Hertford and Stevenage (UK Parliament constituency)

Hertford and Stevenage
Former County constituency
for the House of Commons
February 1974–1983
Number of members one

Hertford and Stevenage was a parliamentary constituency in Hertfordshire, which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from February 1974 until it was abolished for the 1983 general election.

Boundaries

It was a county constituency which as originally defined consisted of the borough of Hertford, the urban districts of Stevenage and Ware and the rural district of Hertford. Hertford and its rural district had previously been in the Hertford constituency, Stevenage in the Hitchin constituency and Ware in East Hertfordshire. After being used for only three general elections, a further round of boundary changes in 1983 saw Hertford and Stevenage abolished, Hertford and Ware joining Bishop Stortford in Hertford and Stortford while the remainder of the seat formed the basis of the new Stevenage constituency.

Members of Parliament

ElectionMemberParty
Feb 1974 Shirley WilliamsLabour
1979 Bowen WellsConservative
1983 constituency abolished

Elections

General Election 1979: Hertford and Stevenage
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Bowen Wells 31,739 45.07
Labour Shirley Williams 30,443 43.23
Liberal B Rigby 7,660 10.88
National Front J Pell 581 0.83
Majority 1,296 1.84
Turnout 80.37
Conservative gain from Labour Swing
General Election October 1974: Hertford and Stevenage
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Shirley Williams 29,548 47.13
Conservative Vivian Bendall 20,502 32.70
Liberal TN Willis 11,419 18.21
National Front K Taylor 1,232 1.96
Majority 9,046 14.43
Turnout 76.26
Labour hold Swing
General Election February 1974: Hertford and Stevenage
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Shirley Williams 30,343 44.65
Conservative Vivian Bendall 22,167 32.62
Liberal TN Willis 15,444 22.73
Majority 8,176 12.03
Turnout 83.58
Labour hold Swing

References