List of parliamentary constituencies in Hertfordshire
![A small county slightly to the south and east of the centre of the country, and completely bounded by other counties.](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cd/EnglandHertfordshire.svg/220px-EnglandHertfordshire.svg.png)
The county of Hertfordshire in England is divided into twelve[nb 1] parliamentary constituencies. Each of the twelve elects a Member of Parliament (MP) to represent it at the United Kingdom (UK) Parliament in Westminster. As of the 2024 general election, seven of Hertfordshire's MPs are from the Labour Party, three are Conservatives, and two are Liberal Democrats. The county currently has one urban borough constituency (BC) – Watford - while the other eleven are classed as more rural county constituencies (CC).
Constituencies
[edit]Boundaries of the seats were amended by the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies carried out by the Boundary Commission for England, which came into effect from the 2024 general election. Each constituency is made up of whole or partial local government wards, which elect councillors at English local elections. Eleven are designated as county constituencies (in which candidates can spend more per head than their borough counterparts). One is a borough constituency.
[1] Conservative † Labour ‡ Liberal Democrat ¤
Name[nb 2] | Electorate[2] | Majority[3][nb 3] | Member of Parliament[3] | Nearest opposition[3] | Map | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Broxbourne CC | 75,454 | 2,858 | Lewis Cocking † | Catherine Deakin ‡ | ![]() | ||
Harpenden and Berkhamsted CC | 71,635 | 10,708 | Victoria Collins ¤ | Nigel Gardner † | ![]() | ||
Hemel Hempstead CC | 70,496 | 4,857 | David Taylor ‡ | Andrew Williams † | ![]() | ||
Hertford and Stortford CC | 75,396 | 4,748 | Josh Dean ‡ | Julie Marson † | ![]() | ||
Hertsmere CC | 73,256 | 7,992 | Oliver Dowden † | Josh Tapper ‡ | ![]() | ||
Hitchin CC | 72,112 | 7,109 | Alistair Strathern ‡ | Bim Afolami † | ![]() | ||
North East Hertfordshire CC | 76,849 | 1,923 | Chris Hinchliff ‡ | Nikki da Costa † | ![]() | ||
South West Hertfordshire CC | 71,552 | 4,456 | Gagan Mohindra † | Sally Symington ¤ | ![]() | ||
St Albans CC | 70,881 | 19,834 | Daisy Cooper ¤ | James Spencer † | ![]() | ||
Stevenage CC | 70,370 | 6,618 | Kevin Bonavia ‡ | Alex Clarkson † | ![]() | ||
Watford BC | 70,576 | 4,723 | Matt Turmaine ‡ | Dean Russell † | ![]() | ||
Welwyn Hatfield CC | 74,535 | 3,799 | Andrew Lewin ‡ | Grant Shapps † | ![]() |
Boundary changes
[edit]2024
[edit]For the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, which redrew the constituency map ahead of the 2024 United Kingdom general election, the Boundary Commission for England opted to combine Hertfordshire with Bedfordshire as a sub-region of the East of England region, with the creation of the cross-county boundary constituency of Hitchin. As a result, Hitchin and Harpenden was abolished, with Harpenden being included in a new constituency named Harpenden and Berkhamsted, along with the towns of Berkhamsted and Tring, previously part of South West Hertfordshire - which in turn gained areas of Three Rivers District, primarily form Watford. These changes had knock-on effects in the rest of the county, with most of the rest of the constituencies undergoing relatively minor boundary changes, the only exceptions being North East Hertfordshire and Stevenage, which remained effectively unchanged (save minor realignments with new ward boundaries).[4][5][6]
Former name | Boundaries 2010-2024 | Current name | Boundaries 2024–present |
---|---|---|---|
![]() |
![]() |
2010
[edit]For the Fifth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, which came into effect ahead of the 2010 general election, the Boundary Commission for England retained the same eleven Hertfordshire constituencies that had existed previously. It did however make slight boundary changes to reduce electoral disparity. The recommendations, which became law with the Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 2007, also ensured that local government wards in Hertfordshire would no longer be split between two Parliamentary constituencies.[7][8]
Name | Boundaries 1997-2010 | Boundaries 2010–present | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Broxbourne BC | ![]() |
![]() |
2 | Hemel Hempstead CC | ||
3 | Hertford and Stortford CC | ||
4 | Hertsmere CC | ||
5 | Hitchin and Harpenden CC | ||
6 | North East Hertfordshire CC | ||
7 | South West Hertfordshire CC | ||
8 | St Albans CC | ||
9 | Stevenage CC | ||
10 | Watford BC | ||
11 | Welwyn Hatfield CC |
Results history
[edit]Primary data source: House of Commons research briefing - General election results from 1918 to 2019[9]
2024
[edit]The number of votes cast for each political party who fielded candidates in constituencies comprising Hertfordshire in the 2024 general election were as follows:
Party | Votes | % | Change from 2019 | Seats | Change from 2019 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | 177,658 | 30.5% | ![]() |
7 | ![]() |
Conservative | 177,264 | 30.4% | ![]() |
3 | ![]() |
Liberal Democrats | 108,704 | 18.6% | ![]() |
2 | ![]() |
Reform UK | 80,967 | 13.9% | New | 0 | New |
Green | 33,850 | 5.8% | ![]() |
0 | 0 |
Others | 5,492 | 0.8% | ![]() |
0 | 0 |
Total | 583,127 | 100.0 | 12 |
Percentage votes
[edit]Election year | 1974
(Feb) |
1974
(Oct) |
1979 | 1983 | 1987 | 1992 | 1997 | 2001 | 2005 | 2010 | 2015 | 2017 | 2019 | 2024 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | 35.0 | 38.5 | 34.4 | 19.0 | 19.8 | 25.5 | 39.7 | 38.9 | 30.2 | 19.0 | 22.4 | 32.1 | 23.5 | 30.5 |
Conservative | 40.4 | 41.3 | 51.1 | 50.3 | 52.0 | 53.3 | 40.6 | 41.8 | 44.8 | 50.4 | 52.6 | 54.3 | 52.7 | 30.4 |
Liberal Democrat1 | 24.4 | 19.8 | 13.2 | 30.2 | 27.8 | 20.3 | 16.0 | 16.9 | 21.4 | 24.0 | 8.7 | 9.9 | 18.3 | 18.6 |
Reform UK | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 13.9 |
Green Party | - | - | - | - | * | * | * | * | * | 0.8 | 3.6 | 2.3 | 2.5 | 5.8 |
UKIP | - | - | - | - | - | - | * | * | * | 3.3 | 12.5 | 1.2 | * | * |
Other | 0.2 | 0.4 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.9 | 3.7 | 2.4 | 3.6 | 2.5 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 3.0 | 0.8 |
11974 & 1979 - Liberal Party; 1983 & 1987 - SDP-Liberal Alliance
* Included in Other
Seats
[edit]Election year | 1974
(Feb) |
1974
(Oct) |
1979 | 1983 | 1987 | 1992 | 1997 | 2001 | 2005 | 2010 | 2015 | 2017 | 2019 | 2024 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7[a] |
Conservative | 7 | 5 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 3 |
Liberal Democrat1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
Total | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 12[a] |
11974 & 1979 - Liberal Party; 1983 & 1987 - SDP-Liberal Alliance
Maps
[edit]1885-1910
[edit]-
1885
-
1886
-
1892
-
1895
-
1900
-
1906
-
Jan 1910
-
Dec 1910
1918-1945
[edit]-
1918
-
1922
-
1923
-
1924
-
1929
-
1931
-
1935
-
1945
1950-1970
[edit]-
1950
-
1951
-
1955
-
1959
-
1964
-
1966
-
1970
1974-present
[edit]-
Feb 1974
-
Oct 1974
-
1979
-
1983
-
1987
-
1992
-
1997
-
2001
-
2005
-
2010
-
2015
-
2017
-
2019
-
2024
Timeline
[edit]- Former constituency
- * Constituency for the 2024 United Kingdom general election
Constituency | Years | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1290–1298 | 1298–1307 | 1307–1852 | 1852–1885 | 1885–1918 | 1918–1945 | 1945–1950 | 1950–1955 | 1955–1974 | 1974–1983 | 1983–1997 | 1997–2024 | 2024-present* | |
Hertfordshire[10] | 1290–1885 | ||||||||||||
Hertford[10][11] | 1298–1974 | ||||||||||||
St Albans[nb 4][10][11] | 1307–1852 | 1885–* | |||||||||||
Watford[11] | 1885–* | ||||||||||||
Hitchin[11] | 1885–1983 | 2024–* | |||||||||||
Hemel Hempstead[12] | 1918–1983 | 1997–* | |||||||||||
Barnet | 1945–1974 | Transferred to Greater London | |||||||||||
South West Hertfordshire[13][14] | 1950–* | ||||||||||||
East Hertfordshire[15] | 1955–1983 | ||||||||||||
Hertford and Stevenage | 1974–1983 | ||||||||||||
South Hertfordshire | 1974–1983 | ||||||||||||
Welwyn Hatfield | 1974–* | ||||||||||||
North Hertfordshire | 1983–1997 | ||||||||||||
West Hertfordshire | 1983–1997 | ||||||||||||
Broxbourne | 1983–* | ||||||||||||
Hertford and Stortford | 1983–* | ||||||||||||
Hertsmere | 1983–* | ||||||||||||
Stevenage | 1983–* | ||||||||||||
Hitchin and Harpenden | 1997–2024 | ||||||||||||
North East Hertfordshire | 1997–* | ||||||||||||
Harpenden and Berkhamsted | 2024–* |
Historical representation by party
[edit]A cell marked → (with a different colour background to the preceding cell) indicates that the previous MP continued to sit under a new party name.
1885 to 1918
[edit]Conservative Independent Liberal
Constituency | 1885 | 1886 | 1892 | 1895 | 98 | 1900 | 04 | 1906 | Jan 10 | Dec 10 | 11 | 16 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hertford | A. Smith | E. Cecil | A. H. Smith | Rolleston | Billing | |||||||
Hitchin | Dimsdale | Hudson | Bertram | Hillier | R. Cecil | |||||||
St Albans | J. W. Grimston | Gibbs | Slack | Carlile | ||||||||
Watford | Halsey | Micklem | Ward |
1918 to 1955
[edit]Anti-Waste League Conservative Independent Labour Liberal Silver Badge
Constituency | 1918 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 1922 | 1923 | 1924 | 1929 | 1931 | 33 | 1935 | 37 | 41 | 43 | 1945 | 1950 | 1951 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hertford | Billing | Sueter | → | Walker-Smith | |||||||||||||
Hitchin | R. Cecil | Kindersley | Knebworth | Wilson | Berry | Jones | Fisher | ||||||||||
St Albans | Carlile | Fremantle | J. Grimston | Dumpleton | J. Grimston | ||||||||||||
Watford | Herbert | Freeman | |||||||||||||||
Hemel Hempstead | Talbot | J. Davidson | Dunn | J. Davidson | F. Davidson | ||||||||||||
Barnet | Taylor | Maudling | |||||||||||||||
Hertfordshire SW | Longden |
1955 to 1983
[edit]Constituency | 1955 | 1959 | 1964 | 1966 | 1970 | Feb 1974 | Oct 1974 | 1979 | 79 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Barnet | Maudling | Transferred to Greater London | |||||||
Hemel Hempstead | Davidson | Allason | Corbett | Lyell | |||||
Hertford / Hertford & Stevenage (1974) | Lindsay | Williams | Wells | ||||||
Hitchin | Maddan | Williams | Stewart | ||||||
St Albans | Grimston | Goodhew | |||||||
Watford | Farey-Jones | Tuck | Garel-Jones | ||||||
Hertfordshire SW | Longden | Dodsworth | Page | ||||||
Hertfordshire East | Walker-Smith | ||||||||
Hertfordshire South | Parkinson | ||||||||
Welwyn and Hatfield | Lindsay | Hayman | Murphy |
1983 to present
[edit]Conservative Independent Labour Liberal Democrats
Constituency | 1983 | 1987 | 1992 | 1997 | 2001 | 2005 | 2010 | 2015 | 2017 | 19 | 2019 | 2024 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Broxbourne | Roe | Walker | Cocking | |||||||||
Harpenden and Berkhamsted | Collins | |||||||||||
West Herts / Hemel Hempstead (1997) | Jones | McWalter | Penning | Taylor | ||||||||
Hertford & Stortford | Wells | Prisk | Marson | Dean | ||||||||
North Herts / NE Herts (1997) | Stewart | Heald | Hinchliff | |||||||||
Hertfordshire SW | Page | Gauke | → | Mohindra | ||||||||
Hertsmere | Parkinson | Clappison | Dowden | |||||||||
Hitchin & Harpenden / Hitchin (2024)1 | Lilley | Afolami | Strathern | |||||||||
St Albans | Lilley | Pollard | Main | Cooper | ||||||||
Stevenage | Wood | Follett | McPartland | Bonavia | ||||||||
Watford | Garel-Jones | Ward | Harrington | Russell | Turmaine | |||||||
Welwyn and Hatfield | Murphy | Evans | Johnson | Shapps | Lewin |
1includes an area of Bedfordshire
See also
[edit]- List of parliamentary constituencies in the East of England (region)
- History of parliamentary constituencies and boundaries in Hertfordshire
- East of England (European Parliament constituency)
- Hertfordshire County Council
- Hertfordshire local elections
Footnotes
[edit]- ^ Hitchin is a cross-county constituency, mostly covering areas of northern Hertfordshire but also containing electoral wards in Central Bedfordshire.
- ^ BC denotes borough constituency, CC denotes county constituency.
- ^ The majority is the number of votes the winning candidate receives more than their nearest rival.
- ^ St Albans was abolished in 1852, but re-established in 1885.
References
[edit]- General
- "Boundary Commission for England: Fifth Periodical Report" (PDF). Boundary Commission for England. Crown Copyright. 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 July 2011. Retrieved 6 November 2009.
- Craig, Frederick Walter Scott (1972). Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885–1972. Chichester, Sussex: Political Reference Publications. ISBN 0-900178-13-2.
- Robinson, Gwennah (1978). Barracuda Guide to County History, Vol III: Hertfordshire. Barracuda Books. ISBN 0-86023-030-9.
- Richard Hacker (13 February 2001). "Report on a local inquiry into the Parliamentary constituency boundaries for the county of Hertfordshire" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 January 2007. Retrieved 28 November 2009.
- Specific
- ^ "Variation of election expenses limits for candidates at UK Parliamentary and local government elections" (PDF). The Electoral Commission. Retrieved 26 November 2009.
- ^ "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England - Volume two: Constituency Names, designations and composition - Eastern". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
- ^ a b c "UK Constituencies A-Z". BBC News. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
- ^ "Boundary proposals reveal brand new constituency - so is your MP changing?". Watford Observer. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
- ^ Adams, Matt (8 June 2021). "Harpenden constituency to go under proposed boundary changes". Herts Advertiser. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
- ^ "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume one: Report | Boundary Commission for England". paras 207-234. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
- ^ Boundary Commission for England pp. 346–350.
- ^ "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 2007". Office of Public Sector Information. Crown copyright. 13 June 2007. Archived from the original on 11 February 2010. Retrieved 7 November 2009.
- ^ Watson, Christopher; Uberoi, Elise; Loft, Philip (17 April 2020), "General election results from 1918 to 2019", House of Commons Library
- ^ a b c David Boothroyd. "Parliamentary Constituencies in the unreformed House". David Boothroyd. Retrieved 9 November 2009.
- ^ a b c d "Historic maps". David Rumsey Historical Map Collection. Retrieved 28 November 2009.
- ^ "Full text of "The Representation of the people act, 1918 : with explanatory notes"". Internet Archive. Retrieved 28 November 2009.
- ^ "UK General Election results July 1945". politicsresources.net. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 29 November 2009.
- ^ "UK General Election results February 1950". politicsresources.net. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 29 November 2009.
- ^ "UK General Election results May 1955". politicsresources.net. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 29 November 2009.