Senior Conservative social gathering officers labored on plans to hand over its total membership database for a business enterprise that promised to make tens of millions of kilos, the Guardian can reveal.
Leaked paperwork present Tory executives mentioned exploiting members’ private data to construct a cell phone app that might observe customers’ areas and permit large manufacturers to promote to Conservative supporters. The social gathering would take a reduce of gross sales.
The challenge was thought of over a number of months final 12 months, with the purpose of launching the “True Blue” app in time for the social gathering’s convention in October.
The concept was developed by the boss of a cryptocurrency agency with a string of failed companies behind him. Yet senior Conservative officers appeared so captivated by the plan that they ready to present the social gathering’s database of members so as to transfer the proposal ahead.
The True Blue challenge aimed to present the social gathering with direct entry to its members so as to “boost donations” by digital funds, design “bespoke messaging” primarily based on demographics, and “maximise” voter turnout by directing members to polling stations and issuing a voter id card.
However, it’s the proposed commercialisation of members’ data that can be regarding to some social gathering supporters. A presentation doc – illustrated with photos of Rishi Sunak – outlined a plan whereby manufacturers resembling Amazon and Coca-Cola may promote to social gathering members. The presentation urged the app would let firms “geo-market” merchandise primarily based on a person’s location, with the social gathering taking a share of any ensuing gross sales.
A Conservative spokesperson mentioned the app “did not progress beyond the pitch stage”. But emails seen by the Guardian reveal officers labored by final summer time on the challenge, tailoring the proposed app’s content material and requesting paperwork, together with a draft contract.
Cori Crider, a lawyer who runs Foxglove, a non-profit group campaigning for equity within the tech sector, mentioned: “It’s rather sad, really, to see the Conservative party treating their own brand and membership like a failing asset to be raided and stripped for cash as if they were some kind of vulture fund.”
‘The SuperApp’
The proposal for the app got here from Christen Ager-Hanssen, a Norwegian businessman who has mentioned that “big data is the new oil”. He got here to prominence within the dotcom bubble of the early 2000s earlier than going bust. Further enterprise misadventures adopted, together with the collapse of the Swedish newspaper Metro and a failed bid for the UK media group Johnston Press.
On 29 June final 12 months, Ager-Hanssen “had the pleasure of talking to” Rishi Sunak, in accordance to a post on X. That was the day of the summer time social gathering, one of many Tories’ large annual fundraising bashes. The similar day, Ager-Hanssen despatched an e mail to Stephen Massey, the Tory chief govt, with the topic: “The SuperApp for the Conservative Party.”
The social gathering sprang into motion. Ager-Hanssen was invited to meet the chief data officer, advertising director and head of digital to focus on the concept.
Two weeks later, Aimee Henderson, the Conservatives’ chief working officer, emailed Ager-Hanssen, telling him she had reported again to Massey that “our meeting this morning went well”.
She requested him to incorporate the prevailing Tory membership tiers – “Disraeli Club” and “Churchill Club”, up to “Thatcher Club” – into the proposed app. On 22 July, lower than a month after first approaching the social gathering, Ager-Hanssen advised Henderson: “I just finished the latest version of the app according to your input.”
An connected presentation outlined a proposal, together with ways in which customers would find a way to donate simply to the social gathering. But it urged the true money-spinner would come from the fee that large manufacturers would pay the social gathering on gross sales to True Blue customers. Profits had been to be cut up, with 25% going to Ager-Hanssen’s firm, Addreax, and the remainder going to the Conservative social gathering.
The presentation urged Addreax already had partnerships with manufacturers resembling Amazon, Coca-Cola and Apple. Contacted by the Guardian, none of those firms confirmed any relationship with Addreax or involvement within the True Blue challenge.
after publication promotion
Using figures the presentation labelled as “for illustrative purposes only”, the social gathering’s share of income may attain an estimated £160m a 12 months, it claimed. This appears a extremely bold goal: the 1.25 million customers required is greater than seven instances the social gathering’s membership of 172,000. But even a fraction of this projection would have boosted the £47m the Tories raised in donations final 12 months.
The challenge additionally proposed offering a voter ID card for the app’s customers. Civil liberties campaigners have mentioned guidelines launched in 2022 requiring voters to produce government-issued identification, resembling passports and driving licences, at polling stations dangers disenfranchising marginalised teams. Any change that may profit Tory members can be seemingly to renew controversy.
‘The next iteration’
“The amends and additions look great,” Henderson replied, a day after receiving the presentation. She hoped for “a conference launch date”, saying she would present the plan to social gathering administrators: “I suspect this will create quite a lot of excitement!”
A draft, unsigned contract seen by the Guardian says the Conservatives would supply Addreax with entry to “its database of prospective and existing members”.
Work on the challenge continued by the summer time. On 22 August, Henderson emailed Ager-Hanssen, copying within the heads of promoting, business initiatives and voter communication. Party officers, she mentioned, had been “working … on branding and membership since our last meeting”, and she or he was wanting ahead to “the next iteration of the product soon”.
Henderson added that so as to get board approval, “we quite urgently need” drafts of a data-sharing settlement and different paperwork.
The Conservatives declined to say why the True Blue app was not launched. At the top of September, Ager-Hanssen was fired because the chief govt of the cryptocurrency firm that he seems to have advised the Tories would play a task within the app.
The Guardian has seen no proof of additional True Blue discussions after this date. The Conservatives declined to reply questions on Ager-Hanssen’s enterprise file.
Neither Ager-Hanssen nor Addreax responded to requests for remark.