating

British Conservative lawmakers may have their mobiles confiscated before they vote in the party leadership election, to prevent them taking pictures of their ballots. Disobey and there’ll be consequences, a Tory chief has warned.

As Tory MPs prepare to vote five or six times to whittle down the 11 candidates to two by June 20, they’ve been told to expect a far stricter voting process, with fears any photo taken of a voting slip could be copied to gain an advantage.

Dame Cheryl Gillan, acting co-chair of the Tories’ 1922 Committee, the powerful body charged with coordinating the election process, insists pictures of ballot papers will “absolutely not” be tolerated, as part of an anti-cheating crackdown.

We're going to try to prevent it this time, there were MPs that did it last time. They may need to leave their pass and their phone whilst they go and vote. It is not reasonable to expect the ballot papers to be photographed.

Both backbench and cabinet ministers will be expected to show security-cleared ID, and the color of the ballot papers is only be decided the night before.

Gillan cited her experience monitoring international elections in countries such as Turkey and Bosnia-Herzegovina, where no photography was allowed. The MP for Chesham and Amersham warned Conservative MPs that if they try such antics then “they will incur the wrath of the 1922 executive.”

The two final candidates are then put to a vote by around 160,000 Conservative Party members, scheduled for the end of July. Former foreign secretary Boris Johnson is the hotly-tipped favorite to succeed PM Theresa May as Conservative leader. Current Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt and Environment Secretary Michael Gove are, reportedly, his nearest rivals.

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