Saffron Walden
Conservative hold

Sir Alan Haselhurst, the latest in a long tradition of moderate and distinguished Conservative MPs for Saffron Walden (Rab Butler, Peter Kirk . . . ) failed in his bid to move up from senior deputy Speaker when Betty Boothroyd retired in 2000, and some thought he might then announce his retirement from the Commons itself, but no announcement has yet been made about the future of this safe Tory seat. Situated in the north west quadrant of Essex, it contains the small towns of Saffron Walden (population 14,000), Halstead (10,000) and Great Dunmow (5,000) and over a hundred villages. The peace is disturbed by the presence of Stansted Airport. In general, however, the ambience is far gentler than that in the rest of busy, bustling, hard-driving Essex, being more typified by the eponymous town's excellent second-hand bookshops. The politics reflect that atmosphere too.

Sir Alan Haselhurst, one of his party's senior MPs with 28 years' (interrupted) service, was elected here in 1977 after four years earlier as MP for Middleton & Prestwich. Marginalised by his rejection of Thatcherism as a traditional One Nation Europhile, he opted after 1992 for the decent obscurity of Commons chairmanships, becoming in 1997 Deputy Speaker to Betty Boothroyd, but was passed over despite expectations of Buggin's turn and the tradition of partisan alternation of the Speakership, when the job went in 2000 to Labour's Michael Martin. Slight and trim, he was born 1937, attended King Edward VI Grammar School, Birmingham, Cheltenham College and Oriel College Oxford, and originally an executive in one of Peter Walker's companies, this 63 year old Deputy Speaker and Chairman of Ways and Means is heading inexorably for a fairly early peerage.

Area Percent GB Percent Index GB=100   Thriving Wealthy Achievers, Suburban Areas 46.47% 14.99% 309.90 Affluent Greys, Rural Communities 1.44% 2.13% 67.59 Prosperous Pensioners, Retirement Areas 1.80% 2.49% 72.33 Expanding Affluent Executives, Family Areas 3.25% 4.43% 73.45 Well-Off Workers, Family Areas 14.63% 7.27% 201.14 Rising Affluent Urbanites, Town & City Areas 0.95% 2.56% 36.88 Prosperous Professionals, Metropolitan Areas 0.09% 2.04% 4.58 Better-Off Executives, Inner City Areas 0.00% 3.94% 0.00 Settling Comfortable Middle Agers, Mature Home Owning Areas 16.97% 13.04% 130.11 Skilled Workers, Home Owning Areas 3.43% 12.70% 26.99 Aspiring New Home Owners, Mature Communities 7.68% 8.14% 94.31 White Collar Workers, Better-Off Multi Ethnic Areas 0.72% 4.02% 17.81 Striving Older People, Less Prosperous Areas 1.12% 3.19% 35.19 Council Estate Residents, Better-Off Homes 1.39% 11.31% 12.26 Council Estate Residents, High Unemployment 0.00% 3.06% 0.00 Council Estate Residents, Greatest Hardship 0.00% 2.52% 0.00 People in Multi-Ethnic, Low-Income Areas 0.00% 2.10% 0.00 Unclassified Unclassified 0.08% 0.06% 132.68

Area Percent GB Percent Index GB=100   £0-5K 5.94% 9.41% 63.11 £5-10K 11.70% 16.63% 70.34 £10-15K 13.46% 16.58% 81.18 £15-20K 12.50% 13.58% 92.01 £20-25K 10.60% 10.39% 102.01 £25-30K 8.63% 7.77% 111.06 £30-35K 6.91% 5.79% 119.23 £35-40K 5.49% 4.33% 126.66 £40-45K 4.36% 3.27% 133.47 £45-50K 3.47% 2.48% 139.75 £50-55K 2.77% 1.90% 145.59 £55-60K 2.23% 1.47% 151.06 £60-65K 1.80% 1.15% 156.21 £65-70K 1.46% 0.91% 161.10 £70-75K 1.19% 0.72% 165.74 £75-80K 0.98% 0.57% 170.18 £80-85K 0.81% 0.46% 174.44 £85-90K 0.67% 0.37% 178.53 £90-95K 0.56% 0.31% 182.48 £95-100K 0.47% 0.25% 186.29 £100K + 2.82% 1.34% 209.78