David Gauke: Demographic changes in the Blue Wall will work against the Conservatives – they must pay close attention

The pandemic is only likely to accelerate the process of these places becoming more graduate-heavy and small L liberal.

Election Battlegrounds 4) East of England

Onwards to Anglia, where the Liberal Democrats and Tories will be fighting hard over a small clutch of possible gains.

Iain Dale: How I did not become May’s new Director of Communications

Guido Fawkes, Tom Newton-Dunn and the Evening Standard diary banded together to suggest that I was about to do a far, far better thing than I have ever done…

A big, big, big thank you to our readers for your help with candidate selection news

We could not have provided exclusive after exclusive without your phone calls, texts, e-mails and tips.

Sunder Katwala: Will the Conservatives have more ethnic minority MPs than Labour after this election?

The Tories are making gradual rather than spectacular progress on ethnic diversity – as the party’s class of 2017 looks set to prove.

Exclusive: Afolami selected as Conservative candidate for Hitchin and Harpenden

He clinched victory in the second round of voting.

Exclusive. Full shortlist for the Isle of Wight. Bolton North East candidate replaced. Latest news.

Alicia Kearns joins Joe Robertson and Bob Seely in the island contest.

Exclusive: We bust the Party ban on making known the names on the Hitchin and Harpenden shortlist. The latest selections news.

Plus: Eleven candidates selected elsewhere, including Gillian Keegan in Chichester and Kemi Badenoch in Saffron Walden.

May’s maids. Watch the Prime Minister’s show-not-tell drive for more women Conservative MPs.

The selections in the two Tory-held seats to date have both been won by women; and there is at least one woman on the shortlist of every such seat yet to select.