Earlier this week we reported on Tory candidate shortages leading to activists searching the streets to find people willing to run ahead of today’s 4pm deadline. Good news and bad news. Guido is assured the Tories have a full slate of candidates for Liverpool city council, though there are still problems in other parts of Merseyside and the North West. ConHome reports the shortages are replicated across the country in Manchester, Barking and Dagenham. Tory activists tell Guido there is no hope of meeting the requirement for ten signatures on candidates’ nomination forms given in some wards the Tories barely even get ten votes. CCHQ had wanted to make sure there wasn’t a ward in the country where you couldn’t vote Tory. Leaving it until deadline day is perhaps not the best way to show voters they’re being taken seriously…

UPDATE: Explanation from local Tories for candidate shortages in Merseyside…