List of parliamentary constituencies in Hertfordshire

The county of Hertfordshire in relation to England

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

Further information: 2024 United Kingdom general election

Context of the 2024 result. The county elected 7 Labour MPs, 3 Conservatives and 2 Liberal Democrats. Dem. MP.

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

2024

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
Broxbourne BC Hemel Hempstead CC Hertford and Stortford CC Hertsmere CC Hitchin and Harpenden CC North East Hertfordshire CC South West Hertfordshire CC St Albans CC Stevenage CC Watford BC Welwyn Hatfield CC	2010-2024 constituencies in Hertfordshire	Broxbourne CC Harpenden and Berkhamsted CC Hemel Hempstead CC Hertford and Stortford CC Hertsmere CC Hitchin CC North East Hertfordshire CC South West Hertfordshire CC St Albans CC Stevenage CC Watford BC Welwyn Hatfield CC	Current constituencies in Hertfordshire

2010

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

Primary data source: House of Commons research briefing - General election results from 1918 to 2019 ^[9]

2024

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%	7.0%	7	7
Conservative	177,264	30.4%	22.3%	3	7
Liberal Democrats	108,704	18.6%	0.3%	2	1
Reform UK	80,967	13.9%	New	0	New
Green	33,850	5.8%	3.3%	0	0
Others	5,492	0.8%	2.2%	0	0
Total	583,127	100.0		12

Percentage votes

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 Democrat 1	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

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 [lower-alpha 1]
Conservative	7	5	9	10	10	10	6	6	9	11	11	11	10	3
Liberal Democrat 1	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 [lower-alpha 1]

¹1974 & 1979 - Liberal Party; 1983 & 1987 - SDP-Liberal Alliance

1. Includes the constituency of Hitchin, which also lies partly in Bedfordshire.

Maps

1885-1910

• 
  1885
• 
  1886
• 
  1892
• 
  1895
• 
  1900
• 
  1906
• 
  Jan 1910
• 
  Dec 1910

1918-1945

• 
  1918
• 
  1922
• 
  1923
• 
  1924
• 
  1929
• 
  1931
• 
  1935
• 
  1945

1950-1970

• 
  1950
• 
  1951
• 
  1955
• 
  1959
• 
  1964
• 
  1966
• 
  1970

1974-present

• 
  Feb 1974
• 
  Oct 1974
• 
  1979
• 
  1983
• 
  1987
• 
  1992
• 
  1997
• 
  2001
• 
  2005
• 
  2010
• 
  2015
• 
  2017
• 
  2019
• 
  2024

Timeline

See also: List of former United Kingdom Parliamentary constituencies

  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

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

   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

   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

   Conservative    Labour

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

   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

• 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

1. Hitchin is a cross-county constituency, mostly covering areas of northern Hertfordshire but also containing electoral wards in Central Bedfordshire.
2. BC denotes borough constituency, CC denotes county constituency.
3. The majority is the number of votes the winning candidate receives more than their nearest rival.
4. St Albans was abolished in 1852, but re-established in 1885.

References

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

1. "Variation of election expenses limits for candidates at UK Parliamentary and local government elections" (PDF). The Electoral Commission . Retrieved 26 November 2009.
2. "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.
3. "UK Constituencies A-Z". BBC News . Retrieved 8 July 2024.
4. "Boundary proposals reveal brand new constituency - so is your MP changing?". Watford Observer. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
5. Adams, Matt (8 June 2021). "Harpenden constituency to go under proposed boundary changes". Herts Advertiser. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
6. "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume one: Report | Boundary Commission for England". paras 207-234. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
7. Boundary Commission for England pp. 346–350.
8. "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.
9. Watson, Christopher; Uberoi, Elise; Loft, Philip (17 April 2020), "General election results from 1918 to 2019", House of Commons Library
10. David Boothroyd. "Parliamentary Constituencies in the unreformed House". David Boothroyd. Retrieved 9 November 2009.
11. "Historic maps". David Rumsey Historical Map Collection . Retrieved 28 November 2009.
12. "Full text of "The Representation of the people act, 1918 : with explanatory notes"". Internet Archive . Retrieved 28 November 2009.
13. "UK General Election results July 1945". politicsresources.net. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 29 November 2009.
14. "UK General Election results February 1950". politicsresources.net. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 29 November 2009.
15. "UK General Election results May 1955". politicsresources.net. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 29 November 2009.