Election Battlegrounds 9) London

All three parties have a middling band of targets – what leaps out is how so many Cameron-era gains now seem out of the Tories’ reach.

The Election Battlegrounds 1) East Midlands

Our survey of the electoral battlefield kicks off with the East Midlands, where Labour and the Tories go head-to-head with minimal interference from smaller parties.

Johnson’s August 2) Finding support among opposition MPs – or at least trying to – before any no confidence vote

There are now 15 independents, plus the Change UK factions and a smattering of pro-Brexit rebel Labour MPs.

Iain Dale: The tragi-comedy of the collapse of Change UK

Plus: Sympathy for the Downing Street SpAds. The case for chemical castration. And: my interviews with the Tory leadership candidates.

Not only is Change UK-TIG unpopular, it is poorly equipped to deal with failure

No strategic judgement, no grassroots depth, no clear command structure, no unifying belief system, and a bunch of fractious personalities make for big trouble.

Jonathan Clark: It may not happen – but we should prepare for a constitutional crisis this autumn

A Prime Minister might, in the autumn, ask the Queen to prorogue Parliament until the day after exit is legally due on 31 October.

WATCH: Soubry explains why Change UK has been branded a ‘sinking ship’ by its own candidate

“She is a Johnson, they have a bit of a history of saying stuff”.

Andrea Gee: I’m standing in this Euro-election in Scotland to help deliver Brexit – and defy Sturgeon

The solution to the challenges we face doesn’t lie in burying our heads in the sand or in jumping ship to another party.

Henry Newman: The Tory poll collapse is nothing to do with May’s Withdrawal Agreement. MPs should vote for it – and deliver Brexit

A basic problem remains unaltered – that there is no Commons majority for a No Deal Brexit. This point has been well made by Ann Widdecombe.

Where does the Liberal Democrat revival leave Change UK’s cursed campaign?

A lethal combination of strategic incoherence and operational incompetence has seen the Remain wave pass the would-be mould-breakers by.

Nicky Morgan: If Tory MPs want May not to rely on Labour, then they know what they must do. Pass her deal as it stands.

We have just 17 days from tomorrow now to do what voters told us to do on the doorsteps last Thursday – namely, ‘get Brexit sorted’.

The local election aftermath. May and Corbyn are like two spooked children, drawing nearer for comfort as the thunder rages.

Will they now seek to appease turbulent voters by rushing her-deal-plus-the-Customs-Union through the Commons?

Local elections: The Conservative/Lib Dem battlegrounds

Could the Yellow Party take control of Lewes, St Albans, Winchester, Teignbridge, Guildford – even Wokingham?

Profile. Nigel Farage – the career politician who denounces career politicians. With abundant energy and brilliant timing.

One wonders whether he feels a kind of disappointed love for the Tories – or for them as he thinks they ought to be.

Iain Dale: The Conservatives treated Widdecombe with disdain. They will pay the price in lost votes next month.

Plus: Creepy Biden, useless TIGs, spineless Tory MPs…and why I’d favour Scottish independence were I fully Scottish.