The Conservative Party was forced to abandon plans to allow members to change their vote for the next leader later in the contest because of the concerns. The sudden change means that postal ballots have not yet been issued for the roughly 160,000 Tory members who will choose Boris Johnson’s successor. Ballots were due to be sent from Monday, but members have now been warned they could not arrive until August 11. The decision was made following advice from the National Cyber ​​Security Centre, part of the UK’s GCHQ hearing post. The Telegraph understands that fears were raised that bad actors could swing the votes of many party members, causing chaos in the democratic process. It is understood there was no specific threat from a hostile state, with the advice being more general and about the voting process and its vulnerabilities. China, Russia and Iran have previously been accused of trying to influence polls and have been publicly accused of trying to interfere in the 2020 US presidential election by US intelligence chiefs. A spokesman for the National Cyber ​​Security Center said: “Defending the UK’s 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 security guidance and support to cyberspace. “As you would expect from the UK’s national cyber security authority, we provided advice to the Conservative Party on security issues for the online leadership vote.”