Hertsmere (UK Parliament constituency)

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Hertsmere
County constituency
for the House of Commons
Outline map
Boundary of Hertsmere in Hertfordshire
Outline map
Location of Hertfordshire within England
CountyHertfordshire
Electorate70,772 (December 2010)[1]
Major settlementsBorehamwood
Current constituency
Created1983
Member of ParliamentOliver Dowden (Conservative)
Number of membersOne
Created fromSouth Hertfordshire and South West Hertfordshire[2]

Hertsmere is a constituency[n 1] in Hertfordshire, England, represented in the House of Commons since 2015 by Oliver Dowden, the current Co-Chairman of the Conservative Party.[n 2]

Constituency profile[]

Just beyond the boundaries of Greater London and with fast railway lines into the capital, Hertsmere is an archetypal middle-class, mixed economy, Home Counties district with many commuters to London, considered by most to be well within the London Commuter Belt. It has the third highest Jewish population of any seat in the country, at just over 14%.[3]

The Aldenham East ward, assessed as the least deprived of 8414 wards in England in IMD2000 of the year 2000, is in the constituency. A minority of wards of Borehamwood have Labour councillors and the seat has proved to date to be a Conservative safe seat, although Labour came relatively closer in their landslide national victories of 1997 and 2001. A close result for second place occurred in 2010, with only 661 votes separating the Labour and Liberal Democrat candidates.

Boundaries and composition[]

Map of current boundaries

1983–1997: The Borough of Hertsmere, and the City of St Albans ward of London Colney.[4]

The New County Constituency was formed largely from the bulk of the abolished County Constituency of South Hertfordshire.  Also included is the area comprising the former Urban District of Bushey, transferred from South West Hertfordshire.

1997–present: The Borough of Hertsmere.[5]

Since 1997 the constituency is coterminous with the borough of Hertsmere, in southern Hertfordshire (before then it had also included the City of St Albans ward of London Colney, which was transferred to the St Albans constituency). Hertsmere consists of the major towns and villages of Bushey, Radlett, Potters Bar and Borehamwood, elevated settlements above the headwaters of the River Colne which forms much of the northern border. Bushey borders Watford and the London Borough of Harrow to the west and south west, while Potters Bar borders Barnet and Broxbourne on the east. Borehamwood is just south-east of the centre, the largest town in the constituency — in the north and centre is Radlett, separated by two large villages and farms from St Albans to the north.

Following their review of parliamentary representation in Hertfordshire, the Boundary Commission recommended no changes to constituency boundaries for the 2010 general election. The seat has electoral wards:

  • Aldenham East, Aldenham West, Borehamwood Brookmeadow, Borehamwood Cowley Hill, Borehamwood Hillside, Borehamwood Kenilworth, Bushey Heath, Bushey North, Bushey Park, Bushey St James, Elstree, Potters Bar Furzefield, Potters Bar Oakmere, Potters Bar Parkfield, Shenley.[6][7]

Members of Parliament[]

This safe Conservative constituency was created in 1983 from the former seat of South Hertfordshire. The former Cabinet minister Cecil Parkinson, who previously represented South Hertfordshire, was the MP from the seat's creation until his retirement in 1992. James Clappison held the seat from 1992 until his decision to stand down from parliament at the 2015 general election.[8] The seat was subsequently won by Oliver Dowden.[9]

Election Member[10] Party
1983 Cecil Parkinson Conservative
1992 James Clappison Conservative
2015 Oliver Dowden Conservative

Elections[]

Elections in the 2010s[]

General election 2019: Hertsmere[11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Oliver Dowden 32,651 62.5 +1.4
Labour Holly Kal-Weiss 11,338 21.7 −7.0
Liberal Democrats Stephen Barrett 6,561 12.6 +7.3
Green John Humphries 1,653 3.2 +1.3
Majority 21,313 40.8 +8.4
Turnout 52,203 70.6 −0.6
Conservative hold Swing +4.2
General election 2017: Hertsmere[12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Oliver Dowden 31,928 61.1 +1.8
Labour Fiona Smith 14,977 28.7 +6.3
Liberal Democrats Joe Jordan 2,794 5.3 −0.2
UKIP David Hoy 1,564 3.0 −9.7
Green Sophie Summerhayes 990 1.9 New
Majority 16,951 32.4 −4.5
Turnout 52,389 71.2 +3.3
Conservative hold Swing −2.2
General election 2015: Hertsmere[13][14]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Oliver Dowden 29,696 59.3 +3.3
Labour Richard Butler[15] 11,235 22.4 +3.6
UKIP Frank Ward 6,383 12.7 +9.1
Liberal Democrats Sophie Bowler 2,777 5.5 −11.9
Majority 18,461 36.9 −0.3
Turnout 50,091 67.9 +3.2
Conservative hold Swing -0.2
General election 2010: Hertsmere[16]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative James Clappison 26,476 56.0 +2.8
Labour Sam Russell 8,871 18.8 −8.4
Liberal Democrats Anthony Rowlands 8,210 17.4 −1.0
UKIP David Rutter 1,712 3.6 New
BNP Daniel Seabrook 1,397 3.0 New
Green Arjuna Krishna-Das 604 1.3 New
Majority 17,605 37.2 +11.2
Turnout 47,270 64.7 +1.7
Conservative hold Swing +5.6

Elections in the 2000s[]

General election 2005: Hertsmere[17]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative James Clappison 22,665 53.2 +5.4
Labour Kelly Tebb 11,572 27.2 −8.8
Liberal Democrats Jonathan Davies 7,817 18.4 +3.2
Socialist Labour James Dry 518 1.2 +0.2
Majority 11,093 26.0 +14.2
Turnout 42,572 63.0 +2.7
Conservative hold Swing +7.1
General election 2001: Hertsmere[18]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative James Clappison 19,855 47.8 +3.5
Labour Hilary Broderick 14,953 36.0 −2.2
Liberal Democrats Paul Thompson 6,300 15.2 +2.4
Socialist Labour James Dry 397 1.0 New
Majority 4,902 11.8 +5.7
Turnout 41,505 60.3 −13.7
Conservative hold Swing +2.9

Elections in the 1990s[]

General election 1997: Hertsmere[19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative James Clappison 22,305 44.3 -12.5
Labour Beth Kelly 19,230 38.2 +14.5
Liberal Democrats Ann Gray 6,466 12.8 -6.1
Referendum James Marlow 1,703 3.4 New
UKIP Rodney Saunders 453 0.9 New
Natural Law Nigel Kahn 191 0.4 New
Majority 3,075 6.1 -27.0
Turnout 50,348 74.0 -6.9
Conservative hold Swing -13.5
General election 1992: Hertsmere[20][21]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative James Clappison 32,133 56.8 +0.2
Labour David Souter 13,398 23.7 +4.1
Liberal Democrats Zerbanoo Gifford 10,681 18.9 −4.9
Natural Law Diana Harding 373 0.7 New
Majority 18,735 33.1 +0.3
Turnout 56,585 80.9 +5.6
Conservative hold Swing −2.1

Elections in the 1980s[]

General election 1987: Hertsmere[22]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Cecil Parkinson 31,278 56.6 +3.4
Liberal Laurence Brass 13,172 23.8 -1.8
Labour Frank Ward 10,835 19.6 +0.4
Majority 18,106 32.8 +5.2
Turnout 55,285 75.35 +1.63
Conservative hold Swing +2.6
General election 1983: Hertsmere[23]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Cecil Parkinson 28,628 53.2
Liberal Zerbanoo Gifford 13,758 25.6
Labour Ian Reed 10,315 19.2
Independent Communist Ronald Parkinson 1,116 2.1
Majority 14,870 27.6
Turnout 53,817 73.72
Conservative win (new seat)

See also[]

Notes and references[]

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. ^ "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Archived from the original on 6 November 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
  2. ^ "'Hertsmere', June 1983 up to May 1997". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Archived from the original on 12 March 2016. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
  3. ^ "UK Polling Report".
  4. ^ "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1983". www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 2019-02-25.
  5. ^ "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1995". www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 2019-02-25.
  6. ^ "2015 proposed map" (PDF).
  7. ^ "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 2007". www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 2019-02-25.
  8. ^ Hertsmere MP James Clappison to stand down at next election Watford Observer, 3 July 2014
  9. ^ Oliver Dowden retains Conservative seat in Hertsmere Watford Observer, 8 May 2015
  10. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "H" (part 3)
  11. ^ "Hertsmere Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  12. ^ "Declaration of Result of Poll" (PDF). Acting Returning Officer. 9 June 2017. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  13. ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  14. ^ "Statement Of Persons Nominated And Notice Of Poll". Acting Returning Officer. 9 April 2015. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
  15. ^ "UK ELECTION RESULTS: Hertsmere 2015".
  16. ^ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  17. ^ "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  18. ^ "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  19. ^ "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  20. ^ "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  21. ^ "UK General Election results April 1992". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 2010-12-06.
  22. ^ "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  23. ^ "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

Coordinates: 51°40′N 0°16′W / 51.667°N 0.267°W / 51.667; -0.267

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