Some Conservative associations, even in seats classified as winnable, had as few as three members. ‘One dose of botulism in the prawn sandwiches and we could be three associations down by dinner,’ a special adviser joked. The one hundred paid organisers employed in 2015 had all left. In Brighton Kemptown, where the Tories trailed by just 690 votes before polling day, ministers visiting the seat were surprised to discover that the local association consisted of little more than the candidate and his family.
