Parliamentary constituencies in Hertfordshire

thumb|right|alt=A small county slightly to the south and east of the centre of the country, and completely bounded by other counties.|The county of [[Hertfordshire in relation to England]]

The county of Hertfordshire in England is divided into twelve 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

Boundaries of the seats were amended by the 2023 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.

{| class="wikitable sortable"

|-

! rowspan="1" |Name

! rowspan="1" |Electorate

! rowspan="1" |Majority

! class="unsortable" colspan="2" |Member of Parliament

{| class="wikitable"

!style="background-color:#ff9999"|Former name!! style="background-color:#ff9999" |Boundaries 2010-2024!! style="background-color:#ff9999" |Current name!! style="background-color:#ff9999" |Boundaries 2024–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

|left|300px|2010-2024 constituencies in Hertfordshire

|

1. Broxbourne CC
2. Harpenden and Berkhamsted CC
3. Hemel Hempstead CC
4. Hertford and Stortford CC
5. Hertsmere CC
6. Hitchin CC
7. North East Hertfordshire CC
8. South West Hertfordshire CC
9. St Albans CC
10. Stevenage CC
11. Watford BC
12. Welwyn Hatfield CC

|left|300px|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.

{| class="wikitable"

! style="background-color:#ff9999" | !! style="background-color:#ff9999" |Name!! style="background-color:#ff9999" |Boundaries 1997-2010!! style="background-color:#ff9999" |Boundaries 2010–present

|-

|1

|Broxbourne BC

| rowspan="11" |alt=A map of a county, divided into eleven constituencies|left

| rowspan="11" |alt=The same map of a county. It is divided into eleven constituencies, some of which have slightly different boundaries.|left

|-

|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

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:

{| class="wikitable"

!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

{| class="wikitable"

!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

<nowiki>*</nowiki> Included in Other

Seats

{| class="wikitable"

!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

|-

|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

|}

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

Maps

1885-1910

<gallery mode="packed" heights="165">

File:HertfordshireParliamentaryConstituency1885Results.svg|1885

File:HertfordshireParliamentaryConstituency1885Results.svg|1886

File:HertfordshireParliamentaryConstituency1885Results.svg|1892

File:HertfordshireParliamentaryConstituency1885Results.svg|1895

File:HertfordshireParliamentaryConstituency1885Results.svg|1900

File:HertfordshireParliamentaryConstituency1906Results.svg|1906

File:HertfordshireParliamentaryConstituency1885Results.svg|Jan 1910

File:HertfordshireParliamentaryConstituency1885Results.svg|Dec 1910

</gallery>

1918-1945

<gallery mode="packed" heights="165">

File:HertfordshireParliamentaryConstituency1918Results.svg|1918

File:HertfordshireParliamentaryConstituency1922Results.svg|1922

File:HertfordshireParliamentaryConstituency1923Results.svg|1923

File:HertfordshireParliamentaryConstituency1922Results.svg|1924

File:HertfordshireParliamentaryConstituency1922Results.svg|1929

File:HertfordshireParliamentaryConstituency1922Results.svg|1931

File:HertfordshireParliamentaryConstituency1922Results.svg|1935

File:HertfordshireParliamentaryConstituency1945Results.svg|1945

</gallery>

1950-1970

<gallery mode="packed" heights="165">

File:HertfordshireParliamentaryConstituency1950Results.svg|1950

File:HertfordshireParliamentaryConstituency1950Results.svg|1951

File:HertfordshireParliamentaryConstituency1955Results.svg|1955

File:HertfordshireParliamentaryConstituency1955Results.svg|1959

File:HertfordshireParliamentaryConstituency1964Results.svg|1964

File:HertfordshireParliamentaryConstituency1964Results.svg|1966

File:HertfordshireParliamentaryConstituency1964Results.svg|1970

</gallery>

1974-present

<gallery mode="packed" heights="165">

File:HertfordshireParliamentaryConstituency1974FebResults.svg|Feb 1974

File:HertfordshireParliamentaryConstituency1974OctResults.svg|Oct 1974

File:HertfordshireParliamentaryConstituency1979Results.svg|1979

File:HertfordshireParliamentaryConstituency1992Results.svg|1983

File:HertfordshireParliamentaryConstituency1992Results.svg|1987

File:HertfordshireParliamentaryConstituency1992Results.svg|1992

File:HertfordshireParliamentaryConstituency2001Results.svg|1997

File:HertfordshireParliamentaryConstituency2001Results.svg|2001

File:HertfordshireParliamentaryConstituency2005Results.svg|2005

File:HertfordshireParliamentaryConstituency2010Results.svg|2010

File:HertfordshireParliamentaryConstituency2010Results.svg|2015

File:HertfordshireParliamentaryConstituency2010Results.svg|2017

File:HertfordshireParliamentaryConstituency2019Results.svg|2019

File:HertfordshireParliamentaryConstituency2024Results.svg|2024

</gallery>

Timeline

:

:

{| class="wikitable"

|-

!rowspan="2"|Constituency

!colspan="13" align="center"|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

| align="center" bgcolor="#99ff99" colspan="4" | 1290–1885

|colspan="9"|&nbsp;

|-

| Hertford

|colspan="1"|&nbsp;

| align="center" bgcolor="#99ff99" colspan="8" | 1298–1974

| colspan="4" |

|-

| St Albans

|colspan="5"|&nbsp;

| align="center" bgcolor="#99ff99" colspan="5" |1918–1983

| align="center"|

| colspan="2" align="center" bgcolor="#f781f3"|1997–*

|-

|Barnet

|colspan="6"|&nbsp;

| align="center" bgcolor="#99ff99" colspan="3" |1945–1974

| colspan="4" |<small>Transferred to Greater London</small>

|-

| South West Hertfordshire

| colspan="7" |&nbsp;

| align="center" bgcolor="#f781f3" colspan="6" |1950–*

|-

| East Hertfordshire

| colspan="8" |&nbsp;

| align="center" bgcolor="#99ff99" colspan="2" |1955–1983

| colspan="3" |

|-

| Hertford and Stevenage

| colspan="9" |&nbsp;

| align="center" bgcolor="#99ff99" |1974–1983

| colspan="3" |

|-

| South Hertfordshire

| colspan="9" |&nbsp;

| align="center" bgcolor="#99ff99" |1974–1983

| colspan="3" |

|-

| Welwyn Hatfield

| colspan="9" |&nbsp;

| align="center" bgcolor="#f781f3" colspan="4" |1974–*

|-

| North Hertfordshire

| colspan="10" |&nbsp;

| align="center" bgcolor="#99ff99" |1983–1997

| colspan="2" |

|-

| West Hertfordshire

| colspan="10" |&nbsp;

| align="center" bgcolor="#99ff99" |1983–1997

| colspan="2" |

|-

| Broxbourne

| colspan="10" |&nbsp;

| align="center" bgcolor="#f781f3" colspan="3" |1983–*

|-

| Hertford and Stortford

| colspan="10" |&nbsp;

| align="center" bgcolor="#f781f3" colspan="3" |1983–*

|-

| Hertsmere

| colspan="10" |&nbsp;

| align="center" bgcolor="#f781f3" colspan="3" |1983–*

|-

| Stevenage

| colspan="10" |

| align="center" bgcolor="#f781f3" colspan="3" |1983–*

|-

| Hitchin and Harpenden

| colspan="11" |&nbsp;

| align="center" bgcolor="#99ff99" |1997–2024

|

|-

| North East Hertfordshire

| colspan="11" |&nbsp;

| colspan="2" align="center" bgcolor="#f781f3" |1997–*

|-

| Harpenden and Berkhamsted

| colspan="12" |&nbsp;

| align="center" bgcolor="#f781f3" |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

{| class="wikitable"

!Constituency

!1885

!1886

!1892

!1895

!98

!1900

!04

!1906

!Jan 10

!Dec 10

!11

!16

|-

|Hertford

| bgcolor="" colspan="4" |A. Smith

| bgcolor="" |E. Cecil

| bgcolor="" colspan="3" |A. H. Smith

| bgcolor="" colspan="3" |Rolleston

| bgcolor="" |Billing

|-

|Hitchin

| bgcolor="" colspan="2" |Dimsdale

| bgcolor="" colspan="5" |Hudson

| bgcolor="" |Bertram

| bgcolor="" colspan="2" |Hillier

| colspan="2" bgcolor="" |R. Cecil

|-

|St Albans

| bgcolor="" colspan="2" |J. W. Grimston

| bgcolor="" colspan="4" |Gibbs

|bgcolor=""|Slack

| colspan="5" bgcolor="" |Carlile

|-

|Watford

| bgcolor="" colspan="7" |Halsey

| bgcolor="" |Micklem

| bgcolor="" colspan="4" |Ward

|}

1918 to 1955

{| class="wikitable"

!Constituency

!1918

!19

!20

!21

!1922

!1923

!1924

!1929

!1931

!33

!1935

!37

!41

!43

!1945

!1950

!1951

|-

|Hertford

| colspan="3" |Billing

| bgcolor="" |Sueter

| colspan="10" bgcolor="" |→

| colspan="3" bgcolor=""|Walker-Smith

|-

|Hitchin

| colspan="5" bgcolor=""|R. Cecil

| colspan="3" bgcolor="" |Kindersley

| bgcolor="" |Knebworth

| colspan="3" bgcolor="" |Wilson

| colspan="2" bgcolor="" |Berry

| bgcolor=""|Jones

| colspan="2" bgcolor=""|Fisher

|-

|St Albans

|bgcolor=""|Carlile

| colspan="12" bgcolor="" |Fremantle

|bgcolor=""|J. Grimston

|bgcolor=""|Dumpleton

| colspan="2" bgcolor=""|J. Grimston

|-

|Watford

| colspan="14" bgcolor="" |Herbert

| colspan="3" bgcolor=""|Freeman

|-

|Hemel Hempstead

| colspan="2" bgcolor="" |Talbot

| colspan="3" bgcolor="" |J. Davidson

| bgcolor="" |Dunn

| colspan="5" bgcolor="" |J. Davidson

| colspan="6" bgcolor="" |F. Davidson

|-

|Barnet

| colspan="14" |

|bgcolor=""|Taylor

| colspan="2" bgcolor=""|Maudling

|-

|Hertfordshire SW

| colspan="15" |

| colspan="2" bgcolor=""|Longden

|}

1955 to 1983

{| class="wikitable"

!Constituency

!1955

!1959

!1964

!1966

!1970

!Feb 1974

!Oct 1974

!1979

!79

|-

|Barnet

| colspan="5" bgcolor=""|Maudling

| colspan="4" |Transferred to Greater London

|-

|Hemel Hempstead

| bgcolor=""|Davidson

| bgcolor="" colspan="5" |Allason

| bgcolor="" |Corbett

| bgcolor="" colspan="2" |Lyell

|-

|Hertford / Hertford & Stevenage (1974)

| bgcolor="" colspan="5" |Lindsay

| bgcolor="" colspan="2" |Williams

| bgcolor="" colspan="2" |Wells

|-

|Hitchin

| bgcolor="" colspan="2" |Maddan

| bgcolor="" colspan="3" |Williams

| bgcolor="" colspan="4" |Stewart

|-

|St Albans

| bgcolor=""|Grimston

| bgcolor="" colspan="8" |Goodhew

|-

|Watford

| bgcolor="" colspan="2" |Farey-Jones

| bgcolor="" colspan="5" |Tuck

| bgcolor="" colspan="2" |Garel-Jones

|-

|Hertfordshire SW

| bgcolor="" colspan="5" |Longden

| bgcolor="" colspan="3" |Dodsworth

| bgcolor="" |Page

|-

|Hertfordshire East

| bgcolor="" colspan="9" |Walker-Smith

|-

|Hertfordshire South

| colspan="5" |

| bgcolor="" colspan="4" |Parkinson

|-

|Welwyn and Hatfield

| colspan="5" |

| bgcolor="" |Lindsay

| bgcolor="" |Hayman

| bgcolor="" colspan="2" |Murphy

|}

1983 to present

{| class="wikitable"

!Constituency

!1983

!1987

!1992

!1997

!2001

!2005

!2010

!2015

!2017

!19

!2019

!2024

|-

|Broxbourne

| bgcolor="" colspan="5" |Roe

| bgcolor="" colspan="6" |Walker

| bgcolor="" | Cocking

|-

|Harpenden and Berkhamsted

| colspan="11" |

| bgcolor="" | Collins

|-

|West Herts / Hemel Hempstead (1997)

| bgcolor="" colspan="3" |Jones

| bgcolor="" colspan="2" |McWalter

| bgcolor="" colspan="6" |Penning

| bgcolor="" | Taylor

|-

|Hertford & Stortford

| bgcolor="" colspan="4" |Wells

| bgcolor="" colspan="6" |Prisk

| bgcolor="" |Marson

| bgcolor="" | Dean

|-

|North Herts / NE Herts (1997)

| bgcolor="" colspan="2" |Stewart

| bgcolor="" colspan="9" |Heald

| bgcolor="" | Hinchliff

|-

|Hertfordshire SW

| bgcolor="" colspan="5" |Page

| bgcolor="" colspan="4" |Gauke

| bgcolor="" |→

| bgcolor="" colspan="2" |Mohindra

|-

|Hertsmere

| bgcolor="" colspan="2" |Parkinson

| bgcolor="" colspan="5" |Clappison

| bgcolor="" colspan="5" |Dowden

|-

|Hitchin & Harpenden / Hitchin (2024)¹

| colspan="3" |

| bgcolor="" colspan="5" |Lilley

| bgcolor="" colspan="3" |Afolami

| bgcolor="" | Strathern

|-

|St Albans

| bgcolor="" colspan="3" |Lilley

| bgcolor="" colspan="2" |Pollard

| bgcolor="" colspan="5" |Main

| bgcolor="" colspan="2" |Cooper

|-

|Stevenage

| bgcolor="" colspan="3" |Wood

| bgcolor="" colspan="3" |Follett

| bgcolor="" colspan="5" |McPartland

| bgcolor="" | Bonavia

|-

|Watford

| bgcolor="" colspan="3" |Garel-Jones

| bgcolor="" colspan="3" |Ward

| bgcolor="" colspan="4" |Harrington

| bgcolor="" |Russell

| bgcolor="" | Turmaine

|-

|Welwyn and Hatfield

| bgcolor="" |Murphy

| bgcolor="" colspan="2" |Evans

| bgcolor="" colspan="2" |Johnson

| bgcolor="" colspan="6" |Shapps

| bgcolor="" | 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

References

;General

;Specific