West Hertfordshire was a parliamentary constituency in Hertfordshire. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom by the first past the post system. The constituency name was used from the 1983 general election, when the Hemel Hempstead constituency was renamed "West Hertfordshire", to the 1997 general election, when the "Hemel Hempstead" name was restored.

History

The constituency was created for the 1983 general election from the majority of the abolished seat of Hemel Hempstead, although the town of Berkhamsted was removed to South West Hertfordshire. It was in turn abolished for the 1997 general election, with the town of Tring being transferred to South West Hertfordshire and the remaining areas forming the re-established Hemel Hempstead constituency. Although the predecessor seat Hemel Hempstead had voted Conservative by almost 5000 votes in 1979, with the removal of the strongly Conservative-voting town of Berkhamsted it was estimated that the new seat would have notionally voted Labour in 1979 by around 700 votes. However, like many Home Counties New Town seats, it swung strongly towards Margaret Thatcher's Conservatives in their 1983 landslide election victory, and was won by the Tories by significant margins (ranging from 15% to 23%) at all three general elections of its existence. Its main successor seat of (the revived) Hemel Hempstead would be regained (after favourable boundary changes) by Labour in 1997 amid their national landslide victory.

Boundaries

The District of Dacorum wards of Adeyfield East, Adeyfield West, Aldbury and Wigginton, Ashridge, Bennetts End, Boxmoor, Central, Chaulden, Crabtree, Cupid Green, Flamstead and Markyate, Gadebridge, Grove Hill, Highfield, Leverstock Green, Nash Mills, South, Tring Central, Tring East, Tring West, and Warners End. The main settlements in the constituency were Hemel Hempstead and Tring.

Members of Parliament

Election results

Elections in the 1980s

Elections in the 1990s

Notes and references