South Hertfordshire (UK Parliament constituency)

South Hertfordshire
Former county constituency for the House of Commons
South Hertfordshire in Hertfordshire, showing boundaries used from 1974–1983
County	Hertfordshire
1974 (1974)–1983
Seats	One
Created from	Barnet, Enfield West and St Albans
Replaced by	Hertsmere, Watford and St Albans [1]

South Hertfordshire was a constituency in Hertfordshire which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was created for the February 1974 general election and abolished for the 1983 general election when it was mainly replaced by the new Hertsmere constituency.

Boundaries

Statutory definition

• The Urban District of Potters Bar;
• the Rural District of Elstree;
• in the Rural District of St Albans the parishes of Colney Heath, London Colney, and St Stephen; and
• in the Rural District of Watford the parish of Aldenham. ^[2]

Components' immediate predecessor seats

• The land of the Urban District of Potters Bar in local government administration-abolished Middlesex has been in Hertfordshire since the creation of Greater London in 1965. It now moved into this new seat from the abolished Enfield West seat. 

• The Rural District of Elstree was in the abolished Barnet seat. 

• The three St Albans district parishes came from the very long-lived St Albans seat and Aldenham came from South West Hertfordshire.

Components' immediate successors

• Colney Heath went back to the St Albans seat and St Stephen transferred to the Watford seat. 

• The rest formed most of the new constituency of Hertsmere.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	Feb 1974	Cecil Parkinson	Conservative
1983		constituency abolished: see Hertsmere

Election results

Elections in the 1970s

1970 notional result [3]
Party		Vote	%
	Conservative	22,900	48.9
	Labour	18,000	38.5
	Liberal	5,900	12.6
Turnout		46,800	73.2
Electorate		63,896

General election February 1974: South Hertfordshire

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Cecil Parkinson	21,190	40.2	–8.7
	Labour	Alf Dubs	18,104	34.4	–4.1
	Liberal	John Henchley	13,356	25.4	+12.8
Majority			3,086	5.9	–4.6
Turnout			52,650	82.2	+9.0
Registered electors			64,035
	Conservative hold		Swing	–2.3

General election October 1974: South Hertfordshire

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Cecil Parkinson	21,018	42.7	+2.5
	Labour	Alf Dubs	18,790	38.2	+3.8
	Liberal	John Henchley	9,393	19.1	−6.3
Majority			2,228	4.5	–1.3
Turnout			49,201	76.1	–6.1
Registered electors			64,666
	Conservative hold		Swing	−0.7

General election 1979: South Hertfordshire

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Cecil Parkinson	27,857	54.1	+11.3
	Labour	NG Male	16,059	31.2	−7.0
	Liberal	Gerald Sattin	7,001	13.6	−5.5
	National Front	S Fenn	605	1.2	New
Majority			11,798	22.9	+18.4
Turnout			51,522	79.0	+2.9
Registered electors			65,198
	Conservative hold		Swing	+9.2

References

1. "'Hertfordshire South', Feb 1974 - May 1983". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
2. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1970". www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
3. Michael Stead. "1970 notional general election & February 1974 general election". BBC. Retrieved 18 March 2025.

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "H" (part 3)