Detectives are carrying out an investigation of “scale and significance” into allegations the Conservative party’s use of a call centre in Wales may have broken the law.

Secret footage had suggested the Tories may have breached election law by allegedly using a call centre to directly contact voters in marginal seats. The party has insisted it did nothing wrong and said the call centre was hired to carry out legal market research and direct marketing.

South Wales police wrote to the Labour MP Wayne David this week explaining that members of its economic crime unit with expertise in investigating electoral integrity and complex and serious fraud were looking into the allegations.

The letter, written on behalf of the assistant chief constable, John Drake, and seen by the Guardian, suggested the inquiry into what happened at the call centre, run by Blue Telecoms in Neath, could be protracted.

It said: “The investigation is of sufficient scale and significance that South Wales police are unable to offer any specific timescale of events.

“Rest assured that the officers within this department have the required specialist skills and expertise for this often challenging area of business and will, as with all investigations, act in a diligent and expeditious manner.”

The police confirmed the investigation was being carried out in relation to the Representation of the People Act 1983. A spokeswoman said: “As an investigation is under way, it would be inappropriate to comment any further at this time.”

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) also confirmed it was investigating the call centre.

A spokesperson said: “The information commissioner reminded campaigners from political parties of their obligations around direct marketing at the beginning of the election campaign. Where we find they haven’t followed the law, we will act.

“We are carrying out an investigation into the Conservative party marketing campaign conducted from this call centre.”

David, the Labour MP for Caerphilly, said: “I am pleased that both the police and the Information Commissioner’s Office are conducting detailed investigations.

“The allegations that the Conservative party broke electoral law during a general election campaign are extremely serious and the public need to have confidence in our electoral process. That is fundamental to our democracy.”

A Conservative spokesman said: “We are unable to comment on an ongoing investigation.”

An undercover investigation by Channel 4 News, aired in June, alleged the party used the call centre to make thousands of cold calls to voters in marginal seats in the weeks before the election.



Call centre staff working on behalf of the party allegedly used a script that appeared to canvass for support rather than conduct market research. On the day of the election, call centre employees allegedly contacted voters to promote individual candidates, which may be a breach of electoral law, the investigation claimed.

Blue Telecoms referred inquiries about the investigation on to Tory central headquarters.