Conservative Party receives warning from Information commissioner over secretive election campaign call centre

Police investigation into whether party broke data protection and election laws is ongoing

Secret footage suggested the Conservatives may have broken data protection and election laws (Channel 4)

The Conservative Party has received a "warning" from the Information Commissioner over its use of a controversial call centre during their election campaign.

Secret footage obtained by Channel 4 News suggested the party may have broken data protection and election laws by contracting the Blue Telecoms centre in Neath, Wales, to directly contact voters in marginal seats.

The investigation found the party used a market research firm to make thousands of cold calls to voters in marginal seats in the weeks leading up to the election.

Channel 4’s Ciaran Jenkins said the call centre told voters they were calling from "AXE Research".

"Our investigation found some calls contained apparently positive messages about Theresa May and negative messages about Jeremy Corbyn," he wrote on Twitter.

This prompted an investigation by the Information Commissioner’s Office into whether the Conservatives acted illegally.

The ICO found parts of the written scripts used in calls to voters on behalf of the party "legitimate market research to unlawful direct marketing," Mr Jenkins wrote.

The party was warned its campaigns "must be rigorously checked in future" but the ICO stopped short of "formal enforcement action."

Mr Jenkins said the ICO expressed concerns over scripts which "referenced Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn".

A South Wales Police investigation into whether the party acted illegally at the election call centre is ongoing, he said.

In a letter to the Labour MP for Caerphilly, Wayne David, South Wales Police said the investigation was being conducted by its economic crime unit, which had experience in dealing with “electoral integrity investigations”.

“The investigation is of sufficient scale and significance that South Wales Police are unable to offer any specific timescale,” it said

The Conservative Party has denied the allegations.