Hertford_and_Stortford_(UK_Parliament_constituency)
Hertford and Stortford (UK Parliament constituency)
Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1983 onwards
Hertford and Stortford is a constituency[n 1] currently represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Julie Marson of the Conservative Party.[n 2]
| Hertford and Stortford | |
|---|---|
| County constituency for the House of Commons | |
Boundary of Hertford and Stortford in Hertfordshire | |
Location of Hertfordshire within England | |
| County | Hertfordshire |
| Electorate | 79,255 (December 2010)[1] |
| Major settlements | Hertford, Bishop's Stortford, Ware |
| Current constituency | |
| Created | 1983 |
| Member of Parliament | Julie Marson (Conservative) |
| Seats | One |
| Created from | Hertfordshire East and Hertford and Stevenage[2] |
The constituency is semi-rural and includes picturesque villages and farmland. The rivers Rib, Beane, Mimram, and Lea all meet in the county town of Hertford (2011 population 25,000), which is protected from over-development by a Green Belt encircling the town and separating it from Ware (18,000) in the western part of the constituency. Farms continue between Ware and the market town of Bishop's Stortford (40,000), in the north east corner of the seat.
Hertford and Stortford constituency is generally regarded as an affluent seat,[citation needed] and includes a significant proportion of professional and managerial workers.[citation needed] Central London is within commuting distance by train of all the towns in the constituency. The pharmaceutical industry is a major employer in the seat and surrounding areas: both Ware and Harlow are the sites of GlaxoSmithKline facilities (while Gilston hosted a Merck between 1982 and 2006). Since the early 1990s, Stansted, just beyond the eastern perimeter of the constituency, has also been responsible for bringing jobs and an improved train service to it.
Many commuters live in Bishop's Stortford, which has rail links to London's Liverpool Street station and is also close to Stansted Airport. Since the 1980s, the population of Thorley – now a southern suburb of Stortford – has become composed increasingly of owner-occupied houses in dormitory estates.
The seat has been held by the Conservative Party, with comfortable majorities, since its creation.
1983–1997
- The District of East Hertfordshire wards of Bishop's Stortford Central, Bishop's Stortford Chantry, Bishop's Stortford Parsonage, Bishop's Stortford Thorley, Braughing, Buntingford, Hertford Bengeo, Hertford Castle, Hertford Kingsmead, Hertford Sele, Hunsdon, Little Hadham, Much Hadham, Sawbridgeworth, Standon St Mary, Stapleford, Tewin, Thundridge, Ware Christchurch, Ware Priory, Ware St Mary's, and Ware Trinity.[3]
The new constituency combined Hertford and Ware, from the abolished constituency of Hertford and Stevenage, with Bishop's Stortford, Sawbridgeworth and rural areas to the west, from the abolished constituency of East Hertfordshire.
1997–2010
- The District of East Hertfordshire wards of Bishop's Stortford Central, Bishop's Stortford Chantry, Bishop's Stortford Parsonage, Bishop's Stortford Thorley, Great Amwell, Hertford Bengeo, Hertford Castle, Hertford Kingsmead, Hertford Sele, Hunsdon, Little Amwell, Much Hadham, Sawbridgeworth, Stanstead, Ware Christchurch, Ware Priory, Ware St Mary's, and Ware Trinity.[4]
The villages of Stanstead Abbotts and Great Amwell transferred from Broxbourne. Northern, rural areas transferred to the new constituency of North East Hertfordshire.
2010–present
- The District of East Hertfordshire wards of Bishop's Stortford All Saints, Bishop's Stortford Central, Bishop's Stortford Meads, Bishop's Stortford Silverleys, Bishop's Stortford South, Great Amwell, Hertford Bengeo, Hertford Castle, Hertford Heath, Hertford Kingsmead, Hertford Sele, Hunsdon, Much Hadham, Sawbridgeworth, Stanstead Abbots, Ware Chadwell, Ware Christchurch, Ware St Mary's, and Ware Trinity.[5]
Marginal changes due to revision of local authority wards.
Proposed
Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, enacted by the Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023, the composition of the constituency from the next general election, due by January 2025, will be reduced to meet the electorate size requirements, with the transfer of the three small wards of Great Amwell, Hertford Heath and Stanstead Abbots (as they existed on 1 December 2020) to Broxbourne.[6]
Following a local government boundary review which came into effect in May 2023,[7][8] the constituency will now comprise the following wards of the District of East Hertfordshire from the next general election:
- Bishop's Stortford All Saints; Bishop's Stortford Central; Bishop's Stortford North; Bishop's Stortford Parsonage; Bishop's Stortford South; Bishop's Stortford Thorley Manor; Hertford Bengeo; Hertford Castle; Hertford Kingsmead; Hertford Sele; Hunsdon; Much Hadham; Sawbridgeworth; Ware Priory; Ware Rural (Wareside and Widford Parishes); Ware St Mary's; Ware Trinity.[9]
| Election | Member[10] | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Bowen Wells | Conservative | |
| 2001 | Mark Prisk | Conservative | |
| 2019 | Julie Marson | Conservative | |
Elections in the 2020s
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Julie Marson[11] | ||||
| Labour | Josh Dean[12] | ||||
| Liberal Democrats | Helen Campbell[13] | ||||
| Green | Nick Cox[14] | ||||
| Reform UK | John Burmicz[15] | ||||
| Majority | |||||
| Turnout | |||||
Elections in the 2010s
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Julie Marson | 33,712 | 56.1 |  4.2 | |
| Labour | Chris Vince | 14,092 | 23.4 | 5.2 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Chris Lucas | 8,596 | 14.3 |  6.2 | |
| Green | Lucy Downes | 2,705 | 4.5 | 1.5 | |
| UKIP | Alistair Lindsay | 681 | 1.1 | New | |
| Independent | Brian Percival | 308 | 0.5 | New | |
| Majority | 19,620 | 32.7 | 1.0 | ||
| Turnout | 60,094 | 72.9 | 0.1 | ||
| Conservative hold | Swing | 0.5 |
|||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Mark Prisk | 36,184 | 60.3 | 4.2 | |
| Labour | Katherine Chibah | 17,149 | 28.6 | 10.7 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Mark Argent | 4,845 | 8.1 | 0.3 | |
| Green | David Woollcombe | 1,814 | 3.0 | 1.8 | |
| Majority | 19,035 | 31.7 | 6.5 | ||
| Turnout | 59,992 | 72.8 | 1.5 | ||
| Conservative hold | Swing | 3.25 |
|||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Mark Prisk | 31,593 | 56.1 | 2.3 | |
| Labour | Katherine Chibah | 10,084 | 17.9 | 4.1 | |
| UKIP | Adrian Baker | 7,534 | 13.4 | 10.3 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Michael Green | 4,385 | 7.8 | 18.2 | |
| Green | Sophie Christophy | 2,681 | 4.8 | New | |
| Majority | 21,509 | 38.2 | 10.4 | ||
| Turnout | 56,277 | 71.3 | 0.7 | ||
| Conservative hold | Swing | 1.0 |
|||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Mark Prisk | 29,810 | 53.8 | 3.6 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Andrew Lewin | 14,373 | 26.0 | 7.5 | |
| Labour | Stephen Terry | 7,620 | 13.8 | 10.5 | |
| UKIP | David Sodey | 1,716 | 3.1 | 1.0 | |
| BNP | Roy Harris | 1,297 | 2.3 | New | |
| Independent | Loucas Xenophontos | 325 | 0.6 | New | |
| Independent | Martin Adams | 236 | 0.4 | New | |
| Majority | 15,437 | 27.8 | 1.4 | ||
| Turnout | 55,377 | 70.6 | 4.1 | ||
| Conservative hold | Swing | 1.9 |
|||
Elections in the 2000s
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Mark Prisk | 25,074 | 50.5 | +5.8 | |
| Labour | Richard Henry | 11,977 | 24.1 | −8.7 | |
| Liberal Democrats | James Lucas | 9,129 | 18.4 | −1.5 | |
| Green | Peter Hart | 1,914 | 3.9 | New | |
| UKIP | David Sodey | 1,026 | 2.1 | −0.5 | |
| Veritas | Debbie Le May | 572 | 1.2 | New | |
| Majority | 13,097 | 26.4 | +14.5 | ||
| Turnout | 49,692 | 67.7 | +5.5 | ||
| Conservative hold | Swing | +7.2 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Mark Prisk | 21,074 | 44.7 | +0.6 | |
| Labour | Simon Spellar | 15,471 | 32.8 | +1.4 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Mione Goldspink | 9,388 | 19.9 | +2.2 | |
| UKIP | Stuart Rising | 1,243 | 2.6 | +0.4 | |
| Majority | 5,603 | 11.9 | -0.8 | ||
| Turnout | 47,176 | 62.2 | -13.3 | ||
| Conservative hold | Swing | ||||
Elections in the 1990s
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Bowen Wells | 24,027 | 44.1 | ||
| Labour | Simon Spellar | 17,142 | 31.4 | ||
| Liberal Democrats | Michael Wood | 9,679 | 17.7 | ||
| Referendum | Hugo Page Croft | 2,105 | 3.9 | ||
| UKIP | B G Smalley | 1,233 | 2.2 | ||
| ProLife Alliance | Michael Franey | 259 | 0.5 | ||
| Majority | 6,885 | 12.7 | |||
| Turnout | 54,571 | 75.5 | |||
| Conservative hold | Swing | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Bowen Wells | 35,716 | 57.5 | 0.0 | |
| Liberal Democrats | CJ White | 15,506 | 25.0 | −3.3 | |
| Labour | AJ Bovaird | 10,125 | 16.3 | +3.5 | |
| Green | JA Goth | 780 | 1.3 | −0.1 | |
| Majority | 20,210 | 32.5 | +3.3 | ||
| Turnout | 62,127 | 81.0 | +3.3 | ||
| Conservative hold | Swing | +1.7 | |||
Elections in the 1980s
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Bowen Wells | 33,763 | 57.5 | +1.5 | |
| SDP | Ronald Wotherspoon | 16,623 | 28.3 | -2.8 | |
| Labour Co-op | Patricia Sumner | 7,494 | 12.8 | +0.8 | |
| Green | Graham Cole | 814 | 1.4 | New | |
| Majority | 17,140 | 29.2 | +4.3 | ||
| Turnout | 58,694 | 77.7 | +2.1 | ||
| Conservative hold | Swing | +2.2 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Bowen Wells | 29,039 | 56.0 | ||
| SDP | Ronald Wotherspoon | 16,110 | 31.1 | ||
| Labour | John Carr | 6,203 | 12.0 | ||
| BNP | G Wiles | 304 | 0.6 | ||
| Prosperity For All | P Cullen | 221 | 0.4 | ||
| Majority | 12,929 | 24.9 | |||
| Turnout | 51,877 | 75.6 | |||
| Conservative win (new seat) | |||||
- A county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
- As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.
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- "Commons Briefing Paper 8749. General Election 2019: results and analysis" (PDF). London: House of Commons Library. 28 January 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 November 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
- "Hertford and Stortford General Election candidate for the Liberal Democrats will be Mark Argent". Hertfordshire Mercury. 19 April 2017. Archived from the original on 30 April 2017. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
- "Hertford & Stortford parliamentary constituency - Election 2017". Archived from the original on 1 October 2019. Retrieved 20 September 2019 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
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