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The Conservatives' headquarters has become a “ghost ship” after the party's crushing election defeat triggered a wave of senior management resignations, wiping out decades of experience and leaving the next leader facing serious fundraising challenges.
Several Tory officials have told the Financial Times that several veterans of the Conservative election campaign headquarters (CCHQ) have resigned as Britain's main opposition party tries to save money.
“With the exception of a few staff, almost everyone on the top three salaries – almost everyone on over £50,000 – has left voluntarily,” said one senior party insider.
Another said: “CCHQ has become a ghost ship.” A third senior party official added: “Any organisation should be concerned about the loss of corporate memory.”
Party insiders said Tory HQ hoped to make it to the end of 2024 without breaking even, but that would require deep savings and a quick cash-raising by the new party leader.
“One of the main problems is that we end up dependent on one sponsor to continue to exist,” said one leading Conservative Party figure.
A Conservative Party A CCHQ spokesman said: “CCHQ always reviews and restructures its operations following a general election.
“This restructuring will form part of the basis of the party review, which the party chairman announced at the same time as the general election review.”
All political parties employ staff on short contracts during election campaigns, and naturally there is an exodus after polling day when those contracts expire. Dozens have left since the Tories suffered their worst election result more than a century ago, July 4th.
But the Conservative exodus also includes highly experienced officials such as Gareth Fox, CCHQ's head of candidates; his department faces a wave of departures.
Some senior party officials have said they fear the party could be forced to close its Leeds branch, opened by former prime minister Boris Johnson in 2020 as a springboard to the “red wall” of traditionally Labour-voting seats, but CCHQ has strongly denied this.
Party officials said the Tories' coffers were left with £5m after the election, which should have allowed the party machine to last until the end of 2024.
But that depended on the party raising around £2m at its annual conference in Birmingham and next Tory leaderwhose election is scheduled for November 2, will quickly bring in another £1m to £2m.
“In the long term, it's a very big problem,” said one party official. “We need between £130m and £160m for a five-year parliament.”
The party is haunted by the financial collapse it faced after its election defeat by Tony Blair in 1997, when the Tory machine became heavily reliant on one donor, Lord Michael Ashcroft.
Senior Conservative Party officials said most donors were sitting on their hands, waiting for the outcome of the leadership race and an assessment of how strong Labour's support is in the first by-election.
“We have no unions to rely on. Who will support the centre-right in the UK?” said one. “None of these leadership candidates look like someone who can attract the mass donor support of David Cameron or Boris Johnson.”
Tory insiders said the party cost around £18m a year to run while in government and that it would cost even more to operate successfully in opposition without the help of a host of special advisers on civil service pay.
The party is not expected to go bust. The Conservative fund set up to shore up the party's financial future has £25m in reserves, according to one insider.
The Conservative Party raised just £1.9m during the election campaign – a tenth of the £19m it received in donations during the same period at the 2019 general election. By contrast, the Labour Party received £9.5m in the same period from 30 May to 4 July this year.