The Tories were quick out of the blocks with their rules for candidate selections yesterday, though CCHQ has been caught on the hop in terms of the actual candidates. The word is the Tories still do not currently have enough names on their candidates list to fill every opposition-held seat. The shortfall came after the list was culled last summer, and the CCHQ candidates department has been painfully slow at processing new applications. As Guido revealed in February CCHQ did begin the search for candidates in Labour strongholds. Yet there remains a deficit between candidates and seats…

Guido has spoken to Tories who applied to join the candidates list last autumn and still haven’t been interviewed. As one Tory insider says of the CCHQ head of candidates: “Gareth Fox has been sleeping for six months”. This means the Tories will likely have to hold emergency PABs (Parliamentary Assessment Board meetings) to appoint new people to the list over the next week. You might end up with a no hoper seat, though this news will excite a lot of ambitious wannabes…

ICYMI: A BBC Essex exclusive: @Arron_banks says he “knows nothing about #Clacton” as he prepares to take on @DouglasCarswell to be town’s MP pic.twitter.com/4DOId4toTp

— BBC Essex (@BBCEssex) 19 April 2017

Arron Banks, who will stand against Douglas Carswell in Clacton, has admitted in an interview with BBC Radio Essex that he “knows nothing about Clacton at all.” Strong start for the Patriotic Alliance…

Ken Clarke IS standing again, despite most news outlets reporting he was to retire. His office say: “He’s putting himself forward to be the Conservative candidate for Rushcliffe in June.”

Delighted that Ken Clarke will be standing in the forthcoming General Election. Excellent news

— Anna Soubry MP (@Anna_Soubry) April 19, 2017

At last some good news for the ‘saboteurs’… 

CCHQ has imposed emergency by-election rules on candidate selections to bypass standard Tory association procedures, Guido can reveal. In opposition-held key target seats and retirement seats where a Tory MP is standing down, CCHQ will impose shortlists of three candidates chosen centrally by the party chairman and his team. Association members will then choose their candidate from the centrally imposed shortlist of three. This is a departure from the standard procedure, which usually allows associations a much wider choice of up to 20 candidates. Large associations like Tatton may well resent the lack of choice and the CCHQ-approved candidates they end up with…

MPs who wish to stand again will have to face their associations. If the MP doesn’t secure a simple majority of association members they will face off against two CCHQ-imposed candidates.

Candidates who stood in key target seats in 2015 can apply to be fast-tracked to stand again in the same seat. Though this has to be approved by both CCHQ and the association chairman. Any broken bridges will not be forgotten…

For opposition-held non-target seats, associations will be bypassed completely and one candidate will be imposed. Novel levels of professionalism from CCHQ – impressive to get this out so quickly. Though some associations will not be happy at the centralised control…

Theresa May’s snap election has caused the Guardianista class to lose their minds. Martin Kettle writes that “Theresa May in Downing Street sounded like Turkey’s authoritarian president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan”. This is just bonkers. Erdogan is an Islamist autocrat who rules under a state of emergency, jailing political opponents, arresting journalists, controlling the airwaves, censoring social media and passing a law which could see him stay in power until 2029. Theresa May has called an election.

Theresa May is a disgrace-she called an Election because she rejects the idea of an Opposition in our democracy.We are not some dictatorship

— Chuka Umunna (@ChukaUmunna) April 19, 2017

This tweet from Chuka Umunna is even more ridiculous. In the space of 20 words Chuka suggests May is behaving like a dictator because “she called an election”. Funny kind of dictator. It is just an election, chill out lefties…

The snap election has potentially huge consequences for the race to be the next Speaker. The Commons votes to elect a Speaker at the beginning of each parliamentary term – custom dictates that John Bercow be re-elected should he desire to carry on. He has previously said he would serve nine years, taking him to 2018, then that he wanted to stay on until 2020. Bercow has indicated he intends to stand on June 8, so what does that mean for his successor?

Lindsay Hoyle was the overwhelming favourite to be the next Speaker. He had hoped to be appointed before the next election so he wouldn’t have a challenger. Yet Hoyle has a perilous 4,530 majority in Chorley. Labour sources believe anything under 8,000 is under threat. His predecessor in the seat was Tory – Chorley has flip-flopped between Labour and Tory MPs since the war. Chorley voted 57% to Leave the EU. As one MP told Guido last night:

“Lindsay will be feeling rough. He had hoped to be made Speaker before the election. Now he may lose his seat.”

The race to succeed Bercow would be blown wide open…