Hereford was, until 2010, a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Since 1918, it had elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first-past-the-post voting system.
Previously, Hereford had been a parliamentary borough which from 1295 to 1885 had elected two MPs, using the bloc vote system in contested elections. Under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 the borough's representation had been reduced to one seat at the 1885 general election, and for the 1918 general election the borough was abolished and replaced with a county division which carried the same name but covered a wider geographical area.
History
Hereford sent two representatives to Parliament from the beginning of the reign of Edward I. Although a county town, the early elections were always held at a different location from those of the shire, the former taking place at the Guildhall, the latter in the castle.
In 1885, representation was reduced to one Member.
Journalist Robin Day stood as the Liberal candidate in the 1959 general election.
From 1931 until 1997, Hereford was held by the Conservative Party, before being taken by Paul Keetch of the Liberal Democrats at the 1997 general election. Keetch served as the Liberal Democrats' spokesman for defence from October 1999 until May 2005, and announced on 17 November 2006 that he would not be standing at the next election.
Following the review by the Boundary Commission for England of parliamentary representation in Herefordshire, taking effect at the 2010 general election, two parliamentary constituencies were allocated to the county. The Hereford seat was abolished and replaced by the Hereford and South Herefordshire seat, while the remainder of the county is covered by the North Herefordshire seat.
Boundaries
1918–1950: The Borough of Hereford, the Urban Districts of Ledbury and Ross-on-Wye, the Rural Districts of Dore, Ross, and Whitchurch, and parts of the Rural Districts of Hereford and Ledbury.
1950–1983: The Borough of Hereford, the Urban District of Ross-on-Wye, the Rural Districts of Dore and Bredwardine, and Ross and Whitchurch, and part of the Rural District of Hereford.
1983–1997: The City of Hereford, and the District of South Herefordshire wards of Backbury, Broad Oak, Dinedor Hill, Doward, Fownhope, Garron, Golden Valley, Gorsley, Gorsty, Harewood End, Hollington, Kingsthorne, Merbach, Olchon, Old Gore, Penyard, Pontrilas, Ross-on-Wye East, Ross-on-Wye West, Stoney Street, Tram Inn, Walford, Whitfield, and Wilton.
1997–2010: The City of Hereford, and the District of South Herefordshire wards of Broad Oak, Clehonger East, Clehonger West, Dinedor Hill, Doward, Fownhope, Garron, Golden Valley, Gorsley, Harewood End, Hollington, Kingsthorne, Merbach, Olchon, Old Gore, Penyard, Pontrilas, Ross-on-Wye East, Ross-on-Wye West, Stoney Street, Tram Inn, Walford, Whitfield, and Wilton.
In its final form, the Hereford constituency contained the city of Hereford and most of South Herefordshire, including Ross-on-Wye, but excluding Ledbury and Much Marcle, both of which were in the Leominster constituency.
Members of Parliament
MPs 1295–1640
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Parliament!!First member!!Second member
|-
|Jan. 1377|| Richard Nash||
|-
| 1378|| Thomas Whitefield
|-
| 1388 (Feb)|| William Jonet|| Thomas Chippenham I
|-
| 1410||||
|-
| 1411||||
|-
| 1413 (Feb)||||
|-
| 1413 (May)|| Henry Chippenham|| George Breinton
|-
| 1431||Thomas Chippenham ||William Buryton
|-
| 1515|| Roland Brydges|| Reginald Mynors
|-
| 1562–1563|| Thomas Webbe, died <br> and replaced 1566 by John Hyde|| Henry Green!!First party!!!!Second member||rowspan="2"|
|-
|December 1648
|colspan="3"|Hoskyns excluded in Pride's Purge – seat vacant
|-
|1653
|colspan="6"|Hereford was unrepresented in Barebone's Parliament
|-
|1654
|style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
|Bennet Hoskyns||<!-- party -->
|rowspan="2" colspan="3"| Hereford had only one seat in the First and <br>Second Parliaments of the Protectorate
|-
|1656
|style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
|Colonel Wroth Rogers||<!-- party -->
|-
|January 1659
|style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
|Nathan Rogers||<!-- party -->
|style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
|Roger Bosworth||<!-- party -->
|-
|May 1659
|colspan="6"|Not represented in the restored Rump
|-
|April 1660
|rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
|rowspan="2"| Herbert Westfaling
|rowspan="2"| <!-- party -->
| style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
| Roger Bosworth
| <!-- party -->
|-
|November 1660
|rowspan="3" style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
|rowspan="3"| Sir Henry Lingen
|rowspan="3"| <!-- party -->
|-
|April 1661
| style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
| Sir Edward Hopton
| <!-- party -->
|-
|September 1661
|rowspan="3" style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
|rowspan="3"| Herbert Westfaling
|rowspan="3"| <!-- party -->
|-
| 1662
| style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
| Roger Vaughan
| <!-- party -->
|-
| 1673
| style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
| The Viscount Scudamore
| <!-- party -->
|-
| 1679
| style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
| Bridstock Harford
| <!-- party -->
|rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
|rowspan="2"| Paul Foley
|rowspan="2"| Country Whig
|-
| 1681
|rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
|rowspan="2"| Herbert Aubrey
|rowspan="2"| <!-- party -->
|-
| 1685
| style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
| Thomas Geers
| <!-- party -->
|-
|January 1689
| style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
| Sir William Gregory
| <!-- party -->
|rowspan="4" style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
|rowspan="4"| Paul Foley
|rowspan="4"| Country Whig
|-
|June 1689
| style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
| Henry Cornewall
| <!-- party -->
|-
| 1695
| style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
| James Morgan
| <!-- party -->
|-
| 1698
|rowspan="3" style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
|rowspan="3"| Hon. James Brydges
|rowspan="3"| <!-- party -->
|-
| 1699
| style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
| Samuel Pytts
| <!-- party -->
|-
| 1701
|rowspan="3" style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
|rowspan="3"| Thomas Foley
|rowspan="3"| <!-- party -->
|-
| 1715
| style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
| The Viscount Scudamore
| <!-- party -->
|-
| 1717
|rowspan="3" style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
|rowspan="3"| Herbert Rudhale Westfaling
|rowspan="3"| <!-- party -->
|-
| 1722
| style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
| William Mayo
| <!-- party -->
|-
| 1723
| style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
| James Wallwyn
| <!-- party -->
|-
| 1727
| style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
| Marquess of Carnarvon
| <!-- party -->
| style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
| Thomas Geers
| <!-- party -->
|-
| 1734
| style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
| Thomas Foley
| <!-- party -->
| style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
| Sir John Morgan
| <!-- party -->
|-
| 1741
| style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
| Edward Cope Hopton
| <!-- party -->
| style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
| Thomas Geers Winford
| <!-- party -->
|-
| 1747
| style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
| Lieutenant General Henry Cornewall
| <!-- party -->
| style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
| Daniel Leighton
| <!-- party -->
|-
| 1754
|rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
|rowspan="2"| Charles Fitzroy Scudamore
|rowspan="2"| <!-- party -->
| style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| John Symons
| Tory
|-
| 1764
|rowspan="5" style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
|rowspan="5"| John Scudamore
|rowspan="5"| Whig
|-
| 1768
| style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| (Sir) Richard Symons
| Tory
| Whig
|-
| 1832
| style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| Robert Biddulph
| Whig
|-
| 1845
|rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
|rowspan="2"| Sir Robert Price, Bt
|rowspan="2"| Whig
|-
| 1847
|rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
|rowspan="3"| Henry Morgan-Clifford
|rowspan="2"| Whig
|-
| 1857
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
|rowspan="4"| George Clive
|Whig
|-
| 1859
|rowspan="3" style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
|rowspan="3"| Liberal
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
|Liberal
|-
| 1865
| style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| Richard Baggallay
| Conservative
|-
| 1868
| style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| John Wyllie
| Liberal
|-
| 1869
| style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| Edward Clive
| Liberal
|rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
|rowspan="2"| Chandos Wren-Hoskyns
|rowspan="2"| Liberal
|-
| 1871
| style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| George Arbuthnot
| Conservative
|-
| 1874
| style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| Evan Pateshall
| Conservative
|rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
|rowspan="2"| George Clive
|rowspan="2"| Liberal
|-
| 1878
| style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| George Arbuthnot
| Conservative
|-
| 1880
| style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| Joseph Pulley
| Liberal
| style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| Robert Reid
| Liberal
|-
|1885
|colspan="6"| Representation reduced to one member
|}
MPs 1885–2010
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!colspan="2"|Year!!Member!!Party
|-
| style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1885
| Joseph Pulley
| Liberal
|-
| style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1886
| Sir Joseph Bailey
| Conservative
|-
| style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1892
| William Grenfell
| Liberal
|-
| style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1893
| Charles Cooke
| Conservative
|-
| style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1900
| John Arkwright
| Conservative
|-
| style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1912
| William Hewins
| Unionist
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1918
|Charles Pulley
|Unionist
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1921
||Samuel Roberts
|Unionist
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1929
|Frank Owen
|Liberal
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1931
|James Thomas
|Conservative
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1956
|David Gibson-Watt
|Conservative
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1974
|Colin Shepherd
|Conservative
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1997
|Paul Keetch
|Liberal Democrat
|-
|
| 2010
| colspan="2" | constituency abolished
|}
Elections
Elections in the 1830s
Price resigned, causing a by-election.