The Conservative Party have raised fees for joining members by over 50% in a move branded "stupid" by a Tory MP, the Mirror reports. After figures published this week showed a fall in private donations to the party, Conservative Party Campaign Headquarters (CCHQ) will increase the fees for new sign ups from £25 to £39 per year, while costs for the existing 170,000 members will remain frozen until 2024.
A Tory spokesperson said: "An increase to the membership fee, which has been frozen for 16 years, has been agreed. Existing members will see their membership fee frozen in 2023 and the new membership fee remains substantially cheaper than Labour's", with a standard membership rate over £50 per year, with reduced fees for students, trade union members and pensioners.
The decision to increase the fee vexed Conservative MP Justin Tomlinson, who described it as an "absolutely stupid idea," before adding: "If the party needs to balance the books stop wasting millions on polling/research telling us the blinding obvious. Money should be spent on campaigning and membership organisation - not a difficult concept".
It has been a rough few months for the Conservative Party, with a massive decline in donations in the third quarter following the resignation of Boris Johnson as Prime Minister and the subsequent appointment of Liz Truss in his place. Between April and June the party's donation total reached £4.7 million, a starkly different figure to £2.8 million from July to September.
More concerningly for the party, Keir Starmer's Labour has received a significant increase as the next general election in 2024 gradually closes in.
A Labour spokesman said: "Donors are coming back to Labour because they can see we are a changed party that is serious about getting into government.
"We are very grateful for all support, large or small, as we gear up to fight the next general election".
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