It has all the makings of a political noir: a secret meeting in a Westminster pub where one machiavellian operator spinning for a would-be prime minister hands a dossier of evidence to the opposition party in order to smear their rivals. And like all the best Westminster rumours, it has a basis in truth. But the truth is perhaps even more unbelievable than the story. The reality is that multiple campaigns have been in touch with the Labour party to distribute rumours about their rivals. Not everything is fully formed – just titbits sent on WhatsApp which sources suggest merit further investigation. But it is a mark of how bitter the race to become the next Tory leader – and the prime minister – has become so quickly. The propaganda flying around includes lurid rumours of affairs, business dealings and questionable tax statuses. Not all would meet the public interest test. Those who have faced planted attacks so far include the chancellor, Nadhim Zahawi, but there are also expected to be coordinated efforts to undermine the campaigns of Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss.
On Monday, an ally of the home secretary, Priti Patel, was forced to admit he had shared a memo sent round Tory WhatsApp groups attacking Sunak’s record on the economy. Patrick Robertson denied being the author of the document when confronted by the Times but admitted he had shared it. The memo gives a flavour of the bitterness likely to seep into the campaign against Sunak if he makes the final two. It accused Sunak of “a failed March 2022 budget that was a welter of contradictions, tax raises and sleights of hand that defied analysis, logic or comprehension”. The memo also said Sunak had “publicly lied not once but twice when seeking to explain his wife’s ‘non-dom’ tax status”. And it highlights the ex-chancellor’s supposed opportunism, saying he had “launched his campaign for the leadership of the Conservative party with a website domain registered in December 2021”. “Getting ‘Ready for Rishi’ means supporting a candidate who, like Boris, landed a Partygate fine from the police for breaking lockdown rules.” Other candidates are also coming unstuck by unsavoury briefings on culture war issues. Penny Mordaunt, whose allies had briefed she had one of the most well-organised and insurgent campaigns with a high number of backers, has near disappeared from view after coming under fire for her previous vocal support of trans rights. She was forced to issue a multi-tweet thread denying that she was “woke” and insisting she had previously “challenged the trans orthodoxy”, but then was undermined again by rivals including Suella Braverman who said she had supported using gender-neutral language in a bill.
Senior Labour figures cannot believe their luck on where the dividing lines have been drawn. The party is most vulnerable on culture war issues – mostly because of a public belief that the party is too obsessed with identity politics – and on the economy, where focus groups show voters do not trust Labour on spending. “To have a Conservative leadership contest where candidates tear themselves apart on culture wars rather than cost-of-living makes them look out of touch – plus you have candidates making absolutely ludicrous tax and spend pledges including extra cash for big business,” one Labour adviser said. “It couldn’t be better in terms of our weaknesses with voters.”