MALDON is an ultrasafe Conservative seat, despite a flamboyant Labour MP stealing the limelight last century.

The constituency has a long Conservative history, but this was shattered when Daily Express journalist and gossip columnist Tom Driberg became MP from 1942 until 1955, having first been elected as an independent.

Since the 14th century, Maldon has been the name of a constituency in various forms and in 2010, the Maldon Constituency was created.

The changes to the constituency boundary saw South Woodham Ferrers and some of the surrounding villages and Margaretting become part of the new constituency.

But Tolleshunt D’Arcy, Wickham Bishops, Great Totham, Woodham Walter, Woodham Mortimer and Tollesbury all became part of the new Witham constituency at the 2010 General Election.

            Click here to learn more about the Witham candidates

John Whittingdale has represented Maldon in Parliament since 1992 and won a landslide victory for the Conservatives at the 2010 General Election, with a majority of 19,407 – an increased majority of 6,834 on his 2005 result.

Mr Whittingdale conceded that changes to the constituency boundary had helped him.

The Labour vote dropped from 11,159 votes in 2005 to just 6,070, which represented only about 13 per cent of the vote.

The Liberal Democrats moved into second at the last General Election, but this was more to do with Labour losses than Lib Dem gains as they lost 16 votes.

Ukip’s Jesse Pryke saw his vote rise by about 25 per cent – from 1,930 in 2005 to 2,446.

Local government is also awash with blue, as the Conservatives hold 27 seats on Maldon District Council, while Independents have three and Labour only one.

The district is home to 62,400 residents, many of whom are concerned at the number and scale of new housing developments that are in the pipeline.

Other issues likely to come up during the campaign include the future of the ageing St Peter’s Hospital, the decommissioning of Bradwell nuclear power station and Waitrose’s plans for the town.