St Albans

[Deleted]

St Albans

This is my home seat

Like the 'city that's moved' the constituency has existed in various forms. It did include Harpenden and the surrounding villages but the seat was split into two with Harpenden becoming Harpenden & Hitchin. This inevitably made it a difficult seat to hold in 1997 and Peter Lilley decide to contest Harpenden & Hitchin. The seat was subquently gained by Labour who jumped from third to win it and it is the only time they've held it since 1950. The great granddaughter of that Labour MP does still live here.

The seat once again returned to the Tories in 2005 before being gained by the Liberal Democrats last year. A real breakthrough for the party whove had a foot in local elections from when the 70s. Fleetville was the earliest bastion of Liberal hegemony and the Alliance were able to get rid of the Conservatives in its successor Clarence. Their support grew across the city and at their peak they reduced the Tories to 4 seats. However, they couldn't break through nationally until now coming close in 2010 when the town was painted yellow is 20ft Lib Dem posters.

For many years while places like Clarence, Verulam, Marshalswick, etc. returned Lib Dems cllrs the Tories could rely on those voters putting an x in their box to keep Labour out. For the Labour Party there have been traditionally 3 core parts of the city and district; Batchwood, Sopwell and London Colney. By 2010 Labour were reduced to a cllr in each. At their height they had 17 cllrs. Winning support in Ashley, St Peters and Cunningham. Areas with less social housing but a more diverse demographic.

[greenhert]

Mar 31, 2020 21:38:44 GMT @priceofdawn said:

St Albans

This is my home seat

Like the 'city that's moved' the constituency has existed in various forms. It did include Harpenden and the surrounding villages but the seat was split into two with Harpenden becoming Harpenden & Hitchin. This inevitably made it a difficult seat to hold in 1997 and Peter Lilley decide to contest Harpenden & Hitchin. The seat was subquently gained by Labour who jumped from third to win it and it is the only time they've held it since 1950. The great granddaughter of that Labour MP does still live here.

The seat once again returned to the Tories in 2005 before being gained by the Liberal Democrats last year. A real breakthrough for the party whove had a foot in local elections from when the 70s. Fleetville was the earliest bastion of Liberal hegemony and the Alliance were able to get rid of the Conservatives in its successor Clarence. Their support grew across the city and at their peak they reduced the Tories to 4 seats. However, they couldn't break through nationally until now coming close in 2010 when the town was painted yellow is 20ft Lib Dem posters.

For many years while places like Clarence, Verulam, Marshalswick, etc. returned Lib Dems cllrs the Tories could rely on those voters putting an x in their box to keep Labour out. For the Labour Party there have been traditionally 3 core parts of the city and district; Batchwood, Sopwell and London Colney. By 2010 Labour were reduced to a cllr in each. At their height they had 17 cllrs. Winning support in Ashley, St Peters and Cunningham. Areas with less social housing but a more diverse demographic.

"Harpenden & Hitchin" is actually called Hitchin & Harpenden, for the record. 

[Deleted]

Apr 1, 2020 19:45:02 GMT @barnabymarder said:

Could do with a bit of a description of the sort of place St Albans is. I remember reading in the old Almanac that, of all the seats won by Labour in 1997, this was the least deprived of all.

This is probably true, however, that prize is now held by Sheffield Hallam which I was surprised to discover had less deprivation than St Albans.

It hasn't always been a city with such little deprivation. Places like George Street were once described as slums as recently as the 70s. The closeness to London, only 20 minutes on train, has made it a real attraction for commuters. This has gentrified the city and places in George Street would go for millions today. There was a time during the 70s Labour dominated places like this in the city with the Tories and Liberals being restricted to Marshalswick and Fleetville. However, gentrification has hurt Labour while benefitting Tories and Lib Dems

There are still pockets of deprivation. Oysterfield, Dellfield, Watsons Walk & Marshals Road, roads round Valley Road, etc. In Robert Muchmore's A Class he describes St Albans as an old Roman city with London estates dropped in it. Its rather crude but get the picture. If you ever want to visit you're very welcome, my mum loves giving tours. She particularly likes to show people the view of the abbey you get when you enter the city from the M1

[Andrew_S]

About a year ago I was amazed to discover that you can go by train from West Hampstead to St Albans in just 12 minutes. I had a go at the journey myself shortly afterwards (and visited the cathedral while I was there).

[Deleted]

Apr 1, 2020 22:41:42 GMT @barnabymarder said:

I did that too, though it was primarily a pub crawl. At the time the cathedral was preparing to commemorate Robert Runcie, former bishop here, who had just passed away.

St Albans has the most pubs per square mile and arguably one of the oldest pubs in England, ye olde fighting cocks which brags to have once hosted Oliver Cromwell.

St Albans has a few of these stories. I can't remember which foreign monarch but one was imprisoned in what is mow a pub called the snug next to the clock tower. The clock tower itself was one of the oldest forms of people power in the city. I mentioned upthread St Albans was the city that moved. It sits ontop of a hill now but was once at the bottom of what's called Holywell Hill and was also at Beach Bottom. There are three churches in town; St Peter's, St Stephen's and St Michael's. These created a kind of triangle and with the cathedral in tge middle the Church put the town centre in this triangle. The clock tower was built by the people as a push back against to increasing influence of the church.

and of course St Albans was the first site for the war of the roses

[Deleted]

Apr 1, 2020 22:09:31 GMT Andrew_S said:

About a year ago I was amazed to discover that you can go by train from West Hampstead to St Albans in just 12 minutes. I had a go at the journey myself shortly afterwards (and visited the cathedral while I was there).

the cathedral is rather unique. It fell into disrepair about half a millenia ago and was only rebuilt in the 1800s i think. The more modern gothic architecture gives the cathedral a weird mismatched look. The cathedral was used in the film Johnny English you can because of the contrasting architecture but also they invited extras from off the street. An ex gf mum was in it

There are remnants of the roman wall in verulamium Park butbtgecrest of it was used to build the top of the cathedral. You can also visit what remains of a roman mosaic in the park too as well as our roman museum

[Chris from Brum]

Apr 2, 2020 5:45:48 GMT @priceofdawn said:

Apr 1, 2020 22:41:42 GMT @barnabymarder said:

I did that too, though it was primarily a pub crawl. At the time the cathedral was preparing to commemorate Robert Runcie, former bishop here, who had just passed away.

St Albans has the most pubs per square mile ...

And, appropriately enough, the national HQ of CAMRA is on Hatfield Road.

[Arthur Figgis]

My last proper pub crawl of St Albans was 16th March 2009, after my wedding.

We were booked in the registry office at (or just before) 12:00. 5 mins of legal requirements and the four of us (only two witnesses present) were ready to hit the pubs. Lunch and a few beers in the White Hart Tap, followed by many more pubs (I'd have to look at the 2009 Good Beer Guide to remind me which ones), ending in the Mermaid where we carried on quite late and played very bad darts when drunk.

Haven't been to a better wedding reception since!

[Deleted]

Apr 2, 2020 11:34:18 GMT Arthur Figgis said:

My last proper pub crawl of St Albans was 16th March 2009, after my wedding.

We were booked in the registry office at (or just before) 12:00. 5 mins of legal requirements and the four of us (only two witnesses present) were ready to hit the pubs. Lunch and a few beers in the White Hart Tap, followed by many more pubs (I'd have to look at the 2009 Good Beer Guide to remind me which ones), ending in the Mermaid where we carried on quite late and played very bad darts when drunk.

Haven't been to a better wedding reception since!

I don't know many St Albans pubs, but I remember that the Six Bells in pretty St Michael's Village (the only part of the modern town which sits within the Roman city) wasn't bad. Tring Brewery?

[Deleted]

Apr 2, 2020 11:50:45 GMT @goodoldcause2 said:

Apr 2, 2020 11:34:18 GMT Arthur Figgis said:

My last proper pub crawl of St Albans was 16th March 2009, after my wedding.

We were booked in the registry office at (or just before) 12:00. 5 mins of legal requirements and the four of us (only two witnesses present) were ready to hit the pubs. Lunch and a few beers in the White Hart Tap, followed by many more pubs (I'd have to look at the 2009 Good Beer Guide to remind me which ones), ending in the Mermaid where we carried on quite late and played very bad darts when drunk.

Haven't been to a better wedding reception since!

I don't know many St Albans pubs, but I remember that the Six Bells in pretty St Michael's Village (the only part of the modern town which sits within the Roman city) wasn't bad. Tring Brewery?

I do like the 6 bells. If anyone is interested, there is a great folk festival in Summer; they close the road through St Michaels and have morris men including St Albans own Wicket Brood, etc. and a couple of the pubs host local folk sessions

[Deleted]

Apr 2, 2020 13:08:17 GMT @priceofdawn said:

Apr 2, 2020 11:50:45 GMT @goodoldcause2 said:

I don't know many St Albans pubs, but I remember that the Six Bells in pretty St Michael's Village (the only part of the modern town which sits within the Roman city) wasn't bad. Tring Brewery?

I do like the 6 bells. If anyone is interested, there is a great folk festival in Summer; they close the road through St Michaels and have morris men including St Albans own Wicket Brood, etc. and a couple of the pubs host local folk sessions

If we're allowed to go out, then certainly!

EDIT

The festival has already been postponed, provisionally to late September.

[Deleted]

Apr 2, 2020 11:34:18 GMT Arthur Figgis said:

My last proper pub crawl of St Albans was 16th March 2009, after my wedding.

We were booked in the registry office at (or just before) 12:00. 5 mins of legal requirements and the four of us (only two witnesses present) were ready to hit the pubs. Lunch and a few beers in the White Hart Tap, followed by many more pubs (I'd have to look at the 2009 Good Beer Guide to remind me which ones), ending in the Mermaid where we carried on quite late and played very bad darts when drunk.

Haven't been to a better wedding reception since!

the only proper pub crawl i did was in 2011 we started at the pub in smallford which at the time was called bunch & cherries i think. Then we proceeded to visit every pub on Hatfield Road into town; Rats Castle, Crown, Mermaid, Peacock, Hogs Head but goes by another name, the one opposite I forget, Lloyds, Slug and Lettuce, we got thrown out of the Peahen and the Snug, finished at Olde Fighting Cocks.

There is a horrible tradition of going to Batchwood Club which is lovely place with an inlaid clock named Little Ben as the architect went on to design Big Ben, they bus you from town and they tried to get bits of the Berlin Wall to sit in the beer garden. I can safely say its never been my number 1 best experience

[Pete Whitehead]

The development of the cathedral city of St Albans has always been heavily influenced by its proximity to London. This was true of the Roman city of Verulamium and in Medieval times when St Albans was an important coaching station. Today, with fast trains to London St Pancras, St Albans is a major dormitory for London with a high proportion of London commuters. There is considerable wealth and the city has exceptionally high proportions of graduates and of those in the higher managerial and professional occupation groups.
St Albans Abbey is the oldest site of continuous Christian worship in Britain and though the current building dates back to the Normans the original Abbey was founded by King Offa of Mercia.

The borough of St Albans was represented in Parliament between the 1550s and the 1850s when it was disfranchised due to corruption but the county seat of the name dates back to 1885.
Back then it was a vast seat covering a large swathe of Mid-Herts – from Kensworth in the North (now in Bedfordshire) to Barnet in the South (now in Greater London) and including most of the area now covered by Welwyn Hatfield.

Harpenden and Radlett were removed in 1918 and St Albans was one of a small number of seats divided for the 1945 election when Barnet became the basis for a new constituency. Prior to this the Conservatives had won St Albans at every general election, though the Liberals won in a 1904 by-election and Labour came surprisingly close in a by-election in 1919 which was their first contest in the seat. Labour did narrowly win the redrawn seat in 1945 (though it cannot be said that the removal of Barnet facilitated this as they won that seat also).

In 1950 Hatfield was removed and in 1955 Welwyn Garden City was removed leaving the boundaries as fairly similar to those in force today, though between 1974 and 1997 Harpenden was again included in the seat, which helped stave off Liberal challenges in 1974 and 1983 while Labour posed no serious threat since losing the seat in 1950.

Then in 1997 the constituency was redrawn in a fairly radical way, taking on the boundaries it still has today.
Harpenden was removed and the seat shifted south to take London Colney from Hertsmere, St Stephen parish from Watford and the Three Rivers ward of Bedmond & Primrose Hill from SW Herts. The removal of Harpenden was reckoned to threaten the Conservative position sufficiently for the MP, Peter Lilley to follow it out of this seat, though opposition was divided with both Labour and Lib Dems polling at around a quarter of the vote on the notional 1992 results.
One would have thought the Lib Dems would be the main challengers but this was one of the seats that the Guardian identified as one where tactical anti-Conservative votes should go for Labour and in the context of a national landslide Labour gained the seat surprisingly comfortably and increased their lead further in 2001. The effect of tactical voting (or a lack of it) in an electorate with a seemingly permanent anti-Conservative majority has dictated the destiny of the seat ever since.

The Conservatives gained the seat in 2005 more as a result of the Lib Dems advancing at Labour expense than as a consequence of their own advance. In 2010 the Lib Dems advanced further and ran the Conservatives close themselves. They in turn collapsed in 2015 but staged a strong recovery in the first Brexit election of 2017, though they were hampered then by the solidity of the Labour vote. The writing was on the wall for 2019 though. The Lib Dems had made massive advances in local elections in the area. Anne Maine had taken a principled pro-Brexit stance but this was at odds with a majority of her electorate and with the Lib Dems able to affect a massive squeeze on the Labour vote they won the seat by a very comfortable margin and look secure here for the foreseeable future. The Liberal Democrats dominate now in most of the wards at a local level and in 2019 won all the wards within the city itself.

The only ward won by the Conservatives in May 2019 (and possibly also in December) was St Stephen which covers the very affluent commuter villages of Chiswell Green and Bricket Wood.
Park Street is a little more mixed, including some council estates but is generally affluent as well and has been trending Conservative recently, relative to the core city.
The best Conservative ward within the city has traditionally been Verulam which includes the Abbey and some wealthy areas near the city centre together with swathes of detached suburban housing on the other side of Verulamium Park (the site of the old Roman city).
They had done well in recent years in Marshalswick South too. This includes probably the wealthiest area in St Albans in Marshalswick itself together with more mixed areas around Bernards Heath. The Conservatives retain one councillor in this ward, elected in 2016 before the referendum, but like all other wards in the city it has swung sharply back to the Lib Dems since then. The Conservatives were also able to win on occasion in St Peters ward which covers the city centre, though this was more due to the divided nature of the opposition. This area, which includes the station is a typical inner-urban ward comprising mostly older terraced housing but much gentrified and with an exceptionally high proportion of graduates and London commuters. The ward has been won by Labour, Green, Conservative and Lib Dem this century but the Lib Dems appear to be re-establishing dominance there again at the local level.

The Lib Dems have long enjoyed strong local support in the wards in the East of the town – especially Clarence, a mostly upmarket inner-urban ward based around the park of that name and the centre of Fleetville. Ashley and Cunningham are relatively downmarket and include mixtures of council estates, some old industrial areas and terraced housing and some good residential areas, but these are usually reliably Lib Dem at the local level (though they will clearly have contributed heavily to Labour’s victories in the Blair elections). Beyond these Colney Heath is a part rural, part suburban ward and is another local Lib Dem stronghold with part of the ward having had continuous Liberal representation on the council since 1973. The Lib Dems have also dominated for decades in Marshalswick North, a suburban middle-class area which technically lies outside the city boundary (in Sandridge parish) but is to all intents and purposes part of the core city.

Labour’s areas of strength are more limited. Within the city itself they can usually count on the wards of Sopwell, dominated by the Cottonmill council estate and with a substantial Asian, mostly Bangladeshi, population, and Batchwood which is also heavily influenced by council estates – Batchwood itself and the peripheral New Greens.
Both wards include more mixed and upmarket owner-occupied areas closer to the city centre however and the Lib Dems have been able to win them in good years and did so in May 2019.
The only ward Labour won in that election was London Colney which is quite distinct from the rest of the constituency. This is an oversized village and is largely working class with significant numbers of council-built properties and a substantial non-white population. It is not wholly safe for Labour as the Conservatives can win in good years for them, but it is the one part of the constituency where the Lib Dems have never made any progress. No doubt there were substantial numbers of Labour tactical votes for the Lib Dems here in December but this may not have been enough to carry the ward over the Conservatives for this, together with Park Street, was also the most strongly Leave voting part of St Albans district, both being more or less 50/50 in the referendum (while the core city was over 70% Remain and up to 80% in wards like Clarence and St Peters.)
In the Blair elections, these three wards would have been overwhelmingly for Labour and they would also have carried Ashley, Cunningham and St Peters and been competitive in several other wards.

The rather anomalous Three Rivers part of the seat -Bedmond & Primrose Hill - is now divided between two wards, both shared with Watford constituency, forming the northern parts of the Abbots Langley & Bedmond and Gade Valley wards respectively. Bedmond is a rather un-picturesque village with a substantial share of council housing while ‘Primrose Hill’ is essentially that part of Kings Langley to the East of the Grand Union Canal – an old industrial area but with much new development including on the site of the old Ovaltine factory. These areas look more to Watford and (especially) Hemel Hempstead than to St Albans and it is moot how much the Lib Dem surge based in that city would have carried over here. Paradoxically this area is as strongly Lib Dem in local elections as anywhere in St Albans but also most likely vote Leave.

Overall, the St Albans constituency now looks very much like a ‘natural’ Lib Dem constituency, very middle-class and highly educated and with one of the highest Remain votes in England outside of London and the University cities. They are likely to be entrenched here for some time.


Map shows results of May 2019 local elections

1. Marshalswick North	6. St Peters	11. London Colney
2. Marshalswick South	7. Clarence	12. Park Street
3. Batchwood	8. Ashley	13. St Stephen
4. Verulam	9.Cunningham	14. Abbots Langley & Bedmond*
5. Sopwell	10. Colney Heath	15. Gade Valley*

* Part of ward only with unshaded part included in Watford


2019 General election result

LD	28,867	50.1%
Con	22,574	39.2%
Lab	5,000	8.7%
Grn	1,004	1.7%
Ind	154	0.3%
Majority	6,293	10.9%

2017 General election result

Con	24,571	43.1%
LD	18,462	32.4%
Lab	13,137	23.0%
Grn	828	1.5%
Majority	6,109	10.7%

2015 General election result

Con	25,392	46.6%
Lab	12,660	23.3%
LD	10,076	18.5%
UKIP	4,271	7.8%
Grn	2,034	3.7%
Majority	12,732	23.3%

	%	Rank		%	Rank		%	Rank		%	Rank
Owner Occupied	69.9	204	White	86.0	416	Christian	57.3	385	Graduates	44.5	26
Social Rented	13.4	358	Asian	8.0	150	Muslim	4.8	145	No Qualifications	13.8	548
Private Rented	15.0	260	Black	2.0	167	Hindu	1.6	117
			Mixed	3.1	123	Sikh	0.2	213	Students	7.1	231
			Other	0.8	176	Jewish	1.5	26
						None	27.9	244	Prof/Man	52.2
									Routine/	16.0
									Semi Routine

[matureleft]

I'd guess that this is one of those seats where a candidate makes a bit of a difference. Kerry Pollard presumably had some personal vote - the years he didn't stand - 2010 and 2019 - were when the Labour vote seemed softest?

[Pete Whitehead]

Apr 7, 2020 17:22:56 GMT matureleft said:

I'd guess that this is one of those seats where a candidate makes a bit of a difference. Kerry Pollard presumably had some personal vote - the years he didn't stand - 2010 and 2019 - were when the Labour vote seemed softest?

Yes he had a considerable personal vote I think - he was a longstanding councillor in Sopwell and county councillor for St Albans South. Very locally rooted.

[Deleted]

People today still mention Kerry to me today. There are certainly people who wouldn't vote Labour but might vote for Kerry. There are a few Labour councillors with that kind of appeal. I know the former chair of the conservative association and former district & county councillor (last tory to represent St Albans North) not only voted for Roma Mills but actively campaigned for her. But I don't think anyone had the city wide appeal Kerry had. I phone canvassed someone off Valley Road in MS who would only vote for Kerry, baring in mind this is 12 years after Kerry was an MP in St Albans.

[Deleted]

The funny thing is he could well have never been the MP. The favourite for the selection was a Labour Cllr in London Colney called Malcolm McMillan who had got on the county at the same time as Kerry and been group leader in St Albans as well as Kerry during the 90s including Labour's short spell chairing the committees. That was back when the CLP was significantly more left wing than it is today. Funny how things work. Both candidates were asked if they supported unilateral disarmament. Malcolm who did said no and Kerry who didn't said yes, and Kerry was selected. The rest is history

[finsobruce]

Apr 7, 2020 18:03:19 GMT @priceofdawn said:

The funny thing is he could well have never been the MP. The favourite for the selection was a Labour Cllr in London Colney called Malcolm McMillan who had got on the county at the same time as Kerry and been group leader in St Albans as well as Kerry during the 90s including Labour's short spell chairing the committees. That was back when the CLP was significantly more left wing than it is today. Funny how things work. Both candidates were asked if they supported unilateral disarmament. Malcolm who did said no and Kerry who didn't said yes, and Kerry was selected. The rest is history

That is a top class political anecdote.

[Deleted]

Apr 7, 2020 18:19:02 GMT finsobruce said:

Apr 7, 2020 18:03:19 GMT @priceofdawn said:

The funny thing is he could well have never been the MP. The favourite for the selection was a Labour Cllr in London Colney called Malcolm McMillan who had got on the county at the same time as Kerry and been group leader in St Albans as well as Kerry during the 90s including Labour's short spell chairing the committees. That was back when the CLP was significantly more left wing than it is today. Funny how things work. Both candidates were asked if they supported unilateral disarmament. Malcolm who did said no and Kerry who didn't said yes, and Kerry was selected. The rest is history

That is a top class political anecdote.

Could someone tell us the moral of this story?

[finsobruce]

Apr 7, 2020 18:24:17 GMT @goodoldcause2 said:

Apr 7, 2020 18:19:02 GMT finsobruce said:

That is a top class political anecdote.

Could someone tell us the moral of this story?

Don't try and second guess your audience.