Hitchin and Harpenden (UK Parliament constituency)

Hitchin and Harpenden
County constituency
for the House of Commons

Boundary of Hitchin and Harpenden in Hertfordshire.
County Hertfordshire
Electorate 74,189 (December 2010)[1]
Major settlements Hitchin, Harpenden, Wheathampstead
Current constituency
Created 1997 (1997)
Member of Parliament Peter Lilley (Conservative)
Number of members One
Created from North Hertfordshire
St Albans
Welwyn Hatfield
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency East of England

Hitchin and Harpenden is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

Contents

Boundaries

As well as the towns of Hitchin and Harpenden themselves, the constituency also includes Wheathampstead and a number of villages.

Boundary review

The constituency was created for the first time for the 1997 General Election. Following their review of parliamentary representation in Hertfordshire the Boundary Commission for England recommended that the constituency contain electoral wards in North Hertfordshire, and St Albans, as detailed below.

History

The constituency was created in 1997 from parts of several former Hertfordshire seats. Prior to 1997 Hitchin was included in the North Hertfordshire constituency and Harpenden in the St Albans constituency, while the village of Wheathampstead was part of the Welwyn Hatfield constituency.

The seat's first, and so far only, MP is the former Cabinet minister Peter Lilley of the Conservative Party, who had previously represented St Albans from 1983.

Members of Parliament

Election Member [2] Party
1997 Peter Lilley Conservative

Election results

General Election 2010: Hitchin and Harpenden[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Peter Lilley 29,869 54.6 +5.2
Liberal Democrat Nigel Quinton 14,598 26.7 +0.2
Labour Oliver de Botton 7,413 13.6 -8.4
UKIP Graham Wilkinson 1,633 3.0 +1.3
Green Richard Wise 807 1.5 +1.5
Independent Margaret Henderson 109 0.2 +0.2
Citizens for Undead Rights and Equality Simon Byron 108 0.2 +0.2
Your Right to Democracy Eric Hannah 90 0.2 +0.2
Independent Peter Rigby 50 0.1 +0.1
Majority 15,271 27.9
Turnout 54,707 74.1 +5.4
Conservative hold Swing 2.5
General Election 2005: Hitchin and Harpenden
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Peter Lilley 23,627 49.9 +2.6
Liberal Democrat Hannah Hedges 12,234 25.8 +7.8
Labour Paul Orrett 10,499 22.2 -10.3
UKIP John Saunders 828 1.7 +0.4
Independent Edward Rigby 199 0.4 +0.4
Majority 11,393 24.0
Turnout 47,387 70.5 +3.6
Conservative hold Swing -2.6
General Election 2001: Hitchin and Harpenden
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Peter Lilley 21,271 47.3 +1.5
Labour Alan Amos 14,608 32.5 -0.6
Liberal Democrat John Murphy 8,076 18.0 -2.1
UKIP John Saunders 606 1.3 N/A
Independent Peter Rigby 363 0.8 N/A
Majority 6,663 14.8
Turnout 44,924 66.9 -11.1
Conservative hold Swing 1.0
General Election 1997: Hitchin and Harpenden
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Peter Lilley 24,038 45.9 N/A
Labour Rosemary Sanderson 17,367 33.1 N/A
Liberal Democrat Chris White 10,515 20.1 N/A
Natural Law D. Cooke 290 0.6 N/A
Socialist Alternative Jim Horton 217 0.4 N/A
Majority 6,671 12.7 N/A
Turnout 52,427 78.0 N/A
Conservative hold Swing N/A

See also

Notes and references

  1. ^ "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. http://www.boundarycommissionforengland.org.uk/electoral-figures/electoral-figures.htm. Retrieved 13 March 2011. 
  2. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "H" (part 3)
  3. ^ "Hitchin and Harpenden". Election 2010. BBC News. 7 May 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/election2010/results/constituency/c22.stm. Retrieved 4 May 2010. 
Constituencies in the East of England (58)
Conservative (52)
Liberal Democrats (4)
Labour (2)