Billericay
Conservative hold

Teresa Gorman is retiring after 13 eventful years as MP for Billericay, and should be able to bequeath an increased majority to her successor, John Baron, who lost at Basildon last time. In 1997 she won by her narrowest margin, just 1,356 votes, but that was after a massive swing to Labour of nearly 17.5pc. This is still basic Tory territory though, with a distinctly different political history from that of the sprawling New Town just to the south, and Mr Baron will probably not suffer for being a less colourful and high profile candidate. It really should not be tricky for a Tory MP to hail from Billericay.

With the retirement of HRT-assisted Teresa Gorman, the Conservatives are fielding John Baron, a Rothschilds banker and former Army officer with four years' experience of postings in Ulster, Cyprus and Germany. Born 1959, educated at Queens College, Taunton and Jesus College Cambridge, he lost Basildon to Labour in 1997. Labour's Amanda Campbell is in PR, was born in 1963, and is a London Borough councillor.

Area Percent GB Percent Index GB=100   Thriving Wealthy Achievers, Suburban Areas 26.83% 14.99% 178.94 Affluent Greys, Rural Communities 0.00% 2.13% 0.00 Prosperous Pensioners, Retirement Areas 1.36% 2.49% 54.57 Expanding Affluent Executives, Family Areas 11.76% 4.43% 265.87 Well-Off Workers, Family Areas 11.75% 7.27% 161.55 Rising Affluent Urbanites, Town & City Areas 2.11% 2.56% 82.24 Prosperous Professionals, Metropolitan Areas 0.22% 2.04% 10.76 Better-Off Executives, Inner City Areas 0.00% 3.94% 0.00 Settling Comfortable Middle Agers, Mature Home Owning Areas 14.98% 13.04% 114.85 Skilled Workers, Home Owning Areas 3.27% 12.70% 25.72 Aspiring New Home Owners, Mature Communities 4.03% 8.14% 49.48 White Collar Workers, Better-Off Multi Ethnic Areas 0.17% 4.02% 4.25 Striving Older People, Less Prosperous Areas 5.27% 3.19% 165.40 Council Estate Residents, Better-Off Homes 15.48% 11.31% 136.85 Council Estate Residents, High Unemployment 0.99% 3.06% 32.47 Council Estate Residents, Greatest Hardship 1.79% 2.52% 70.89 People in Multi-Ethnic, Low-Income Areas 0.00% 2.10% 0.00 Unclassified Unclassified 0.00% 0.06% 0.00

Area Percent GB Percent Index GB=100   £0-5K 6.42% 9.41% 68.25 £5-10K 12.10% 16.63% 72.74 £10-15K 13.57% 16.58% 81.87 £15-20K 12.52% 13.58% 92.15 £20-25K 10.64% 10.39% 102.34 £25-30K 8.70% 7.77% 111.92 £30-35K 6.99% 5.79% 120.68 £35-40K 5.57% 4.33% 128.56 £40-45K 4.43% 3.27% 135.60 £45-50K 3.52% 2.48% 141.83 £50-55K 2.81% 1.90% 147.34 £55-60K 2.24% 1.47% 152.20 £60-65K 1.80% 1.15% 156.47 £65-70K 1.45% 0.91% 160.23 £70-75K 1.18% 0.72% 163.53 £75-80K 0.96% 0.57% 166.43 £80-85K 0.78% 0.46% 168.98 £85-90K 0.64% 0.37% 171.21 £90-95K 0.53% 0.31% 173.16 £95-100K 0.44% 0.25% 174.87 £100K + 2.42% 1.34% 180.18