Tory MPs have revealed that whips have been ringing them to encourage them to go to Kemi Badenoch’s first party conference as leader in October amid concerns that it will be poorly attended.
An email has been sent to MPs to urge them to attend, while MPs have reported calls from party whips asking if they are planning to turn up at the Manchester event with the tone described as “pleading”.
One veteran MP told The Independent: “I don’t remember whips calling before like this.
“I was actually planning to go but I think there is a concern that not many people will attend.”
The office manager of another MP said: “I have to say it sounded to me like a pleading call. It was highly unusual. I’ve been organising conferences for years now and I don’t think this has happened before.”
Meanwhile, a member of staff of a third MP said: “There has been an email encouraging MPs to go.”
However, it appears the words of encouragement have not had the desired effect on all MPs, with one telling The Independent: “I’m not going. Little point.”
However, the Tories insisted it was “not unusual” for whips to try to gauge attendance numbers before conference and said they were not concerned.
A source added: “From what I know MP attendance this year is set to be very healthy.”
It comes as senior figures in the Conservative Party admit that their leader “is just not cutting through at the moment”.
There is speculation that Ms Badenoch may not survive next year’s local elections in May if results go badly again, and suggestions that her rivals from the leadership race – shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick or shadow communities secretary Sir James Cleverly – could replace her have not gone away.
Meanwhile, Nigel Farage’s Reform is dominating the news agenda and the polls around eight points ahead of Labour with the Tories a distant third.
The party leadership is considering bring forward “meaty announcements” earlier than planned in an attempt to try to shift the dial.
Last year’s Tory conference in Birmingham was well attended, despite the party’s historic defeat in the general election.
However, one MP noted: “We were still running the leadership conference then and there was a lot of interest in the final four candidates. I suspect a lot of those who turned up last year have left the party or even defected to Reform.”
The Independent has asked the Conservative Party for comment.
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