What is really going on in politics? Get our daily email briefing straight to your inbox Sign up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Thousands of Britain’s hidden poor face being denied the right to vote after a stark warning by a whistleblower.

The council worker raised damning new fears about a Tory crackdown - launching tomorrow - that will force voters to show ID.

Five areas, Bromley, Gosport, Swindon, Watford and Woking, are piloting the anti-fraud scheme in tomorrow's local elections.

But our whistleblower said failed voters will only be recorded properly if they are turned away by staff inside a polling station.

Those who stay at home, or leave after seeing signs in the queue, will not show up in the system.

The senior employee, who works at one of the five town halls, raised fears these invisible voters - who campaigners warn could be too cash-strapped to get proper documentation or a bank account - will skew the results of the trial.

They told the Mirror: “We have no way of knowing how many of them there are, or who they are.

“They might get as far as the queue and go ‘oh, that’s a pain’, and just walk away. And we won’t really have a way of catching hold of those people.

“Unless they actually get to the desk, it will be hard to record them.”

(Image: Huddersfield Examiner)

The worker added: “If we’re talking about people who are barely interested in voting anyway, they’re not going to come to not vote. We can barely get them there to vote.”

Electoral Reform Society chief executive Darren Hughes said “potentially hundreds if not thousands of people could be disenfranchised, the full extent of which may never be understood.”

He added: “With insiders now speaking out against the plans, it’s clear the government’s voter ID plans are a total shambles.

“These trials are ill thought-out, and raise serious concerns for our democracy.”

It came as authorities were rapped by the UK Statistics Authority for using “misleading” voter fraud figures to justify the ID scheme.

Swindon Council, quoting the government, said the number of alleged impersonation cases doubled.

(Image: Getty Images Europe)

But the actual figures were tiny, from 21 cases in 2014 to 44 in 2016, and fell to 28 in 2017 - just 0.000063% per vote cast.

Labour’s shadow voter affairs minister Cat Smith said the government had “misled the public” and demanded a correction in the House of Commons.

London mayor Sadiq Khan raised fears this week that the Windrush generation could be barred from voting under the new scheme.

He said: “It is difficult for some people in our communities to provide official papers.”

The Electoral Commission, which will evaluate the scheme, has said it will also run surveys and compare turnout to see if people have been locked out of democracy.

But the watchdog admits these measures could struggle to “robustly measure” any changes and there is “limited data”.

An Electoral Commission spokesman said councils were running awareness campaigns and urged people in the five areas to contact town halls with any queries.

He added: “We will carry out an independent, statutory evaluation of these pilots including an assessment on whether any particular group of voters was disproportionately affected.”

A Cabinet Office spokeswoman said: “Local authorities have worked with partners to ensure that everyone eligible to vote is able to do so.

“Locally issued ID is available if a voter is unsure they are able to produce the required ID.

“We already ask that people prove who they are in order to collect a parcel from the post office or claim benefits - and we believe it is right to take the same approach to protect voting rights.”