Hertford (UK Parliament constituency)

Hertford was the name of a parliamentary constituency in Hertfordshire, which elected Members of Parliament (MPs) from 1298 until 1974. It was represented in the House of Commons of England from 1298 to 1707, then of the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800, and finally in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1974.

From 1298 it was a borough consisting of the town of Hertford, electing two MPs until 1868 and one from 1868 to 1885. In 1885 the borough was abolished and the name was transferred to the county constituency which contained the town.

The constituency disappeared in the redistribution at the February 1974 general election, being mostly included in the new Hertford and Stevenage constituency.

Boundaries

1885-1918: The Borough of Hertford, the Sessional Divisions of Bishop's Stortford and Cheshunt, parts of the Sessional Divisions of Hertford and Ware, and in the Sessional Division of Aldbury the parishes of Great Hadham and Little Hadham.

1918-1950: The Borough of Hertford, the Urban Districts of Bishop's Stortford, Cheshunt, Hoddesdon, Sawbridgeworth, and Ware, the Rural Districts of Hadham and Ware, and in the Rural District of Hertford the parishes of Bayford, Bengeo Rural, Bengeo Urban, Bramfield, Brickendon Liberty, Brickendon Rural, Hertingfordbury, Little Amwell, Little Berkhamsted, St Andrew Rural, St John Rural, Stapleford, and Tewin.

1950-1955: The Borough of Hertford, the Urban Districts of Bishop's Stortford, Cheshunt, Hoddesdon, Sawbridgeworth, and Ware, the Rural District of Ware, in the Rural District of Braughing the parishes of Albury, Braughing, Brent Pelham, Furneux Pelham, High Wych, Little Hadham, Much Hadham, Stocking Pelham, and Thorley, and in the Rural District of Hertford the parishes of Bayford, Bengeo Rural, Bengeo Urban, Bramfield, Brickendon Liberty, Brickendon Rural, Hertingfordbury, Little Amwell, Little Berkhamsted, St Andrew Rural, St John Rural, Stapleford, and Tewin.

1955-1974: The Borough of Hertford, the Urban District of Welwyn Garden City, and the Rural Districts of Hatfield, Hertford, and Welwyn.

Members of Parliament

Elections

Elections in the 1880s

General Election 1880: Hertford ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Arthur Balfour	564	58.5	N/A
	Liberal	Edward Ernest Bowen[14]	400	41.5	N/A
Majority			164	17.0	N/A
Turnout			964	89.2	N/A
Registered electors			1,081
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

Balfour was appointed President of the Local Government Board, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 30 Jun 1885: Hertford ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Arthur Balfour	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

Smith

General Election 1885: Hertford ^[15][16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Abel Smith	4,263	58.1	−0.4
	Liberal	Henry Cowper	3,072	41.9	+0.4
Majority			1,191	16.2	−0.8
Turnout			7,335	83.0	−6.2
Registered electors			8,840
	Conservative hold		Swing	−0.4

General Election 1886: Hertford ^[17][16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Abel Smith	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1890s

General Election 1892: Hertford ^[18][16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Abel Smith	4,276	60.3	N/A
	Liberal	Edwin Robert Speirs	2,818	39.7	N/A
Majority			1,458	20.6	N/A
Turnout			7,094	75.8	N/A
Registered electors			9,355
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 1895: Hertford ^[19][16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Abel Smith	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

Smith's death caused a by-election.

Spencer

Hertford by-election, 1898 ^[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Evelyn Cecil	4,118	51.7	N/A
	Liberal	Charles Spencer	3,850	48.3	N/A
Majority			268	3.4	N/A
Turnout			7,968	77.4	N/A
Registered electors			10,301
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1900s

Smith

General Election 1900: Hertford ^[21][16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Abel Henry Smith	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

Buxton

General Election 1906: Hertford ^[22][16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Abel Henry Smith	4,836	50.4	N/A
	Liberal	Charles Roden Buxton	4,756	49.6	N/A
Majority			80	0.8	N/A
Turnout			9,592	86.2	N/A
Registered electors			11,124
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1910s

General Election January 1910: Hertford ^[23][16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	John Rolleston	6,147	58.0	+7.6
	Liberal	Edmund Broughton Barnard	4,455	42.0	−7.6
Majority			1,692	16.0	+15.2
Turnout			10,602	89.6	+3.4
Registered electors			11,838
	Conservative hold		Swing	+7.6

General Election December 1910: Hertford ^[24][16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	John Rolleston	5,594	57.0	-1.0
	Liberal	George Strachan Pawle	4,226	43.0	+1.0
Majority			1,368	14.0	-2.0
Turnout			9,820	83.0	−6.6
Registered electors			12,684
	Conservative hold		Swing	-1.0

General Election 1914/15:

Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by the July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

• Unionist: John Rolleston
• Liberal:
• Independent: W. H. Rolfe

Billing

Hertford by-election, 1916 ^[25]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Independent	Noel Pemberton Billing	4,590	56.3	N/A
	Unionist	Brodie Henderson	3,559	43.7	−13.3
Majority			1,031	12.6	N/A
Turnout			8,149	64.2	−18.8
Registered electors			12,684
	Independent gain from Unionist		Swing	N/A

General Election 1918: Hertford ^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Independent	Noel Pemberton-Billing	9,628	52.1	N/A
	National	*Edmund Broughton Barnard	7,158	38.8	N/A
	Labour	Cyril Harding	1,679	9.1	N/A
Majority			2,470	13.3	N/A
Turnout			18,465	57.4	−25.6
Registered electors			32,158
	Independent gain from Unionist		Swing	N/A

* Barnard was also the nominee of the National Farmers' Union

References

• Robert Beatson, A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 1807)
• D. Brunton & D. H. Pennington, Members of the Long Parliament (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1954)
• Cobbett's Parliamentary history of England, from the Norman Conquest in 1066 to the year 1803 (London: Thomas Hansard, 1808)
• F. W. S. Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (2nd edition, Aldershot: Parliamentary Research Services, 1989)
• F W S Craig, "British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949" (Glasgow: Political Reference Publications, 1969)
• Henry Stooks Smith, The Parliaments of England from 1715 to 1847 (2nd edition, edited by FWS Craig - Chichester: Parliamentary Reference Publications, 1973)
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "H" (part 3)