Hertford and Stevenage (UK Parliament constituency)

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

Hertford and Stevenage
Former County constituency
for the House of Commons
Outline map
Hertford and Stevenage in Hertfordshire, showing boundaries used from 1974-1983
February 1974–1983
Seatsone
Created fromHertford, Hitchin and Hertfordshire East
Replaced byStevenage, Hertford & Stortford and Broxbourne[1]

History

The constituency was formed for the February 1974 general election as a result of the recommendations of the Second Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies following the rapid rise in the population of the new town of Stevenage, which had previously been part of the Hitchin constituency.

The former Labour MP for Hitchin, Shirley Williams, stood successfully for the seat in both 1974 elections. She held it when she was a Secretary of State in government from 1974 until 1979, Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection and then Paymaster General, before being defeated at the 1979 election by Bowen Wells of the Conservative Party. Williams was later one of the "Gang of Four" rebels who founded the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in 1981.

The constituency was abolished at the Third Periodic Review when Stevenage was made a constituency in its own right.

Boundaries
  • The Municipal Borough of Hertford;
  • The Urban Districts of Stevenage and Ware; and
  • The Rural District of Hertford.[2]

Hertford and its rural district had previously been in the Hertford constituency, Stevenage in Hitchin and Ware in Hertfordshire East. After being used for only three general elections, a further round of boundary changes in 1983 saw Hertford and Stevenage abolished, with Hertford and Ware joining Bishop's 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 45.1 +12.4
Labour Shirley Williams 30,443 43.2 −3.9
Liberal B Rigby 7,660 10.9 −7.3
National Front J Pell 581 0.8 −1.2
Majority 1,296 1.9 N/A
Turnout 70,423 80.4 +4.1
Conservative gain from Labour Swing +8.1
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 New
Majority 9,046 14.43
Turnout 62,701 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 67,954 83.58
Labour win (new seat)

References
  1. "'Hertford and Stevenage', Feb 1974 - May 1983". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
  2. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (Hertford and Stevenage and Hitchin) Order 1971. SI 1971/2110". Statutory Instruments 1971. Part III Section 2. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office. 1972. pp. 6223–6225.
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