Is dash for safe seats by top Tories showing a party in panic?

Cathy Newman: “The number of senior Conservatives performing what’s become known as the ‘chicken run’ – making a dash for seats with chunky majorities – could be a better commentary on the state of the party’s fortunes than any opinion poll.

The Tory chairman Richard Holden, whose North West Durham seat is being abolished, legged it 300 miles south to ensure he was the only candidate the local party could pick in Basildon and Billericay.

Normal political campaigning has been somewhat truncated – because of the D-Day anniversary events, although Rishi Sunak left early, passing up opportunities to be photographed alongside other world leaders, as Paul McNamara reports.”