Conservatives 'Dossier' on Cleverly may have been paid for by rival

A firm that specialises in digging dirt on political candidates has been circulating a "dossier" on James Cleverly that appears to have been commissioned by one of his Tory rivals or a third party trying to influence the party's leadership contest.

- Rowena Mason

Despite the party's efforts to ensure a "clean" competition, with candidates banned from briefing against or criticising each other too harshly, Cleverly is believed to have been targeted at arms-length by an opponent.

Under a "yellow card" system, the Tories have said they will give public warnings to any candidate attacking or backbiting their rivals.

The dossier claimed that Cleverly had exaggerated elements of his business career and downplayed the extent of his family's links to a southeast London private school, Colfe's.

However, it did not provide any damning evidence against him, with some of the sources given simply pointing to Cleverly's roles in school plays and a parody write-up of a 1987 geography field trip on which "everybody was jolly chuffed because all of our rooms were within sneezing distance of everybody else - except for J Cleverly who was banished to the tower because his boots were wet." The firm declined to disclose its client, citing the confidentiality of its agreement.