# Hertford and Stevenage (UK Parliament constituency)

Hertford and Stevenage was a parliamentary constituency in Hertfordshire, which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from February 1974 until it was abolished for the 1983 general election.

## History

The constituency was formed for the February 1974 general election as a result of the recommendations of the Second Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies following the rapid rise in the population of the new town of Stevenage, which had previously been part of the Hitchin constituency.
The former Labour MP for Hitchin, Shirley Williams, stood successfully for the seat in both 1974 elections. She held it when she was a Secretary of State in government from 1974 until 1979, Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection and then Paymaster General, before being defeated at the 1979 election by Bowen Wells of the Conservative Party. Williams was later one of the "Gang of Four" rebels who founded the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in 1981.
The constituency was abolished at the Third Periodic Review when Stevenage was made a constituency in its own right.

## Boundaries

* The Municipal Borough of Hertford;
* The Urban Districts of Stevenage and Ware; and
* The Rural District of Hertford.
Hertford and its rural district had previously been in the Hertford constituency, Stevenage in Hitchin and Ware in Hertfordshire East. After being used for only three general elections, a further round of boundary changes in 1983 saw Hertford and Stevenage abolished, with Hertford and Ware joining Bishop's Stortford in Hertford and Stortford while the remainder of the seat formed the basis of the new Stevenage constituency.

## Members of Parliament

| Election | | Member | Party |
| Feb 1974 | | Shirley Williams | Labour |
| 1979 | | Bowen Wells | Conservative |
| 1983 | constituency abolished | constituency abolished | constituency abolished |

## Elections

General election 1979: Hertford and Stevenage :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Bowen Wells | 31,739 | 45.1 | +12.4 |
| | Labour | Shirley Williams | 30,443 | 43.2 | −3.9 |
| | Liberal | B Rigby | 7,660 | 10.9 | −7.3 |
| | National Front | J Pell | 581 | 0.8 | −1.2 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,296 | 1.9 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 70,423 | 80.4 | +4.1 |
| | Conservative gain from Labour | Conservative gain from Labour | Swing | +8.1 | |
General election October 1974: Hertford and Stevenage :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Shirley Williams | 29,548 | 47.13 | +2.58 |
| | Conservative | Vivian Bendall | 20,502 | 32.70 | +0.08 |
| | Liberal | TN Willis | 11,419 | 18.21 | −4.52 |
| | National Front | K Taylor | 1,232 | 1.96 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 9,046 | 14.43 | +2.40 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 62,701 | 76.26 | −7.32 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | +1.75 | |
General election February 1974: Hertford and Stevenage :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Shirley Williams | 30,343 | 44.65 | |
| | Conservative | Vivian Bendall | 22,167 | 32.62 | |
| | Liberal | TN Willis | 15,444 | 22.73 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 8,176 | 12.03 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 67,954 | 83.58 | |
| | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) |