The authors of the petition said that the addresses and membership numbers given by signatories were subject to strict checks and that Conservative campaign headquarters (CCHQ) had not yet received the vast majority of signatories. The Conservative Post website, which organized the petition, said it was overseen by a team of experienced professionals. The petition is backed by Tory donor Peter Krudas and former MEP David Campbell Bannerman, who said on Tuesday the campaign had nearly 14,000 signatures. However, the Guardian understands that CCHQ has tested a few hundred names calling for Johnson’s reinstatement and the majority were not members of the party. Organizers say CCHQ has yet to receive most of the names and its sampling would not be representative. The petition on the Conservative Post website claims it has “gathered more than 10,000 member signatures in just one week” and that signatories are “required to enter proof of membership in order to sign the petition, which is then immediately sent to Conservative Party Chairs Ben Elliot and Rt Hon Andrew Stephenson MP’. This statement is expected to be revised and the report will be fully forwarded at a later stage in the leadership contest. The poll led Johnson’s supporters to claim that one in 10 Tories back him as prime minister or to put his name on the ballot – and suggestions of a possible member revolt against the two candidates, Rishi Sunak and Liz. Truss. But internally, senior officials said the party had so far received about 300 messages with text from the petition. The names were checked and less than half came from people with active Conservative party membership. The party is likely to receive many more names when the final petition is submitted, but while the petition has space to enter a member number and Conservative address, a dummy or random number may be placed in its place. The authors of the report say they have systems in place to catch any false information and have contacted CCHQ to verify the numbers are correct. Membership number information is only held by CCHQ. Online, several social media accounts have filled the report with false information – including the names of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Organizers of the petition said all fake names had been caught and the IP addresses for each signer had been verified. Lord Crundas said the petition represented the will of members – in the wake of how former Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn won the members’ vote for a second time after MPs tried to oust him. Many of the signatories have written lengthy comments expressing dismay at Johnson’s defense. Croundas claimed Johnson “doesn’t want to resign” and “wished he could continue” as prime minister, comments he said were made to him by the prime minister during lunch at Checkers on Friday. “Members are very upset about what happened to our elected leader and we demand our input,” he said, announcing the request. Subscribe to First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every morning at 7am. BST “This is nonsense and part of the coup to get rid of Boris. We’ve had hackers and now this. Everyone is trying to undermine democracy and now they are trying to challenge our petition. Thanks to all the members who signed and continue to sign. The truth will come out and everything will be verified.” A No 10 spokesman said: “The Prime Minister has resigned as leader of the party and has expressed his intention to stand down as Prime Minister when the new leader is in place.” Campbell-Bannerman said there were more than 12,000 people who had filled in forms that would be emailed to CCHQ. “As with all polls, there are some that are done out of spite or humor, but that seems like a very small percentage,” he said.
