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).
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 BC | 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 † |
The Boundary Commission for England decided not to change Hertfordshire's representation in Parliament for the 2010 election. It did however suggest 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.[4][5]
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 |
Following the abandonment of the Sixth Periodic Review (the 2018 review), the Boundary Commission for England formally launched the 2023 Review on 5 January 2021.[6] Initial proposals were published on 8 June 2021 and, following two periods of public consultation, revised proposals were published on 8 November 2022. The final proposals were published on 28 June 2023.
The commission proposed that Hertfordshire be combined with Bedfordshire as a sub-region of the Eastern Region, with the creation of the cross-county boundary constituency of Hitchin. As a result of the changes, Hitchin and Harpenden was abolished and replaced by a new constituency named Harpenden and Berkhamsted.[7][8][9]
Primary data source: House of Commons research briefing - General election results from 1918 to 2019[10]
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 |
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
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
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–present* | |
Hertfordshire[11] | 1290–1885 | |||||||||||
Hertford[11][12] | 1298–1974 | |||||||||||
St Albans[nb 4][11][12] | 1307–1852 | 1885–* | ||||||||||
Watford[12] | 1885–* | |||||||||||
Hitchin[12] | 1885–1983 | |||||||||||
Hemel Hempstead[13] | 1918–1983 | 1997–* | ||||||||||
Barnet | 1945–1974 | Part of Greater London from 1965 | ||||||||||
South West Hertfordshire[14][15] | 1950–* | |||||||||||
East Hertfordshire[16] | 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–* | |||||||||||
North East Hertfordshire | 1997–* |
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.
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 |
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 |
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 |
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
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History of constituency boundaries in | |
By years |