Politics and politicians have been a hot topic this past year.

The usual low turnout of voters may be boosted in the General Election as a result of the scandal with MP’s expenses.

Electors will presumably be keen to have their say and whoever becomes the new MP for Witham will have a different job on their hands to that of Brooks Newmark, the MP who currently represents the town.

Mr Newmark, who has represented Witham and Braintree for almost five years, will contest the Braintree seat at the next election.

The Witham seat will be a new constituency taking in five Colchester borough wards and four Maldon district wards, together with nine wards in the Braintree district which surround Witham.

There are around 65,000 people in the Witham constituency electorate.

After the 2005 election the Boundary Commission took a look at the map of constituencies and the number of seats in the House of Commons will rise from 646 to 650.

A report produced by the Boundary Commission said a number of objections were made to the provisional recommendation of a Witham constituency “and particularly to the separation of the towns of Witham and Braintree”.

However, according to the report, the Assistant Commissioner of the Boundary Commission said although the towns shared a number of links, “they also had separate identities and character, and limited connections”.

Priti Patel is the Conservative candidate standing in Witham and John Spademan is representing Labour.

Also in the running, and hoping for success on May 6, are James Abbott (Green), Margaret Phelps (Lib Dem) and Dave Hodges (UKIP).

“Somebody interested and hands on,” is what the town needs, that’s according to Paul Ryland, Chairman of the Witham Town Centre Strategy Group.

He said Mr Newmark “is a clever man” who he has no problem with but he questioned what influence MP’s have in a town.

“We need better leadership than what we’ve had. Does any MP really affect Witham? If we had an MP that ignited everybody into doing things that would be great,” Mr Ryland said.

“The amalgamation of Braintree, Witham and Halstead has not been a great success story as far as Witham is concerned.

“The main thing is the population is increasing and any new form of governance needs to bring a coordinated approach.

“There’s no reason Witham should be the failure it is.”

David Bigg, Chairman of Witham and Braintree Rail Users’ Association, said he and his members “have high hopes” for whoever is elected.

“It is hoped a new MP for Witham itself would act as a force for good,” he said.

“There are key areas, Bramston Sports Centre is seen as a test of faith for Braintree Council and we should know in the next few months if a new development will happen, if it fails there will be real hostility in Witham towards Braintree.

“At the moment we have no voice. No disrespect to the town council but it is weak and ineffective and basically ignored.”

Mr Bigg said improving health facilities in the town will be high on voters’ lists.

He said although the new constituency will be large and take in parts of three districts having Witham in the title will “hopefully keep the town at the forefront” of the new MP’s mind.

Barry Fleet, Witham Mayor, said: “It’s difficult to gauge whether it will make a material difference.

“Most people will be pleased about it as people are not necessarily that keen on being tied to the Braintree district and this will give a greater sense of independence.”

He said the town council had worked with Mr Newmark from time to time on various issues and councillors had worked alongside him more recently at surgeries in Witham where the public are invited to put queries to their elected members.

“Hopefully we will keep that up with whoever is elected,” Mr Fleet said.

He added that health will continue to be a key issue for the MP to tackle as residents and councillors battle for parity with neighbouring towns in terms of level of facilities.