Brexit news: Tories fear Ukip infiltration (Image: GETTY)
Some within the party fear the rising numbers in membership is due to the possibility of choosing Theresa May’s successor. According to The Sun, the new arrivals are thought to be from Ukip - dubbed “Bluekippers” - and also Remainers signing up to try to stop a new hardline Brexit leader. Party figures show 30,000 new members have joined within the last year putting the party’s overall numbers to more than 150,000.
One senior Tory official told The Sun: “We’re not going to be able to stop people joining up just to vote for a new leader now.
“If Theresa resigned when she intended to, at the end of May, we could have balloted the membership within five or six weeks.
“There’s very little chance of that now Brexit has been pushed back, so the danger is it will become a free for all.”
The new membership number is a seven-year high for the Tories although, under party rules, new members cannot vote in leadership contests unless they have been a part of the
