Saffron Walden Conservatives

Saffron Walden Conservatives or Saffron Walden Consistency Association (SWCCA) is a branch of the Conservative Party based in North West Essex. Its main office is in Saffron Walden at 3 Museum Street, The Old Armoury.

Saffron Walden Consistency Conservative Association considers itself a modern forward-looking Association of like-minded people from all walks of life, young or old with a common belief that their country should be run by a Conservative Government.

The Association has an elected Officers Committee, which looks after the administration of functions such as political Campaigning and Constituency events. The Executive Council is made up from the Officers Committee, the Branch Officers, Conservative Women’s Committee and representatives of the District and County Council Conservatives. The Branches have local based committees and cover areas corresponding to the electoral wards or adjacent wards. The branches look after local co-ordination of the membership, organising social events and local campaigning and are the principle means of communication within the Association.

As well as the political work carried out by the Association there are many and varied social functions organised by the Officers Committee on a constituency basis or locally by the associations local Branches.

The association has adopted and made successful use of modern campaigning techniques which has lead to a string of election successes over the last 5 years.

Parliamentary Seat

The current Member of Parliament for Saffron Walden is Sir Alan Haselhurst M.P. a Conservative a deputy speaker to the House of Commons. He has held the seat for over 30 years (since a by-election in 1977) the seat was previously held by Peter Kirk and R.A Butler both Conservatives. Saffron Walden is a largely rural constituency in North-West Essex. 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 makes clarification important. Many of the postal addresses relate to towns outside the constituency and in some cases to other counties. There are two medium sized towns within the constituency; Saffron Walden and Great Dunmow. They both 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. 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). 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.

Saffron Walden Town Council

The Conservatives are the current majority (12 to 3) on Saffron Walden Town Council. The Conservatives gained control of the Town Council from the Liberal Democrats in 2007 after almost a decade out of control. The Council is lead by Major Sarfraz Anjum, a Conservative.

Uttlesford District Council

The Conservatives are the current controlling party on Uttlesford District Council. They took control of the Council in 2007 after four years of Liberal Democrat control. Although the Conservatives had struggled to control the Council throughout the 1990s having to make alliances with the Independent and Labour groups to prevent the Liberal Democrats taking control.

Essex County Council

There are five Essex County Council divisions covered by SWCCAs. These are Dunmow, Saffron Walden, Stansted, Thaxted and Writtle. These are all held by the Conservatives.

Conservative Future

SWCCA has one of the most successful branches of Conservative Future for a non-University town in England. It continues to support the Conservative party through active campaigns and provides a number of candidates for the Conservative part during local elections.

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