The deadline for those hoping to be Conservative candidate for the first four target seats was yesterday lunchtime.
Now that sifting and longlisting is underway for that tranche, CCHQ has opened applications for a second, smaller tranche of target seats. They are as follows:
The precise data and criteria used by the Party’s strategists to select targets is private, though we know it takes into account the detail of recent local election results.
However, there is an obvious common profile: both new target seats match the profile we saw in the previous tranche of four – they were gained by the Conservatives in 2010 before being lost in 2017.
Applications close on Friday 20th July.