With the July 4th General Election just under a month away, it is time to begin considering who will get your vote at the polling station.

On Friday (June 7), Maldon District Council confirmed that Maldon residents will have the option of five candidates in the upcoming election.

Maldon Nub News contacted the candidates and asked them why they are standing for election in Maldon.

We have also compiled the key manifesto points of each party, so we can make your research a little bit easier.

Liberal Democrats - Simon John Burwood

Email: [email protected]

Maldon's new Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate will be making health services and wellbeing a top priority in the forthcoming General Election. 

Simon Burwood told Maldon Nub News: "The Conservatives have run down our local health services, as we can see from their proposed changes at St Peter's Hospital. It is a much-loved and vital community facility, which my family has used, including when my youngest daughter was born there.

"The Conservatives lack of investment has also led to long waiting times to see GPs, even longer waiting times for ambulances, a lack of NHS dentists (with people resorting to extracting their own teeth) and an increase in mental health issues, especially in our young people.

"The NHS, once the envy of the world, is now on its knees. We need to fix it and fix it fast. It will be a huge task, but the Lib Dems are ready for it and ready to give everyone the opportunity to get on in life, wherever they start.

"Maldon has also seen many new homes being built recently. Young people desperately need affordable homes but the Conservative councils and Government have failed to deliver the essential infrastructure."

Simon has lived in Heybridge for over 25 years raising three children and playing an active part in his local community. He is currently a Heybridge Parish Councillor and has served twice as Chair of the Council. He was elected as a Councillor on Maldon District Council for Heybridge West, in May 2023. He is currently the President of the Heybridge Blackwater Rotary Club, which raises funds for local, national and international charities.

The Liberal Democrat Manifesto includes:

• Free personal care in England 
• More GPs and faster cancer treatment
• Increase public spending
• Scrap the Rwanda scheme
• Reach net zero by 2045
• Scrap two-child limit on Universal Credit and Child Tax Credit, and reform Carer's Allowance
• Triple the early years pupil premium
• Speed up the court's process
• Recognise non-binary identities and ban conversion therapy
• Give 16-year-olds the vote and bring in proportional representation
• Rejoin the Single Market

Find out about the Liberal Democrats policies in more detail on the party's website, here.

Green Party - Isobel Jean Campbell Doubleday

Email: [email protected]

Isobel Doubleday has lived and worked in and around Maldon for about 50 years.

She said: "I love the area and would be proud to represent the people of this constituency. I believe the Green Party is the right way forward for people and the planet.  

"The Green Party believes that people need decent, affordable places to live. There needs to be small developments across the area while protecting green spaces and productive farmland plus the necessary health and education facilities and good public transport.  

"The St Peter's hospital in Maldon should be updated in its current position for the benefit not only of Maldon residents but those of the wider community.  

"We need a fairer, greener economy that develops the skills and abilities of everyone while looking after the vulnerable.  

"The situation with regard to sewage and water cleanliness can not be allowed to continue, there has to be a change in the control of water companies to make them look after the environment as they must."

The Green Party Manifesto includes: 

• Big NHS Investment
• Tax on assets over £10m
• Tax rise for earners on more than £50,270
• Scrap university tuition fees
• Net zero by 2040
• VAT-free culture and Leveson Inquiry into press standards revisit
• Dismantle Trident, and stay in NATO
• Free personal care
• Frequent flyer levies and short-haul flight bans
• Rent controls and no-fault eviction ban
• Nationalise railways, water and energy big five

Find out about the Green Party manifesto on the party's website, here.

Labour Party - Onike Gollo

Email: [email protected]

In a statement to Maldon Nub News, Onike Gollo said: "I feel incredibly privileged to represent the Labour Party as your parliamentary candidate for Maldon. Essex is my home, and I am deeply invested in its future, and the future of our country.

"For 14 long years, the Conservative government has squandered our nation's potential, stymied economic growth and mismanaged our coffers.

" In Maldon, our NHS is at breaking point and our hospital faces closure. The affordable houses we need aren't being built. Our roads are crumbling and public transport is lacking, sewage is polluting our rivers and our coastline, and families and local businesses are struggling with the cost of living and the impact of inflation.

"It's time to rediscover ambition, to bring hope where there is weariness and herald a new dawn for Maldon, and Britain.

"Labour has set out its mission to get Britain's future back, with a focus on economic stability, and a plan to get our NHS back on track and to bring safety and security back to our streets. 

"We are committed to spreading opportunity across our country so that we can tell our children and grandchildren that if you work hard and play by the rules, you will get on in life – something that is sadly no longer the case for too many people as the cost of living crisis continues to make lives harder."

The Labour Party's Manifesto includes:

• Deliver economic stability
• Cut NHS waiting times
• Launch a new border security command
• Set up Great British Energy to cut bills and ensure clean energy
• Crack down on anti-social behaviour, including violence against women and girls
• Recruit 6,500 new teachers
• Build 1.5 million new homes
• 'Make work pay', including ensuring the minimum wage is genuine living wage.
• Free breakfast clubs in every primary school
• Introduce votes at 16
• Applying VAT and business rates to private schools to fund school related policies

Find out more about Labour's manifesto on the party's website, here.

Reform UK - Pamela Kay Walford

Email: [email protected]

This candidate did not respond to requests by Maldon Nub News for a campaign statement.

The following biography has been summarised from the Reform UK website.

Pamela Woodford was a Conservative Colchester Borough Councillor from 1998 to 1999, and then was elected as a Conservative Councillor for Frinton and Walton Town Council 2017 and 2019.

The biography reads: "I joined Reform UK because I believe that they will be consistent in their decisions and I am thrilled and excited to be selected as P.P.C. for Maldon Constituency…

"I will be honoured to represent the constituents of the Maldon area, always being available to deal with any worries, concerns or issues they may have and I am not afraid of speaking up for truth and justice.    

"We all know that Immigration must be tightly controlled for the sake of each and everyone of us. Those coming in illegally have been allowed and even welcomed by many in power and certain charities and it seems they have priority over all of us. I fully support Reform UK's policy of bringing this to a halt.

"Likewise we have a wonderful health service which is constantly being stretched to the limit as are all the medical staff by the extra demands put upon it by mass immigration into this country. Again something Reform UK and I are dedicated to change.

"Other areas I am passionate about is the care of vulnerable adults and children who are either mentally or physically abused by family members due to family break ups or those outside the family…"

Reform UK will confirm their manifesto on June 17. However, here is a summary of its pledges so far:

• Freeze on 'non-essential' immigration
• Tax cuts for small businesses
• Royal commission for social care
• Scrap net zero targets
• Ban 'transgender ideology' in schools, and employ 'cancel culture' fines for Universities
• Tax relief on school fees
• Extra £17bn for NHS
• Scrap the rest of HS2 rail link
• Raising stamp duty threshold to £750,000
• Leave the European Convention on Human Rights
• Scrap the license fee

Find out more about Reform UK on their website, here. 

Conservatives - John Flasby Lawrance Whittingdale

Email: [email protected]

In a statement to Maldon Nub News, John Whittingdale said: "It has been a great privilege to serve as Member of Parliament for the Maldon area since 1992. 

"I am very much aware of the challenges that people have faced in the last few years, many of which are due to events which could not have been predicted such as the Covid pandemic and the Russian invasion of the Ukraine.

" I have supported the Conservative Government in tackling these and welcome the clear signs that the Government's plan is working with inflation down and the economy growing once again. 

"I believe that our country's best interests are served by the Conservative Government continuing office rather than a Labour one under Keir Starmer without any clear policies or substance.

"If re-elected, I will continue to represent my constituents to the best of my ability and to campaign for better health care including a new hospital in Maldon and against overdevelopment of housing without the necessary infrastructure to support it."

The Conservative Party's Manifesto includes:

• The return of Help to Buy
• Tax help for the self-employed 
• Tougher sentences and new prisons
• Regular flights to Rwanda
• Increased defence spending
• An end to 'low-quality' degrees
• Net zero without new green charges
• Untaxed State Pension with the Triple Lock Plus
• Three strikes warning for anti-social tenants
• New NHS dentists
• A cap on social care costs
• A legal limit to migration

Find out more about Conservative Party plans, here.

We want to hear from you. What would you like to see in Maldon's General Election Coverage? Let us know:

Email: [email protected]

Or submit a 'Nub It' news form, here.