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
Hertford and Stevenage in Hertfordshire, showing boundaries used from 1974-1983
February 1974–1983
Seats	One
Created from	Hertford, Hitchin and Hertfordshire East
Replaced by	Stevenage, Hertford & Stortford and Broxbourne

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.

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

Election		Member	Party	Notes
Feb 1974		Shirley Williams	Labour	Member for Hitchin (1964–1974)
1979		Bowen Wells	Conservative	Contested Hertford and Stortford following redistribution
1983	constituency abolished: see Stevenage and Hertford and Stortford

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	−1.1
Majority			1,296	1.8	N/A
Turnout			70,423	80.4	+4.1
Registered electors			87,623
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+8.1

General election October 1974: Hertford and Stevenage

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Shirley Williams	29,548	47.1	+2.5
	Conservative	Vivian Bendall	20,502	32.7	+0.1
	Liberal	TN Willis	11,419	18.2	−4.5
	National Front	K Taylor	1,232	2.0	New
Majority			9,046	14.4	+2.4
Turnout			62,701	76.3	−7.3
Registered electors			82,218
	Labour hold		Swing	+1.2

General election February 1974: Hertford and Stevenage

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Shirley Williams	30,343	44.7	–5.6
	Conservative	Vivian Bendall	22,167	32.6	–9.2
	Liberal	TN Willis	15,444	22.7	+14.5
Majority			8,176	12.0	+3.9
Turnout			67,954	83.6	+6.2
Registered electors			81,301
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.0

1970 notional result
Party		Vote	%
	Labour	28,400	49.9
	Conservative	23,800	41.8
	Liberal	4,700	8.3
Turnout		56,900	77.4
Electorate		73,508

References

1. "'Hertford and Stevenage', Feb 1974 - May 1983". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Archived from the original on 27 November 2024. 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.
3. Michael Stead. "1970 notional general election & February 1974 general election". BBC. Retrieved 18 March 2025.

• Robert Waller, The Almanac of British Politics (1st edition, London: Croom Helm, 1983)
• Frederic A Youngs, jr, Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Vol I (London: Royal Historical Society, 1979)
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "H" (part 3)