Battleground Anglia: Maldon

The Conservatives won the Maldon constituency in Essex at the 2010 General Election with a majority of more than 19,000 votes. Credit: ITV News Anglia

This Essex constituency is mostly rural or coastal, combining the estuary towns of Maldon and Burnham-on-Crouch with much more sparsely-populated rural areas. It also includes the town of South Woodham Ferrers, previously in the Rayleigh constituency.

After Rayleigh & Wickford, Maldon is the second safest seat in Essex.

  • Conservative majority in 2010: 19,407

  • Third safest Conservative seat in the Anglia region and the 28th safest seat for any party in the whole country

  • Labour would need a swing of 24% to win in 2015 and the Lib Dems would need a 20% swing

John Whittingdale is one of the longest-serving Conservative MPs in the Anglia region and chairs the influential Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee.

Maldon has had a Conservative MP since 1955 although successive boundary changes have paired the town up with different areas of Essex like Chelmsford and Colchester.

Infamous journalist and gossip columnist Tom Driberg was the Labour MP for Maldon from 1942 until 1955 having first been elected during the Second World War as an Independent. He later became MP for Barking.

Candidates in 2015

  • Beverley Acevedo - UKIP

  • Peter Edwards - Labour

  • Robert Graves - Green

  • John Marett - The Sustainable Population Party

  • Ken Martin - Independent

  • Zoe O'Connell - Liberal Democrats

  • John Whittingdale - Conservative