Boris Johnson has been referred to the Information Commissioner for multiple alleged breaches of data protection laws that supporters of leadership challenger Jeremy Hunt said amounted to “foul play” in the Conservative leadership contest.

Hunt’s allies told BuzzFeed News they believed the Johnson campaign was systematically abusing mailing lists to contact Tory party members without their consent.

Four examples of the Johnson campaign and his supporters contacting members by email and telephone in apparent breach of new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) legislation were cited.

Foreign office minister Harriett Baldwin, who is backing Hunt for leader, has asked the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) to determine whether it was legal for the official "Back Boris" campaign to be using what she claimed was "an old email list from a previous campaign" to "spam" her email address.

Baldwin has also asked Tory party chairman Brandon Lewis to look into alleged data breaches by the Back Boris campaign.

ICO guidelines state: "If candidates in internal party elections wish to use member lists to send emails or texts, or make automated calls the candidate must ensure that they have consent from the individuals to use such marketing channels."

Meanwhile, local Conservative Associations are distributing information promoting Johnson’s campaign, including positive polling figures, and dates and times of campaign events.

An email from Nadine Dorries’ local association in Mid Bedfordshire to all local members included a message from the MP repeating a series of Johnson campaign messages and urging them: “Vote for Boris Johnson as our next Prime Minister to deliver Brexit”.