New candidate shortlists for Tory-held seats: Orpington; Bracknell; South West Hertfordshire; and Mid Sussex

Army officers, political advisers, businesspeople, a London Assembly Member and – unusually – a sitting MP are among the latest crop of finalists.

Iain Dale: Bracknell, Broadland, Tunbridge Wells, Conservative candidacies and my future. A statement.

Plus: my profound sense of unease at the withdrawal of the whip from 21 Conservative MPs.

Lee’s defection surprises nobody

The Bracknell MP had jumped ship to the Lib Dems in mind if not in deed earlier in the year.

Iain Dale: It was Phillip Lee, but could have been me

Plus: Damian Collins and his useless Select Committee shot themselves in the foot this week. Let grandstanding committee chairmen be warned.

Iain Dale: Don’t knock Mancock, er, Hancock

The Conservatives ought to learn from him. Plus: Vote, vote, vote for Widdecombe. Fire and Fury is damp and limp. My teeth, oh, my teeth. And: My quest to enter Phillip Lee’s brain.