By John Siddle A Tory pledge to protect the ailing high street lies in tatters as big name shops disappear, putting nearly 500,000 jobs at risk. Its 2019 manifesto promise took another battering this week as fashion chain Ted Baker is on the brink of collapse, endangering almost 1,000 jobs. In 14 years of Conservative rule, 586 chains have plunged into administration, affecting 29,959 stores and 460,038 staff, say experts at the Centre for Retail Research. Some 12,500 jobs were lost in the first two months of 2024. And among the household names to vanish from the high street are Debenhams, Odd…