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 2024 by Chris Hinchliff of the Labour Party.^{[n 2]}

North East Hertfordshire
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundaries since 2010
Boundary of North East Hertfordshire in the East of England
County	Hertfordshire
Electorate	76,849 (2023)[1]
Major settlements	Letchworth, Baldock and Royston
Current constituency
Created	1997
Member of Parliament	Chris Hinchliff (Labour)
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 had been held since its creation for the Conservative Party with comfortable majorities by Sir Oliver Heald, who was previously MP for North Hertfordshire.

In the 2024 general election, the seat was lost to Labour candidate Chris Hinchliff, a councillor for the North Herts District Council.

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]

2010–2024

• 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.

2024–present

The 2023 periodic review of Westminster constituencies, which was based on the ward structures in place on 1 December 2020, left the boundaries virtually unchanged.^[5] However, following local government boundary reviews in East Hertfordshire^[6] and North Hertfordshire^[7] which came into effect in May 2023 and May 2024 respectively, the constituency now comprises the following from the 2024 general election:

• The District of East Hertfordshire wards or part wards of: Aston, Datchworth & Walkern (Bennington and Walkern parishes); Braughing & Standon; Buntingford; Hertford Rural; Little Hadham & The Pelhams; The Mundens; Ware Rural (Thundridge parish); Watton-at-Stone.
• The District of North Hertfordshire wards of: Arbury; Baldock East; Baldock West; Ermine; Letchworth Grange; Letchworth Norton; Letchworth South East; Letchworth South West; Letchworth Wilbury; Royston Heath, Royston Meridian, Royston Palace; Weston & Sandon.^[8]

Members of Parliament

Hertfordshire North, Hertford & Stortford and Stevenage prior to 1997

Election		Member[9]	Party
	1997	Sir Oliver Heald	Conservative
	2024	Chris Hinchliff	Labour

Elections

North East Hertfordshire election results 1983-2024

Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: North East Hertfordshire^[10][11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Chris Hinchliff	18,358	35.0	+11.3
	Conservative	Nikki da Costa	16,435	31.3	−25.3
	Reform UK	Steven Adelantado	8,462	16.1	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Ruth Brown	5,463	10.4	−5.1
	Green	Vicky Burt	3,802	7.2	+2.9
Majority			1,923	3.7	N/A
Turnout			52,520	67.6	−5.1
Registered electors			77,090
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	18.3

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: North East Hertfordshire^[12][13]

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^[14][15]

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^[16][17][18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Oliver Heald	28,949	55.4	+1.9
	Labour	Chris York[19]	9,869	18.9	+2.5
	UKIP	William Compton[20]	6,728	12.9	+8.8
	Liberal Democrats	Joe Jordan[21]	3,952	7.6	−15.8
	Green	Mario May[22][23]	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^[24]

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^[25]

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^[26]

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^[27]

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
• List of parliamentary constituencies in the East of England (region)

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.