SOUTH West Surrey Conservatives were tight-lipped this week after The Herald learned the shock news that they had made their agent redundant.
Senior Tories, including local MP Virginia Bottomley and chairman of the South West Surrey Conservative Association (SWSCA) Warren Lister, refused to be drawn on the redundancy.
But the former agent, Frensham woman Christine Merry Price revealed that her job loss was "common knowledge" among party members.
In a letter a "paid-up" party member claimed to be "horrified" at the decision which is alleged to have been made without "consultation of the membership at large".
The important news comes as the Tories in Waverley face a strong threat from the borough's Lib Dem group and are preparing for the departure of Mrs Bottomley from the political scene.
The party's new prospective parliamentary candidate, Jeremy Hunt, will now be preparing for the general election without the support of an agent.
A guarded Mr Lister said that the party had no plans to appoint a new agent in the "foreseeable future".