Post by John Chanin on Aug 11, 2023 9:47:18 GMT
Maldon is a small town that gives its name to a small District council, covering basically the valley of the river Blackwater and the peninsula between the Blackwater and the Crouch on the east coast of Essex. It is a very persistent name for a constituency, but it is far too small for a seat of its own, and has been linked with a variety of other areas. Prior to 1974 it was linked with Braintree and Witham. From 1974 to 1983 with Rochford. From 1983 to 1997 with Colchester, and subsequently with the eastern part of Chelmsford District. In 2010 the four northern rural wards were removed to form part of the new Witham seat, and in the latest boundary review another ward has been moved in from Chelmsford.
The larger half of the present seat is still the rest of Maldon District. Half of this section is urban - the town of Maldon with Heybridge on the other side of the Blackwater. Maldon is an old town, and a port at the highest navigable point of the river. Heybridge is generally more modern. This is the most working class part of the seat, and there is a significant amount of council housing here, particularly in East Maldon and West Heybridge wards. It is most famous for its table salt, but otherwise has little to distinguish it. The other half includes the yachting centre of Burnham-on-Crouch, and a string of villages, including the terminus at Southminster of the strange branch railway line from Brentwood. This does however permit commuting to London. Out on the end of the peninsula is the Bradwell nuclear power station. Owner-occupation is very high, particularly in the rural wards to the west, but like many rural areas it isn’t terribly high in managerial jobs, or in people with higher education. Overall there is little demographic difference, although there is a higher older population in Burnham. In local politics at the 2019 local elections dissatisfaction with the council led to the election of a lot of independents, and in 2023 the Liberal Democrats made a breakthrough in the town, and Labour even managed a councillor for the first time in many years in Burnham. However at general elections it remains monolithically Conservative.
The smaller half of the seat comes from the rural east of Chelmsford District. This includes the almost wholly modern town of South Woodham on the Crouch which has a population of around 16,000, and accounts for a third of the Chelmsford section. It also has a station on the branch line into London, and is effectively another of the commuter towns of south Essex. As you would expect from this it is more middle-class than Maldon town, with a notably younger population. Runwell is basically part of Wickford and shares its demographics. Then there are rural villages such as the Hanningfields and Little Baddow, many very plush and up market with over 80% owner-occupation and over 40% in managerial jobs. The seat stretches a long way to the west where Margaretting is on the main A12 road between Brentwood and Chelmsford. Newly added to the seat is Galleywood - a slightly disconnected suburb of Chelmsford town - with some council tenants, and very similar demographics to South Woodham. The whole Chelmsford section is also very Conservative, with no spill over from the Liberal Democrat strength in Chelmsford town.
Putting all this together the statistics show that like the neighbouring south Essex seats it is very high in owner-occupation, and also in intermediate occupations, although not particularly well-educated . Politically it was the 4th safest Conservative seat in the country in 2019, and while it has never been outside the top 50 safest since it took on roughly its modern form, it has been getting ever safer. In 2024 it dropped down the list, although still safe, as Reform moved into second place, typical of their strong performances in south Essex. The MP is John Whittingdale, first elected in 1992 when he was only in his early 30s. His career never really took off, despite shadow cabinet posts, and he was Chair of the parliamentary Culture Committee, before briefly becoming a cabinet minister under Cameron.
Census data: Owner-occupied 78% (21/575 in England & Wales), private rented 12% (556th), social rented 10% (505th).
: White 96%(130th), Black 1%(392nd), South Asian 1%(435th), Mixed 2%(411th), Other 1%(506th)
: Managerial & professional 41% (224th), Routine & Semi-routine 23% (424th)
: Degree level 26%(455th), Minimal qualifications 30%(197th)
: Students 4% (536th), Over 65: 24% (96th)
Boundaries : The new seat is made up of 94% from Maldon and 6% from Chelmsford.
All of the old Maldon seat is in the new one.
The larger half of the present seat is still the rest of Maldon District. Half of this section is urban - the town of Maldon with Heybridge on the other side of the Blackwater. Maldon is an old town, and a port at the highest navigable point of the river. Heybridge is generally more modern. This is the most working class part of the seat, and there is a significant amount of council housing here, particularly in East Maldon and West Heybridge wards. It is most famous for its table salt, but otherwise has little to distinguish it. The other half includes the yachting centre of Burnham-on-Crouch, and a string of villages, including the terminus at Southminster of the strange branch railway line from Brentwood. This does however permit commuting to London. Out on the end of the peninsula is the Bradwell nuclear power station. Owner-occupation is very high, particularly in the rural wards to the west, but like many rural areas it isn’t terribly high in managerial jobs, or in people with higher education. Overall there is little demographic difference, although there is a higher older population in Burnham. In local politics at the 2019 local elections dissatisfaction with the council led to the election of a lot of independents, and in 2023 the Liberal Democrats made a breakthrough in the town, and Labour even managed a councillor for the first time in many years in Burnham. However at general elections it remains monolithically Conservative.
The smaller half of the seat comes from the rural east of Chelmsford District. This includes the almost wholly modern town of South Woodham on the Crouch which has a population of around 16,000, and accounts for a third of the Chelmsford section. It also has a station on the branch line into London, and is effectively another of the commuter towns of south Essex. As you would expect from this it is more middle-class than Maldon town, with a notably younger population. Runwell is basically part of Wickford and shares its demographics. Then there are rural villages such as the Hanningfields and Little Baddow, many very plush and up market with over 80% owner-occupation and over 40% in managerial jobs. The seat stretches a long way to the west where Margaretting is on the main A12 road between Brentwood and Chelmsford. Newly added to the seat is Galleywood - a slightly disconnected suburb of Chelmsford town - with some council tenants, and very similar demographics to South Woodham. The whole Chelmsford section is also very Conservative, with no spill over from the Liberal Democrat strength in Chelmsford town.
Putting all this together the statistics show that like the neighbouring south Essex seats it is very high in owner-occupation, and also in intermediate occupations, although not particularly well-educated . Politically it was the 4th safest Conservative seat in the country in 2019, and while it has never been outside the top 50 safest since it took on roughly its modern form, it has been getting ever safer. In 2024 it dropped down the list, although still safe, as Reform moved into second place, typical of their strong performances in south Essex. The MP is John Whittingdale, first elected in 1992 when he was only in his early 30s. His career never really took off, despite shadow cabinet posts, and he was Chair of the parliamentary Culture Committee, before briefly becoming a cabinet minister under Cameron.
Census data: Owner-occupied 78% (21/575 in England & Wales), private rented 12% (556th), social rented 10% (505th).
: White 96%(130th), Black 1%(392nd), South Asian 1%(435th), Mixed 2%(411th), Other 1%(506th)
: Managerial & professional 41% (224th), Routine & Semi-routine 23% (424th)
: Degree level 26%(455th), Minimal qualifications 30%(197th)
: Students 4% (536th), Over 65: 24% (96th)
Boundaries : The new seat is made up of 94% from Maldon and 6% from Chelmsford.
All of the old Maldon seat is in the new one.
| 2017 | % | 2019 | % | Notional | % | 2024 | % | |
| Conservative | 34,111 | 67.9 | 36,304 | 72.0 | 38,791 | 72.2 | 19,374 | 38.9 |
| Labour | 10,681 | 21.3 | 6,263 | 12.4 | 6,790 | 12.6 | 9,817 | 19.7 |
| Liberal Democrat | 2,181 | 4.3 | 5,990 | 11.9 | 6,272 | 11.7 | 5,882 | 11.8 |
| UKIP/Reform | 1,899 | 3.8 | 12,468 | 25.0 | ||||
| Green | 1,073 | 2.1 | 1,851 | 3.7 | 1,851 | 3.5 | 2,300 | 4.6 |
| Other | 257 | 0.5 | ||||||
| Majority | 23,430 | 46.7 | 30,041 | 59.6 | 32,001 | 59.6 | 6,906 | 13.9 |
