Two of the countries most liked, dis-liked, controversial and opinion-dividing politicians, one of which will be our next prime minister, appeared in Maldon this weekend in a final bid to sway the county’s undecided. 

Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt both appeared at the Five Lakes Golf Resort in Maldon for what was the penultimate hustings event for the Conservative leadership - which will be decided on July 21.

Arriving at separate entrances, both candidates were welcomed by sizeable groups of supporters and Tory members wielding placards, as cameras crews and photographers swarmed.

Speaking ahead of the event, Boris supporter Seena Shah said she believes he has "got the character and the charisma, but the policies as well," to become PM.

Hunt backer Scott, however, thinks "Jeremy’s plan is the one that will bring the country, and crucially parliament, together."

With the obligatory hand-shaking and pleasantries over with, the evening kicked off with Jeremy Hunt, who appeared calm and concise throughout, while Boris, the headline act I guess you could say, was unsurprisingly comical, and at times, quick-firing in his delivery of how he would run the country.

Brexit was of course a major topic of discussion, with Boris stating "if we have a No-Deal Brexit we will be ready for it," while Jeremy - who believes his entrepreneurial experience will stand him in good stead when tackling tough negotiations - pleaded with party members to not "take No-Deal off the table."

Elsewhere, cuts to policing was also brought up, to which Boris pledged to put 20,000 more officers on the streets, much to the delight of Essex's police, fire and crime commissioner, Roger Hirst, who was in attendance.

And Jeremy also addressed the issue as somewhat of a priority, highlighting the diminished numbers as his "second biggest concern."

With the recent redundancies that have hit teachers and schools across Essex, it was no shock when both Boris and Jeremy spoke about the need for better educational infrastructure, with Boris even saying "we need to pay teachers more and employ more teachers."

The ever room-splitting talking point of housing was also raised, but Jeremy defiantly claimed "we need to build more houses."

During a non-political segment, in which host Iain Dale attempted to tap into the hardened politicians' more personal sides and life beyond parliament, Jeremy performed best, but Boris arguably received the biggest cheer of the night when he appealed to the room's traffic-hating commuters shouting "isn't it time we did something about the A12 my friends?"

Speaking about how the pair faired during the Q&A hustings, MP for Colchester Will Quince said: "I thought they both performed really.

"They were both great on detail and they both made commitments in relation to the east of England and some of the big issues we have around housing and transport infrastructure, which was positive.

"I thought they both did really well."