Cleaners and security staff at the Conservative Party's London headquarters have reportedly been laid off as the party seeks to bolster its election campaign funds.
Workers at 4 Matthew Parker Street in Westminster are said to have been terminated in a cost-cutting drive before the local elections next month and the general election, expected in 2024.
Some had worked at Tory HQ on modest salaries for many years, The Times reported.
Party insiders are understood to be concerned about the move spooking potential donors.
“It’s sad because, obviously, we all want to win the next election, but it’s not a great look," one source told the paper.
A Tory spokesman said the party does not comment on staffing issues.
During the final quarter of 2022, the most recent data available, the Tories brought in £4.7million in donations.
This put them behind Labour, which secured £5million.
Leader Sir Keir Starmer's election war chest was also given a significant boost earlier this month when Lord David Sainsbury, one of the biggest New Labour-era donors, returned to the party with a £2million contribution.
It comes as hotelier Rocco Forte, the Boris Johnson-era Tory donor, said he would no longer give the Conservative Party money because of the Government's handling of the economy.
Tory sources said incoming funds had been boosted in the first quarter of this year.
The results of the YouGov survey earlier this month mark Labour’s biggest lead over the Tories in London since the polling company started tracking the city’s voting intentions in 2010.
In 2020 it was reported that Conservative Campaign HQ planned to move out of the building after family-owned investment group Charles Street Buildings bought the property for £51.5 million from Aviva Investors the previous year.
There were plans for a smaller office somewhere in the capital with a bigger HQ in the North or the Midlands.
But the proposals are yet to go ahead.
