CHICKEN chain Nando’s flatly rejected suggestions today that it would give the Tories discounts at its restaurants to help the party boost numbers of young and working-class people.

The Tories are considering a discount card to entice new party members to fork out the £25-a-year membership fee, according to a senior party source who told The Times that such a card was a “very real possibility.”

But a Nando’s spokesman clarified that only front-line emergency staff and NHS workers get a discount.

He said: “As a brand we have no political affiliations and we are not considering this.

“We have a Nando’s loyalty card and standard gift cards that anyone can use, and we offer a 20 per cent discount to police, fire services, ambulance service and NHS staff.”

A Labour spokeswoman told the Star: “The desperate Tories offering a Nando’s discount scheme was always a peri peri stupid idea.”

Nando’s refusal comes after Environment Secretary Michael Gove said that the party must widen its appeal or risk being beaten by Labour in the next general election.

Centre-right think tank Onward pointed to a recent YouGov poll that found that nearly half of 18 to 24-year-olds would never vote for the Tories and just 9 per cent of those aged between 25 and 39 will vote for them at the next general election.

They add that fewer than one in five people of black and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds voted for the Tories at the snap election last year while the proportion of BAME voters is expected to double in the coming decades.

The Conservatives have just 124,000 members while Labour under Jeremy Corbyn had swelled to 552,000 as of January this year.