Boris Johnson is facing questions over whether his leadership campaign has breached data laws after his rival Jeremy Hunt received unsolicited ‘Back Boris’ material to his personal email address.

Hunt said he “definitely” had not signed up to Johnson’s 2019 leadership campaign mailing list, with the two currently locked in a fierce battle to be the next Tory leader and prime minister.

Foreign Office minister Harriet Baldwin and ex-Tory MP Ben Howlett, both supporters of Hunt’s campaign, also complained of receiving unsolicited emails and phone calls from Johnson’s campaign.

Both said they had signed up to receive Back Boris material during his London mayoral campaigns at least seven years ago, but had not signed up to his 2019 campaign or given permission for their contact details to be used

They have written to the Information Commissioner accusing Johnson of breaching GDPR rules. 

Baldwin reportedly said in a letter: “I am concerned that the Back Boris campaign has broken data protection laws by sending spam to me, to my husband and to my brother-in-law.

“We believe these email addresses were obtained by the Back Boris campaign for London mayor in 2012.

“While they do ask for permission, I believe the very act of spamming us to ask permission is a breach of current post GDPR law and I would be grateful if you could look into this as a matter of urgency.”

Howlett, who lost his Bath seat in the 2017 snap election, said he was told by a Johnson “campaign operative” that his details came from “a database”.

“I fear that data has been illegally harvested and the Team Boris campaign may be in breach of data protection and GDP laws,” he said.

“The only time I have ever signed up to receive ‘Back Boris’ material was in his 2008 and 2012 London mayoral campaigns when I used the same mobile number.

“Should this data be used, I am sure this would also be in breach of current data governance laws.”

An ICO spokesperson said: ”We are aware of these concerns and will be assessing information provided.”

Johnson’s campaign was contacted for comment.