Senior Tories privately dismiss petition to reinstate Boris Johnson

Exclusive: organisers claim petition has nearly 14,000 signatures but CCHQ sampling found fewer than half were party members

Senior Conservatives have privately voiced scepticism about a poll demanding party members be given a vote on the removal of Boris Johnson, after the party's headquarters found fewer than half of a sample of signatories were party members.

The authors of the petition have said addresses and membership numbers provided by the signatories are undergoing stringent checks and that Conservative campaign headquarters (CCHQ) has not yet received the vast majority of the signatories. The website Conservative Post, which organised the petition, said it was being overseen by a team of experienced professionals.