Security fears have led to delays in Conservative members receiving their postal ballots for the party's leadership contest.
In a letter sent to Tory members - seen by Sky News - the Conservative Party's head of membership confirmed postal ballots will arrive "a little later than we originally said" as "we have taken some time to add some additional security" to the process.
Members were previously due to receive their postal ballots to vote for their next leader - and new UK prime minister - this week, but the email says they should now receive their ballot by Thursday 11 August.
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The party's headquarters described it as a slight delay and were unable to give any further guidance.
A spokesperson added: "We have consulted with the NCSC [National Cyber Security Centre] throughout this process and have decided to enhance security around the ballot process. Eligible members will start receiving ballot packs this week."
An NCSC spokesperson said: "Defending UK democratic and electoral processes is a priority for the NCSC and we work closely with all parliamentary political parties, local authorities and MPs to provide cyber security guidance and support.
"As you would expect from the UK's national cyber security authority, we provided advice to the Conservative Party on security considerations for online leadership voting."
The correspondence from the party also warns voting more than once in the ongoing leadership contest will be treated as "an offence", saying any member found to have voted multiple times will "have their party membership withdrawn".
Tory members can either vote by post or online, but the party confirmed the security fears have forced it to abandon plans to allow members to change their vote for the next leader later in the contest.
The rules of the leadership contest, set by the 1922 Committee of backbench MPs and the Conservative Party board, stated members should only vote once but if a "duplicate" vote is recorded, the second one will be counted.
Allies of leadership hopeful Liz Truss were believed to have been concerned this rule would work to her rival Rishi Sunak's advantage, so may be pleased at the change - though the ballot paper delay could aid Team Sunak by giving him more time to make his case.
Earlier on Tuesday, a new poll suggested Ms Truss has extended her lead over Mr Sunak in the leadership race as he battles to make up ground during a key week in the contest for the keys to Number 10.
The latest YouGov survey of Conservative members for The Times newspaper shows the foreign secretary's lead has stretched to 34 points in the leadership race, with 60% of party members now saying they will vote for Ms Truss to succeed Boris Johnson as prime minister.
This is compared to just 26% for former chancellor Mr Sunak.
But the poll was carried out over the last five days, ahead of a major U-turn by Ms Truss on a public sector pay policy that sparked fury in the party.
On Monday night, the frontrunner said she would save £8.8bn by introducing regional pay boards instead of national ones to set salaries for civil servants, reflecting where they lived.
But experts warned that to reach the sum, the plan would have to branch out further than government departments, with the likes of teachers, nurses, and police officers also receiving lower pay than workers in the South.
After outrage from Conservative MPs, opposition parties and unions - and less than 24 hours later - Ms Truss' team released a statement saying the policy would not be taken forward.
Tory MP David Davis said Team Truss announced the policy "without thinking it through".
A former leadership candidate himself, he told Sky News he "didn't make a big deal of U-turning", adding: "If you make a mistake, back off, don't do it…. that's a good thing."
But Mr David said: "This is a dress rehearsal for being a prime minister, you can't afford to make those sorts of judgemental errors.
"When you are prime minister… you don't have time to deliberate, your instincts and judgements are incredibly important. And that is what is being judged in this process."
Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis, who is backing Ms Truss, disagreed yesterday's events were damaging to his candidate, and insisted she had proved in her cabinet roles she is "determined to do the right thing".
He told Sky News: "[She is] someone who is looking at how do we improve our country, how do we grow our economy, create more jobs, improve our education, level up across the country.
"And she is somebody who, even when things are difficult, will get on and get things done."
Other figures in the YouGov polling showed Ms Truss is now ahead of Mr Sunak among all age groups, across different parts of the country and with men and women.
The only category where he beats Ms Truss is among Tory Remain supporters.
It also found almost nine in 10 Conservative members have now made up their minds how they will vote ahead of ballot papers going out this week.
But it will concern both potential leaders that more than 50% of party members believed whoever was elected to succeed Mr Johnson would lose the party its majority at the next election.
Just 19% of members thought Mr Sunak could lead the Tories to victory, while 39% thought Ms Truss could see off a challenge from Labour.
Voting will close on 2 September, with the winner expected to be announced on 5 September and to replace Mr Johnson the following day.
Battle for Number 10
As the leadership race continues to heat up, Mr Sunak and Ms Truss will once again face the cameras this week on Sky News.
Taking place on Thursday 4 August at 8pm at Sky Studios in west London, The Battle for Number 10 will see the candidates take part in back-to-back questioning from the live studio audience made up of Conservative Party members who remain largely undecided on who to vote for.
This will then be followed by an in-depth interview with Kay Burley.
The programme will be broadcast live for 90 minutes and for free on Sky News channel 501, on Freeview 233, on Sky Showcase channel 106, and across Sky News' digital channels.
The pair also continue to face hustings across the country, with the latest set to take place in Cardiff tonight.
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2022-08-03 07:18:12Z
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