Tories fear half of party will not vote on leadership

Senior Conservatives fear that only about half of the Tory party's 310,000 members will bother to vote in the election for the new leader.

The growing anxiety in Tory circles about a low turn-out emerged as supporters of Kenneth Clarke angrily accused his rival, Iain Duncan Smith, of rejecting his ideas to boost the number of members who take part. Mr Clarke wants the party to publish a running total of how many ballot papers have been returned in order to encourage members to use their votes.

About 40 per cent of Tory members are believed to have voted already but some party officials fear the final turn-out could be lower than the 59 per cent at the general election in June. They are worried that a leader elected by only half the members would not have a clear mandate, encouraging his opponents to try to oust him before the next general election.

"We failed to engage the public in June; it would be terrible if we now turn off our own members," one Tory source said.

The latest row between the candidates emerged in a leaked internal memo by David Prior, the acting Tory chairman. He told members of the party's board that he opposed releasing the number of ballot papers received. Tory sources believe that issuing the figure could provoke complaints from hundreds of party members who have not received ballot papers even though they believe they are entitled to vote.

Mr Duncan Smith is said to have "vigorously opposed" disclosing the number of votes cast to date when he was consulted by Central Office. The Clarke camp accused him of trying to limit the turn-out because the most active party members would be more likely to back him than Mr Clarke.

But a spokesman for the Duncan Smith campaign dismissed the allegation. He said he was worried that the running total might not be accurate because many husbands and wives who were both members might have returned their ballot forms in a single envelope.

Central Office said the issue of whether to disclose the number of votes cast was "under review" and a decision would be made soon. Voting ends on 11 September, with the result announced the following day.