Hertford (UK Parliament constituency)

Hertford
Former County constituency for the House of Commons
County	Hertfordshire
Major settlements	Hertford
1885–1974 (1974)
Number of members	One
Replaced by	Hertford & Stevenage
1298–1885
Number of members	two (1298-1868), one (1868-1885)
Type of constituency	Borough constituency

Hertford was the name of a parliamentary constituency in Hertfordshire, which elected Members of Parliament (MPs) from 1298 until 1974. It was represented in the House of Commons of England from 1298 to 1707, then of the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800, and finally in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1974.

From 1298 it was a borough consisting of the town of Hertford, electing two MPs until 1868 and one from 1868 to 1885. In 1885 the borough was abolished and the name was transferred to the county constituency which contained the town.

The constituency disappeared in the redistribution at the February 1974 general election, being mostly included in the new Hertford and Stevenage constituency.

Boundaries

1885-1918: The Municipal Borough of Hertford, the Sessional Divisions of Bishop's Stortford and Cheshunt, parts of the Sessional Divisions of Hertford and Ware, and in the Sessional Division of Aldbury the civil parishes of Great Hadham and Little Hadham.

1918-1950: The Municipal Borough of Hertford, the Urban Districts of Bishop's Stortford, Cheshunt, Hoddesdon, Sawbridgeworth, and Ware, the Rural Districts of Hadham and Ware, and in the Rural District of Hertford the civil parishes of Bayford, Bengeo Rural, Bengeo Urban, Bramfield, Brickendon Liberty, Brickendon Rural, Hertingfordbury, Little Amwell, Little Berkhamsted, St Andrew Rural, St John Rural, Stapleford, and Tewin.

1950-1955: The Municipal Borough of Hertford, the Urban Districts of Bishop's Stortford, Cheshunt, Hoddesdon, Sawbridgeworth, and Ware, the Rural District of Ware, in the Rural District of Braughing the civil parishes of Albury, Braughing, Brent Pelham, Furneux Pelham, High Wych, Little Hadham, Much Hadham, Stocking Pelham, and Thorley, and in the Rural District of Hertford the civil parishes of Bayford, Bengeo Rural, Bengeo Urban, Bramfield, Brickendon Liberty, Brickendon Rural, Hertingfordbury, Little Amwell, Little Berkhamsted, St Andrew Rural, St John Rural, Stapleford, and Tewin.

1955-1974: The Municipal Borough of Hertford, the Urban District of Welwyn Garden City, and the Rural Districts of Hatfield, Hertford, and Welwyn.

Members of Parliament

Hertford borough (1298-1885)

1298-1640

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Parliament	First member	Second member
1376	Constituency franchise lapsed
1624	Constituency re-enfranchised by Parliament
1624	William Ashton	Thomas Fanshawe
1625	William Ashton	Thomas Fanshawe
1626	Sir William Harrington	Sir Capell Bedell
1628	Sir Edward Howard ennobled and replaced by Sir Charles Morrison	Sir Thomas Fanshawe
1629	John Carey, Viscount Rochford	Sir Thomas Fanshawe
1629–1640	No Parliaments summoned

1640-1868

Year		First member	First party		Second member	Second party
April 1640		Viscount Cranborne	Parliamentarian		Sir Thomas Fanshawe	Royalist
November 1640					Sir Thomas Fanshawe	Royalist
November 1643				Fanshawe disabled from sitting - seat vacant
1645					William Leman
December 1648	Cranborne not recorded as sitting after Pride's Purge				William Leman
1653	Hertford was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament
1654		Isaac Pulter		Hertford had only one seat in the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate
1656
January 1659					James Cowper
May 1659		Not represented in the restored Rump
April 1660		Arthur Sparke			James Cowper
1661		Sir Edward Turnor			Thomas Fanshawe
1673		Sir Thomas Byde			Thomas Fanshawe
1675					Edmund Feilde
1677					Sir John Gore
February 1679					Sir Charles Caesar
September 1679					Sir William Cowper
1685					Sir Francis Boteler
1689					Sir William Cowper
1690		Sir William Leman
1695		William Cowper
January 1701		Charles Caesar			Thomas Filmer
February 1701					Richard Goulston
1705					Sir Thomas Clarke
1708		William Monson			Sir Thomas Clarke
1710		Charles Caesar			Richard Goulston
1715 ^[1]		Sir Thomas Clarke			John Boteler
1722		Edward Harrison			Charles Caesar ^[2]
1723		Edward Harrison			Sir Thomas Clarke
1727		George Harrison
1734		Nathaniel Brassey
1741					George Harrison
1759					Viscount Fordwich
1761		John Calvert			Timothy Caswall
1768					William Cowper
1770					Paul Feilde
1780		Thomas, Baron Dimsdale ^[3]			William Baker
1784		Thomas, Baron Dimsdale ^[3]			John Calvert
1790		Nathaniel, Baron Dimsdale ^[3]			John Calvert
1802		Hon. Edward Spencer Cowper	Whig		Nicolson Calvert	Whig
1817		Viscount Cranborne	Tory
1823		Thomas Byron
1826		Thomas Byron			Thomas Slingsby Duncombe	Radical
1830		Viscount Ingestre	Tory
1831		John Currie	Whig
1832 ^[4]		Viscount Ingestre	Conservative		Viscount Mahon	Conservative
1832	writ suspended: both seats vacant until 1835^[4]
1835		Hon. William Francis Cowper	Whig		Viscount Mahon	Conservative
1852					Thomas Chambers	Whig
1857					Sir Walter Minto Townshend-Farquhar	Conservative
1859			Liberal		Sir Walter Minto Townshend-Farquhar	Conservative
1866			Liberal		Robert Dimsdale	Conservative
1868	Representation reduced to one MP

1868-1885

Election		Member	Party
1868		Robert Dimsdale	Conservative
1874		Arthur James Balfour	Conservative
1885	Constituency abolished; name transferred to county division

Hertford county constituency (1885-1974)

Election		Member	Party
1885		Abel Smith	Conservative
1898 by-election		Evelyn Cecil	Conservative
1900		Abel Henry Smith	Conservative
Jan. 1910		Sir John Rolleston	Conservative
1916 by-election		Noel Pemberton Billing	Independent
1918		Noel Pemberton Billing	Silver Badge Party
1921 by-election		(Sir) Murray Sueter	Anti-Waste League/Independent Parliamentary Group
1922		(Sir) Murray Sueter	Conservative
1945		Sir Derek Walker-Smith	Conservative
1955		Lord Balniel	Conservative
Feb. 1974	Constituency abolished - see Hertford and Stevenage

Elections

Elections in the 1880s

Smith

General Election 1885: Hertford ^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Abel Smith	4,263	58.1	n/a
	Liberal	Hon. Henry Frederick Cowper	3,072	41.9	n/a
Majority			1,191	16.2	n/a
Turnout					n/a
	Conservative win (new seat)

General Election 1886: Hertford ^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Abel Smith	unopposed	n/a	n/a
	Conservative hold		Swing	n/a

Elections in the 1890s

General Election 1892: Hertford ^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Abel Smith	4,276	60.3	n/a
	Liberal	Edwin Robert Speirs	2,818	39.7	n/a
Majority			1,458	20.6	n/a
Turnout				75.8	n/a
	Conservative hold		Swing	n/a

General Election 1895: Hertford ^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Abel Smith	unopposed	n/a	n/a
	Conservative hold		Swing	n/a

Spencer

Hertford by-election, 1898 ^[9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Evelyn Cecil	4,118	51.7	n/a
	Liberal	Rt Hon. Charles Robert Spencer	3,850	48.3	n/a
Majority			268	3.4	n/a
Turnout				77.4	n/a
	Conservative hold		Swing	n/a

Elections in the 1900s

Smith

General Election 1900: Hertford ^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Abel Henry Smith	unopposed	n/a	n/a
	Conservative hold		Swing	n/a

Buxton

General Election 1906: Hertford ^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Abel Henry Smith	4,836		n/a
	Liberal	Charles Roden Buxton	4,756		n/a
Majority			80		n/a
Turnout					n/a
	Conservative hold		Swing	n/a

Elections in the 1910s

General Election January 1910: Hertford ^[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Sir John Fowke Lancelot Rolleston	6,147	58.0
	Liberal	Edmond Broughton Barnard	4,455	42.0
Majority			1,692	16.0
Turnout
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election December 1910: Hertford ^[13]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Sir John Fowke Lancelot Rolleston	5,594	57.0	-1.0
	Liberal	George Strachan Pawle	4,226	43.0	+1.0
Majority			1,368	14.0	-2.0
Turnout				83.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	-1.0

General Election 1914/15:

Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by the July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

Unionist: Sir John Fowke Lancelot Rolleston
Liberal:
Independent: W.H. Rolfe

Billing

Hertford by-election, 1916 ^[14]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Independent	Noel Pemberton Billing	4,590	56.3	n/a
	Conservative	Brodie Haldane Henderson	3,559	43.7
Majority			1,031	12.6
Turnout				64.2
	Independent gain from Conservative		Swing	n/a

General Election 1918: Hertford ^[15]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Independent	Noel Pemberton-Billing	9,628	52.1
	National Party	Edmond Broughton Barnard	7,158	38.8	n/a
	Labour	Cyril Harding	1,679	9.1
Majority			2,470	13.3
Turnout				57.4
	Independent hold		Swing

no coupon issued.

Elections in the 1920s

Hertford by-election, 1921^[15]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Anti-Waste League	Murray Fraser Sueter	12,329	68.9	N/A
	Unionist	Sir Edward Hildred Carlile	5,553	31.1	N/A
Majority			6,776	N/A	N/A
Turnout			17,882	N/A	N/A
	Anti-Waste League gain from Independent		Swing	n/a

General Election 1922: Hertford ^[15]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Murray Fraser Sueter	11,406	63.6	-5.3
	Liberal	Thomas Greenwood	6,534	36.4	n/a
Majority			4,872	27.2	-10.6
Turnout				54.1	-1.0
	Unionist hold		Swing	n/a

General Election 1923: Hertford ^[16]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Murray Fraser Sueter	10,660	52.2	-11.4
	Liberal	Thomas Greenwood	9,763	47.8	+11.4
Majority			897	4.4	-22.8
Turnout				60.6	+6.5
	Unionist hold		Swing	-11.4

General Election 1924: Hertford^[15]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Murray Fraser Sueter	14,582	60.0	+7.8
	Liberal	Thomas Morris Davies	5,828	24.0	-23.8
	Labour	Ernest Selley	3,885	16.0	n/a
Majority			8,754	36.0	+31.6
Turnout				70.8	+10.2
	Unionist hold		Swing	+15.8

General Election 1929: Hertford^[15]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Murray Fraser Sueter	13,525	39.5	-20.5
	Independent	Noel Pemberton Billing	10,149	29.6	n/a
	Liberal	Thomas Evander Evans	6,419	18.7	-5.3
	Labour	Dr Roger S Edwards	4,193	12.2	-3.8
Majority			3,376	9.9	-26.1
Turnout				74.7	+3.9
	Unionist hold		Swing	n/a

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1931: Hertford ^[15]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Murray Fraser Sueter	25,751	78.4	+38.9
	Labour	Dr Roger S Edwards	7,092	21.6	+9.4
Majority				56.8	+46.9
Turnout				69.1	-5.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	+14.7

General Election 1935: Hertford ^[15]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Sir Murray Fraser Sueter	21,193	64.8	-9.8
	Labour	Dr Roger S Edwards	11,492	35.2	+13.6
Majority			9,701	29.6	-27.2
Turnout				62.5	-6.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	-11.7

Elections in the 1940s

General Election 1939/40: Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1940. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place from 1939 and by the end of this year, the following candidates had been selected;

Conservative: Sir Murray Sueter
Labour: Mitchell W. Gordon^[17]

General Election 1945: Hertford^[15]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Derek Colclough Walker-Smith	19,877	43.3	-21.5
	Labour	Lynton Scutts	17,349	37.9	+2.7
	Liberal	Thomas Peter Hughes	7,587	16.6	n/a
	Independent	A B Swain	1,005	2.2	n/a
Majority			2,528	5.4	-24.2
Turnout				70.4	+7.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	-12.1

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1950: Hertford^[18] ^[19]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Derek Colclough Walker-Smith	25,074	45.90	+2.60
	Labour	Lynton Scutts	19,324	35.37	-2.53
	Liberal	Thomas Peter Hughes	10,234	18.73	+2.13
Majority			5,750	10.52	+5.12
Turnout			54,632	83.18	+12.78
Registered electors			65,683
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.57

General Election 1951: Hertford^[18] ^[20]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Derek Colclough Walker-Smith	30,519	56.28	+10.38
	Labour	Richard William Marsh	23,708	43.72	+8.35
Majority			6,811	12.56	+2.04
Turnout			54,227	80.80	-2.38
Registered electors			67,110
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.02

General Election 1955: Hertford^[18] ^[21]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Robert Alexander Lindsay, Lord Balniel	25,014	56.79	+0.51
	Labour	John McKnight	19,030	43.21	-0.51
Majority			5,984	13.59	+1.03
Turnout			44,044	82.24	+1.44
Registered electors			53,556
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.51

General Election 1959: Hertford^[18]^[22]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Robert Alexander Lindsay, Lord Balniel	31,418	58.17	+1.38
	Labour	Gerald D Southgate	22,597	41.83	-1.38
Majority			8,821	16.33	+2.74
Turnout			54,015	84.26	+2.02
Registered electors			64,106
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.38

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1964: Hertford^[18]^[23]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Robert Alexander Lindsay, Lord Balniel	29,134	46.23	-11.94
	Labour	Thomas A Deacon	25,161	39.93	-1.90
	Liberal	Anna Charlotte Malcolm Harman	8,722	13.84	N/A
Majority			3,973	6.30	-10.03
Turnout			63,017	84.64	+0.38
Registered electors			74,450
	Conservative hold		Swing	-5.02

General Election 1966: Hertford^[18]^[24]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Robert Alexander Lindsay, Lord Balniel	32,302	50.62	+3.79
	Labour	Peter Nurse	31,508	49.38	+9.45
Majority			794	1.24	-5.06
Turnout			63,810	83.70	-0.94
Registered electors			76,234
	Conservative hold		Swing	-2.83

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1970: Hertford^[18]^[25]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Robert Alexander Lindsay, Lord Balniel	36,494	52.58	+1.96
	Labour	Mrs. Yvonne Sieve	26,924	38.79	-10.59
	Liberal	John Melling	5,994	8.64	N/A
Majority			9,570	13.79	+12.55
Turnout			69,412	78.08	-5.62
Registered electors			88,900
	Conservative hold		Swing	+6.28

References

↑ At the general election of 1715, Caesar and Goulston were initially declared re-elected, but on petition the result was overturned and their opponents, Clarke and Boteler, were seated in their place
↑ On petition, Caesar was adjudged not to have been duly elected and his opponent, Clarke, was declared elected in his place
1 2 Dimsdale was a baron in the Russian peerage
1 2 At the election of 1832 Ingestrie and Mahon were declared elected, but on petition was their election was declared void, Hertford's writ was suspended and the seats remained vacant until the next general election
↑ The Liberal Year Book, 1907
↑ The Liberal Year Book, 1907
↑ The Liberal Year Book, 1907
↑ The Liberal Year Book, 1907
↑ The Liberal Year Book, 1907
↑ The Liberal Year Book, 1907
↑ The Liberal Year Book, 1907
↑ Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1918
↑ Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1918
↑ Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1918
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, F W S Craig
↑ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
↑ Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party, 1939
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 British Parliamentary Election Results 1950-1973, F W S Craig
↑ Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results February 1950". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
↑ Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1951". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
↑ Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1955". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
↑ Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1959". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
↑ Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1964". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
↑ Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1966". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
↑ Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1970". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 11 April 2016.

Robert Beatson, A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 1807)
D. Brunton & D. H. Pennington, Members of the Long Parliament (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1954)
Cobbett's Parliamentary history of England, from the Norman Conquest in 1066 to the year 1803 (London: Thomas Hansard, 1808)
F. W. S. Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (2nd edition, Aldershot: Parliamentary Research Services, 1989)
F W S Craig, "British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949" (Glasgow: Political Reference Publications, 1969)
Henry Stooks Smith, The Parliaments of England from 1715 to 1847 (2nd edition, edited by FWS Craig - Chichester: Parliamentary Reference Publications, 1973)
Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "H" (part 3)

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