Post by Pete Whitehead on Jul 12, 2023 15:08:40 GMT
This constituency dates to 1983 but Hertford itself has a long and illustrious parliamentary history. Hertford first sent representatives to Parliament in 1298 and continuously from the 1600s. Before 1868 it returned two members and one member from then until 1885. In its time it sent several members of the locally and nationally important Cecil family to parliament and the last member for the borough was Arthur Balfour of that ilk and a future Prime Minister. As a two-member borough it tended to split representation between Whig and Tory, Liberal and Conservative, but was continuously Conservative held as a single member seat.
In 1885 Hertford gave its name to a county constituency which covered a large area of Eastern Hertfordshire, encompassing the whole of this constituency and more – basically the whole of the current East Herts and Broxbourne districts. This arrangement endured for 70 years during which time this was always a safe Conservative seat although it was represented by a couple of Independents between 1916 and 1922 including the colourful Noel Pemberton Billing.
From 1955 the bulk of this constituency remained intact as East Hertfordshire while Hertford itself formed a new Hertford constituency together with Welwyn and Hatfield. Then in 1974, Hertford shifted its orientation yet again, joining Ware and the Hertford Rural district in a new Hertford & Stevenage which was electorally dominated by the latter named town. This was represented by Shirley Williams for Labour until she was narrowly and surprisingly defeated in 1979. A further reorganisation followed swiftly, and Hertford and Ware were reunited with Bishops Stortford and a chunk of rural East Hertfordshire to form this seat. In 1997 most of the rural area in the north of the seat was ceded to NE Herts and the area to the south was picked up from Broxbourne. There were only minor changes in 2010 consequent upon ward boundary changes. And in the latest boundary changes those areas to the South (Great Amwell, Hertford Heath, Stanstead Abbots) are retuned to Broxbourne. There are now fewer than 5,000 voters in genuinely rural wards and this is now a thoroughly urban seat.
Although Hertford is the better-known town, as the administrative centre of Hertfordshire, Bishops Stortford is now by some way the largest town in this constituency. This old market town on the border with Essex, birthplace of the great British Imperialist, Cecil Rhodes, has grown substantially in the post-war years both as London commuter base and due to the proximity of Stansted Airport.
Bishops Stortford is probably the most Conservative of the three main towns in this constituency but there is some variety here. The Conservatives won every seat in East Hertfordshire in 2015 but lost a number in 2019 to various parties – 4 of the 6 Lib Dem seats won were in Bishops Stortford where they comfortably regained All Saints (an area of longstanding strength) and picked up one seat in Meads, topping the poll. Central ward is socially mixed, with a fair amount of social housing and Labour have been competitive there in good years - It was virtually a three-way marginal in 2019. But the Conservatives usually won most of the seats in the town and it is solid for them in general elections. In the 2023 local elections however, in which the Conservatives lost control of East Hertfordshire, they lost most of their seats in Stortford to the Lib Dems and Labour.
Hertford has been the best area for Labour generally, partly perhaps due to the public-sector employment consequent upon the county council offices being located there, partly because of a bit of an industrial heritage (brewing etc). Labour could compete in most of the wards in Hertford in a good year, but the only stronghold was the ward of Sele in the North West which is dominated by the quite deprived council estate of that name. Even so they lost that ward in 2003 and had fallen some way behind in rsuggesting that they were falling out of contention in the long-term. It was therefore a bit of a surprise that Labour regained the ward quite comfortably in May 2019 and held on very easily four years later.
But it is now the Green party who dominate Hertford locally - having gained a seat in Bengeo in 2019 they went on to win all the seats there in 2023 as well as those in Castle and Kingsmead wards.
The third and un-named town of this constituency is Ware which is more or less a satellite of Hertford. Ware enjoyed (if that is the right word) a quite long period of Lib Dem local dominance from the 1980s to the 2000s, especially in the Northern wards of St Marys and Trinity.
Trinity is Ware’s ‘council-estate’ ward and has some latent Labour support too. The Lib Dems have fallen away in Ware in the last decade or so though and here too the anti-Conservative vote seems to have rallied behind the Green party who won all the seats in the town in May 2023.
All three of the main towns are generally reliable for the Conservatives in general elections, except in exceptional circumstances – Labour may have carried Hertford in the Blair landslides for example.
Sawbridgeworth is a small town close to Harlow in Essex and is very solidly Conservative - even in May 2023 -as are the other smaller villages though few of these remain now.
There are still a few elements of truly bucolic countryside in Much Hadham and Hunsdon but even here there is development afoot with 8,000 houses planned in Gilston, just North of Harlow in the Hunsdon ward.
The disaster of the recent local elections in which the Conservatives lost heavily on three fronts is not likely to presage disaster for them in a parliamentary election, not least because of the divided nature of the opposition – and its unlikely Labour can corral enough of these local Lib Dem and Green voters to mount a serious challenge. Indeed the emergence of the Greens as a potent force locally make that task harder and as in 1997, a relatively modest Conservative vote share should still enable a comfortable victory.
In 1885 Hertford gave its name to a county constituency which covered a large area of Eastern Hertfordshire, encompassing the whole of this constituency and more – basically the whole of the current East Herts and Broxbourne districts. This arrangement endured for 70 years during which time this was always a safe Conservative seat although it was represented by a couple of Independents between 1916 and 1922 including the colourful Noel Pemberton Billing.
From 1955 the bulk of this constituency remained intact as East Hertfordshire while Hertford itself formed a new Hertford constituency together with Welwyn and Hatfield. Then in 1974, Hertford shifted its orientation yet again, joining Ware and the Hertford Rural district in a new Hertford & Stevenage which was electorally dominated by the latter named town. This was represented by Shirley Williams for Labour until she was narrowly and surprisingly defeated in 1979. A further reorganisation followed swiftly, and Hertford and Ware were reunited with Bishops Stortford and a chunk of rural East Hertfordshire to form this seat. In 1997 most of the rural area in the north of the seat was ceded to NE Herts and the area to the south was picked up from Broxbourne. There were only minor changes in 2010 consequent upon ward boundary changes. And in the latest boundary changes those areas to the South (Great Amwell, Hertford Heath, Stanstead Abbots) are retuned to Broxbourne. There are now fewer than 5,000 voters in genuinely rural wards and this is now a thoroughly urban seat.
Although Hertford is the better-known town, as the administrative centre of Hertfordshire, Bishops Stortford is now by some way the largest town in this constituency. This old market town on the border with Essex, birthplace of the great British Imperialist, Cecil Rhodes, has grown substantially in the post-war years both as London commuter base and due to the proximity of Stansted Airport.
Bishops Stortford is probably the most Conservative of the three main towns in this constituency but there is some variety here. The Conservatives won every seat in East Hertfordshire in 2015 but lost a number in 2019 to various parties – 4 of the 6 Lib Dem seats won were in Bishops Stortford where they comfortably regained All Saints (an area of longstanding strength) and picked up one seat in Meads, topping the poll. Central ward is socially mixed, with a fair amount of social housing and Labour have been competitive there in good years - It was virtually a three-way marginal in 2019. But the Conservatives usually won most of the seats in the town and it is solid for them in general elections. In the 2023 local elections however, in which the Conservatives lost control of East Hertfordshire, they lost most of their seats in Stortford to the Lib Dems and Labour.
Hertford has been the best area for Labour generally, partly perhaps due to the public-sector employment consequent upon the county council offices being located there, partly because of a bit of an industrial heritage (brewing etc). Labour could compete in most of the wards in Hertford in a good year, but the only stronghold was the ward of Sele in the North West which is dominated by the quite deprived council estate of that name. Even so they lost that ward in 2003 and had fallen some way behind in rsuggesting that they were falling out of contention in the long-term. It was therefore a bit of a surprise that Labour regained the ward quite comfortably in May 2019 and held on very easily four years later.
But it is now the Green party who dominate Hertford locally - having gained a seat in Bengeo in 2019 they went on to win all the seats there in 2023 as well as those in Castle and Kingsmead wards.
The third and un-named town of this constituency is Ware which is more or less a satellite of Hertford. Ware enjoyed (if that is the right word) a quite long period of Lib Dem local dominance from the 1980s to the 2000s, especially in the Northern wards of St Marys and Trinity.
Trinity is Ware’s ‘council-estate’ ward and has some latent Labour support too. The Lib Dems have fallen away in Ware in the last decade or so though and here too the anti-Conservative vote seems to have rallied behind the Green party who won all the seats in the town in May 2023.
All three of the main towns are generally reliable for the Conservatives in general elections, except in exceptional circumstances – Labour may have carried Hertford in the Blair landslides for example.
Sawbridgeworth is a small town close to Harlow in Essex and is very solidly Conservative - even in May 2023 -as are the other smaller villages though few of these remain now.
There are still a few elements of truly bucolic countryside in Much Hadham and Hunsdon but even here there is development afoot with 8,000 houses planned in Gilston, just North of Harlow in the Hunsdon ward.
The disaster of the recent local elections in which the Conservatives lost heavily on three fronts is not likely to presage disaster for them in a parliamentary election, not least because of the divided nature of the opposition – and its unlikely Labour can corral enough of these local Lib Dem and Green voters to mount a serious challenge. Indeed the emergence of the Greens as a potent force locally make that task harder and as in 1997, a relatively modest Conservative vote share should still enable a comfortable victory.
