With the General Election just one month away we have put together a bite-size guide to the candidates hoping to be Witham's next MP.

 

Priti Patel, Conservative, has enjoyed a meteoric rise since becoming the Tory’s first female Asian MP in 2010.

The 43-year-old Londoner joined the No10 policy unit in 2013 and a year later took her first front-bench role as Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury. She is widely tipped to be given a Cabinet job.

A Guardian article last year said her work as a PR consultant for a tobacco company before she became an MP created a conflict of interest over antismoking legislation – claims she vehemently denies.

Ms Patel has campaigned for more funding for local road and rail networks. She was closely involved in the successful campaign by parents to block the merger between Witham’s Maltings Academy and New Rickstones Academy this year. She is also a board member of Witham Town FC, where she recently celebrated the award of £10,000 of council funding for a new pitch.

 

John Clarke, Labour, joined the party in 2011 and this is his first attempt to win a seat in the House of Commons.

Salford-born Mr Clarke is chairman of Black Notley Parish Council and has lived in the constituency for 25 years. He is vicechairman of the Witham branch of the Labour Party and a governor at White Notley Primary School.

He worked as a maths teacher for 25 years at Felsted School and schools in Thurrock and North London. He is now a senior lecturer at the University of East London, training maths teachers. Mr Clarke was a part- time officer in the Volunteer Reserve armed forces for 16 years and has represented Team GB in duathlon. Last month he was forced to apologise to Priti Patel for describing her as a “village idiot” and “sexy Bond villain” on Twitter.

Mr Clarke says he believes society is currently organised for the few and not the many and fairness needs to be placed at the heart of government.

 

Garry Cockrill, Ukip, lives in Hatfield Peverel where he serves as a parish councillor. He was previously the south Essex chairman for Ukip before moving to the village.

The former IT systems engineer is now a driver for Essex County Council’s Community Link service. The 51- year-old stood for the party in Southend West at the 2010 General Election, winning 3.9 per cent of the vote.

During that campaign, Mr Cockrill caused controversy at a hustings event when he said Ukip would scrap equality laws in reaction to a row about bed and breakfast owners who refused a room to a gay couple.

In line with national Ukip policies, Mr Cockrill wants to take the UK out of the EU and put tighter controls on immigration. He has called for reduced tuition fees for students studying science, medicine, technology, engineering and maths, who live, work and pay tax in the UK for five years after completion of their degrees.

 

James Abbott, Green, has served as a Braintree district councillor for Bradwell, Silver End and Rivenhall, since 1999.

In 2013 he was elected to Essex County Council for Witham Northern as one of just two Greens at County Hall. Mr Abbott lives in Silver End and currently runs a small gardening firm.

Mr Abbott has campaigned against the expansion of Stansted airport and plans for an incinerator. He has also opposed large housing developments, calling for brownfield sites to be used before green areas.

He has stood in every general election since 1992, taking three per cent of Witham’s vote in 2010.

He says if he is elected he will focus on local issues such as development and strategic infrastructure for Witham. He does not believe the A12 should become amotorway but wants improvements to public transport, including the long-awaited Cressing Loop.

 

Jo Hayes, Liberal Democrats, has been a councillor for Castle Ward in Colchester since 2012. The practising barrister says she is proud she is not a career politician and has made her living outside politics.

Mrs Hayes was born in Essex and educated at local state schools, Oxford and Yale Universities.

She hit the headlines last year when she handed over £20,000 to Colchester council after losing a planning row which she had taken all the way to the Court of Appeal.

She had fought a two-year legal battle to stop an 85-bed Premier Inn being built in the town. Mrs Hayes is backing the Lib Dems’ manifesto plans for five new laws for a greener Britain, including a nature bill, a heating and energy efficiency bill, zero waste and zero carbon Britain bills, and a green transport bill.

She supports more apprenticeships, protecting the state pension and more money for the NHS.