North East Hertfordshire (UK Parliament constituency)

North East Hertfordshire is a constituency^{[n 1]} represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 1997 by Oliver Heald, a Conservative.^{[n 2]}

North East Hertfordshire
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of North East Hertfordshire in Hertfordshire
Location of Hertfordshire within England
County	Hertfordshire
Electorate	72,658 (December 2010)^[1]
Major settlements	Letchworth, Baldock and Royston
Current constituency
Created	1997
Member of Parliament	Oliver Heald (Conservative)
Seats	One
Created from	Hertfordshire North, Hertford and Stortford, Stevenage

Constituency profile

The constituency includes the towns of Letchworth, Baldock and Royston and the undulating rural area, strewn with traditional English villages^[2] primarily to their south, most of which are within the more accessible parts of the London Commuter Belt and west of London Stansted Airport.

History

The constituency was created for the 1997 general election largely from parts of the abolished constituency of North Hertfordshire, including Letchworth, Baldock and Royston. It also included rural areas of the District of East Hertfordshire transferred from Hertford and Stortford and Stevenage.

The seat has been held since its creation for the Conservatives with comfortable majorities by Sir Oliver Heald, who was previously MP for North Hertfordshire.

Boundaries and boundary changes

1997–2010

• The District of North Hertfordshire wards of Arbury, Baldock, Grange, Letchworth East, Letchworth South East, Letchworth South West, Newsells, Royston East, Royston West, Sandon, Weston, and Wilbury; and
• The District of East Hertfordshire wards of Braughing, Buntingford, Cottered, Little Hadham, Munden, Standon St Mary, Stapleford, Tewin, Thundridge, and Watton-at-Stone.^[3]

2010–present

• The District of North Hertfordshire wards of Arbury, Baldock East, Baldock Town, Ermine, Letchworth East, Letchworth Grange, Letchworth South East, Letchworth South West, Letchworth Wilbury, Royston Heath, Royston Meridian, Royston Palace, and Weston and Sandon; and
• The District of East Hertfordshire wards of Braughing, Buntingford, Hertford Rural North, Hertford Rural South, Little Hadham, Mundens and Cottered, Puckeridge, Thundridge and Standon, Walkern, and Watton-at-Stone.^[4]

Minor changes due to revision of local authority wards.

 

Map of current boundaries

Members of Parliament

Election		Member^[5]	Party
	1997	Sir Oliver Heald	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: North East Hertfordshire^[6][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Oliver Heald	31,293	56.6	–2.0
	Labour	Kelley Green	13,104	23.7	–4.6
	Liberal Democrats	Amy Finch	8,563	15.5	+7.8
	Green	Tim Lee	2,367	4.3	–1.0
Majority			18,189	32.9	+2.6
Turnout			55,327	72.7	–0.7
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.3

General election 2017: North East Hertfordshire^[8][9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Oliver Heald	32,587	58.6	+3.2
	Labour	Doug Swanney	15,752	28.3	+9.4
	Liberal Democrats	Nicky Shepard	4,276	7.7	+0.1
	Green	Tim Lee	2,965	5.3	+0.1
Majority			16,835	30.3	–6.2
Turnout			55,764	73.4	+2.7
	Conservative hold		Swing	–3.1

General election 2015: North East Hertfordshire^[10][11][12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Oliver Heald	28,949	55.4	+1.9
	Labour	Chris York^[13]	9,869	18.9	+2.5
	UKIP	William Compton^[14]	6,728	12.9	+8.8
	Liberal Democrats	Joe Jordan^[15]	3,952	7.6	−15.8
	Green	Mario May^[16]^[17]	2,789	5.2	+3.5
Majority			19,080	36.5	+6.4
Turnout			52,500	70.7	+0.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	−0.3

General election 2010: North East Hertfordshire^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Oliver Heald	26,995	53.5	+6.2
	Liberal Democrats	Hugh Annand	11,801	23.4	+2.0
	Labour	David Kirkman	8,291	16.4	−11.6
	UKIP	Adrianne Smyth	2,075	4.1	+0.8
	Green	Rosemary Bland	875	1.7	New
	Independent	Richard Campbell	209	0.4	New
	Your Right To Democracy Party Limited	David Ralph	143	0.3	New
	Independent	Philip Reichardt	36	0.1	New
Majority			15,194	30.1	+10.8
Turnout			50,425	69.8	+3.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: North East Hertfordshire^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Oliver Heald	22,402	47.3	+3.2
	Labour	Andy Harrop	13,264	28.0	−8.4
	Liberal Democrats	Iain Coleman	10,147	21.4	+4.2
	UKIP	David Hitchman	1,561	3.3	+1.0
Majority			9,138	19.3	+11.6
Turnout			47,374	65.6	+0.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	+5.8

General election 2001: North East Hertfordshire^[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Oliver Heald	19,695	44.1	+2.4
	Labour	Ivan Gibbons	16,251	36.4	+0.6
	Liberal Democrats	Alison Kingman	7,686	17.2	−1.0
	UKIP	Malcolm Virgo	1,013	2.3	New
Majority			3,444	7.7	+1.8
Turnout			44,645	65.0	−12.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: North East Hertfordshire^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Oliver Heald	21,712	41.7
	Labour	Ivan Gibbons	18,624	35.8
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Jarvis	9,493	18.2
	Referendum	Jonathan Grose	2,166	4.2
Majority			3,088	5.9
Turnout			51,995	77.1
	Conservative win (new seat)

Note: Although a Conservative win due to the seat being newly created, the winning candidate was the previous MP for North Hertfordshire, which was abolished and largely reformed as North East Hertfordshire.

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in Hertfordshire

Notes

1. A county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
2. 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.

References

1. . 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Archived from the original on 6 November 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
2. . Archived from the original on 14 March 2020. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
3. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1995". www.legislation.gov.uk. from the original on 29 January 2019. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
4. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 2007". www.legislation.gov.uk. from the original on 20 November 2018. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
6. "Hertfordshire North East Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. from the original on 27 January 2020. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
7. "Commons Briefing Paper 8749. General Election 2019: results and analysis" (PDF). London: House of Commons Library. 28 January 2020. (PDF) from the original on 18 November 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
8. "Election Results 2017". 9 June 2017. from the original on 31 July 2017. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
9. "Commons Briefing Paper 7979. General Election 2017: results and analysis" (PDF) (Second ed.). House of Commons Library. 29 January 2019 [7 April 2018]. (PDF) from the original on 12 November 2019.
10. . Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
11. . www.telegraph.co.uk. Archived from the original on 11 May 2015.
12. . Archived from the original on 12 May 2015.
13. http://www.labour.org.uk/people/detail/chris-york^{[dead link]}
14. Dickinson, Eleanor (26 January 2015). "UKIP candidate chosen to take on Royston MP Sir Oliver Heald in the 2015 general election". Cambridge News. from the original on 25 February 2015. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
15. . Archived from the original on 13 April 2015.
16. "Eastern Region Green Party | Green Party Selects its General Election candidates for seats in the North Herts". eastern.greenparty.org.uk. from the original on 5 October 2019. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
17. . Archived from the original on 6 November 2012.
18. . Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
19. . Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
20. . Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
21. . Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

51°55′N 0°02′W / 51.917°N 0.033°W / 51.917; -0.033