Constituency
Saffron Walden is a largely rural constituency in
North-West Essex covering almost 400 square miles.
It is by far the biggest constituency in Essex, but it is not just about
farming. There are a host of small
businesses – many of them high-tech – and there is also Stansted Airport.
 The size of the constituency can often lead to confusion.
Many of the postal addresses relate to towns outside the constituency and
in some cases to other counties. As
parts of Braintree District are also contained in the Saffron Walden
constituency, people as far apart as Foxearth and Farnham find it difficult to
believe that they share the same M.P..
There are three medium sized towns within the
constituency; Saffron Walden, Dunmow and Halstead.
All three have historic links, and are still regarded as some of the
finest, most quintessential market towns in England – wonderful for shopping
in independent stores, and home to an array of traditional crafts – and some
more original ideas. For more
information, an in-depth look at the history of the area, and to find out more
about the Saffron Crocus and the Dunmow Flitch go to Saffire (
www.uttlesford.gov.uk/saffire
)– full of local facts and history.
 The constituency has important transport links.
The M11 motorway runs from north to south at its western end, almost
parallel with the West Anglia Main Line railway (King’s Lynn / Cambridge to
London Liverpool Street). The A120
runs from west to east from the M11 and Stansted Airport to the Braintree
boundary. And there is the Airport itself, Stansted being
London’s third airport and the fastest growing in the country.
Saffron Walden is, quite literally, an hour away from both London and
Europe. If you are interested in
contacting any businesses in the Saffron Walden area, or wish to find a
particular service, club, or association, then go to the Saffire Website
where there is a fully searchable database.
Election
‘97’s Robert Waller wrote of Saffron Walden -
“In area the largest seat in Essex, and with some of
the most pleasant scenery, this is an intensely rural
constituency. As such, it is predictably Tory, but tends
to prefer a gentler strain of Conservativism… …for long
it was the seat of welfare state Conservative R A
Butler. Saffron Walden's latest - and very secure -
incumbent, Sir Alan Haselhurst, follows the same
civilised tradition.”
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