West Hertfordshire (UK Parliament constituency)

For the constituency alternatively called West Hertfordshire between 1885 and 1918, see Watford (UK Parliament constituency).

West Hertfordshire
Former county constituency for the House of Commons
West Hertfordshire in Hertfordshire, showing boundaries used from 1983–1997
County	Hertfordshire
1983–1997
Seats	One
Created from	Hemel Hempstead [1]
Replaced by	Hemel Hempstead and South West Hertfordshire [1]

West Hertfordshire was a parliamentary constituency in Hertfordshire. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom by the first past the post system. The constituency name was used from the 1983 general election, when the Hemel Hempstead constituency was renamed "West Hertfordshire", to the 1997 general election, when the "Hemel Hempstead" name was restored.

History

The constituency was created for the 1983 general election from the majority of the abolished seat of Hemel Hempstead, although the town of Berkhamsted was removed to South West Hertfordshire. ^[2] It was in turn abolished for the 1997 general election, with the town of Tring being transferred to South West Hertfordshire and the remaining areas forming the re-established Hemel Hempstead constituency.

Although the predecessor seat Hemel Hempstead had voted Conservative by almost 5000 votes in 1979, with the removal of the strongly Conservative-voting town of Berkhamsted it was estimated that the new seat would have notionally voted Labour in 1979 by around 700 votes. ^[2] However, like many Home Counties New Town seats, it swung strongly towards Margaret Thatcher's Conservatives in their 1983 landslide election victory (with Labour falling to third place), and was won by the Tories by significant margins (ranging from 15% to 23%) at all three general elections of its existence.

Its main successor seat of (the revived) Hemel Hempstead would be regained (after favourable boundary changes) by Labour in 1997 amid their national landslide victory.

Boundaries

The District of Dacorum wards of Adeyfield East, Adeyfield West, Aldbury and Wigginton, Ashridge, Bennetts End, Boxmoor, Central, Chaulden, Crabtree, Cupid Green, Flamstead and Markyate, Gadebridge, Grove Hill, Highfield, Leverstock Green, Nash Mills, South, Tring Central, Tring East, Tring West, and Warners End. ^[3]

The main settlements in the constituency were Hemel Hempstead and Tring.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member [4]	Party
	1983	Robert Jones	Conservative
	1997	constituency abolished: see Hemel Hempstead & South West Hertfordshire

Election results

1979 notional result [5]
Party		Vote	%
	Labour	28,354	46.0
	Conservative	27,671	44.9
	Liberal	5,075	8.2
	Others	518	0.8
Turnout		61,618
Electorate

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1983: Hertfordshire West ^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Jones	28,436	46.7	+1.8
	SDP	Nicholas Hollinghurst	18,860	31.0	+22.7
	Labour	Paul Boateng	13,583	22.3	−23.7
Majority			9,486	15.6	N/A
Turnout			60,879	79.4
Registered electors			76,597
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+10.5

General election 1987: Hertfordshire West ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Jones	31,760	49.7	+3.0
	SDP	Nicholas Hollinghurst	16,836	26.3	−4.6
	Labour	Tony McBrearty	15,317	24.0	+1.7
Majority			14,924	23.4	+7.6
Turnout			63,913	80.9	+1.5
Registered electors			78,966
	Conservative hold		Swing	−3.8

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1992: Hertfordshire West ^{[8] [9]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Jones	33,340	51.5	+1.8
	Labour	Eryl McNally	19,400	30.0	+6.0
	Liberal Democrats	Martin Trevett	10,464	16.2	−10.2
	Green	James Hannaway	674	1.0	New
	National Front	John McAuley	665	1.0	New
	Natural Law	Guy Harvey	175	0.3	New
Majority			13,940	21.5	−1.8
Turnout			64,718	82.4	+1.4
Registered electors			78,573
	Conservative hold		Swing	−2.1

See also

• Parliamentary constituencies in Hertfordshire

Notes and references

1. "'Hertfordshire West', June 1983 up to May 1997". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Archived from the original on 12 March 2016. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
2. Waller, Robert (April 1983). The Almanac of British Politics (1st ed.). London: Croom Helm. p. 332. ISBN   0-7099-2767-3.
3. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1983". legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
4. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "H" (part 3)
5. "BBC/ITN NOTIONAL ELECTION 1979". election.demon.co.uk. BBC/ITN. Archived from the original on 28 May 2004. Retrieved 7 March 2025.
6. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
7. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
8. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
9. "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 6 December 2010.