North East Hertfordshire is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 1997 by Oliver Heald, a Conservative.

Constituency profile

The constituency includes the towns of Letchworth, Baldock and Royston and the undulating rural area, strewn with traditional English villages primarily to their south, most of which are within the more accessible parts of the London Commuter Belt and west of London Stansted Airport.

History

The constituency was created for the 1997 general election largely from parts of the abolished constituency of North Hertfordshire, including Letchworth, Baldock and Royston. It also included rural areas of the District of East Hertfordshire transferred from Hertford and Stortford and Stevenage.

The seat has been held since its creation for the Conservatives with comfortable majorities by Sir Oliver Heald, who was previously MP for North Hertfordshire.

Boundaries and boundary changes

1997–2010

• The District of North Hertfordshire wards of Arbury, Baldock, Grange, Letchworth East, Letchworth South East, Letchworth South West, Newsells, Royston East, Royston West, Sandon, Weston, and Wilbury; and
• The District of East Hertfordshire wards of Braughing, Buntingford, Cottered, Little Hadham, Munden, Standon St Mary, Stapleford, Tewin, Thundridge, and Watton-at-Stone.

2010–present

• The District of North Hertfordshire wards of Arbury, Baldock East, Baldock Town, Ermine, Letchworth East, Letchworth Grange, Letchworth South East, Letchworth South West, Letchworth Wilbury, Royston Heath, Royston Meridian, Royston Palace, and Weston and Sandon; and
• The District of East Hertfordshire wards of Braughing, Buntingford, Hertford Rural North, Hertford Rural South, Little Hadham, Mundens and Cottered, Puckeridge, Thundridge and Standon, Walkern, and Watton-at-Stone.

Minor changes due to revision of local authority wards.

Following a local government boundary review which came into effect in May 2023, the part in the District of East Hertfordshire now comprise the wards of: Aston, Datchworth & Walkern (Bennington and Walkern parishes); Braughing & Standon; Buntingford; Hertford Rural; Little Hadham & The Pelhams; The Mundens; Ware Rural (Thundridge parish); Watton-at-Stone.

Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, which came into effect for the 2024 general election, the composition of the constituency (as defined on 1 December 2020) was unchanged.

Members of Parliament

Hertfordshire North, Hertford & Stortford and Stevenage prior to 1997

Election		Member	Party
	1997	Sir Oliver Heald	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: North East Hertfordshire

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Reform UK	Steven Adelantado
	Liberal Democrats	Ruth Brown
	Green	Vicky Burt
	Conservative	Nikki da Costa
	Labour	Chris Hinchliff
Majority
Turnout

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: North East Hertfordshire

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Oliver Heald	31,293	56.6	–2.0
	Labour	Kelley Green	13,104	23.7	–4.6
	Liberal Democrats	Amy Finch	8,563	15.5	+7.8
	Green	Tim Lee	2,367	4.3	–1.0
Majority			18,189	32.9	+2.6
Turnout			55,327	72.7	–0.7
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.3

General election 2017: North East Hertfordshire

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Oliver Heald	32,587	58.6	+3.2
	Labour	Doug Swanney	15,752	28.3	+9.4
	Liberal Democrats	Nicky Shepard	4,276	7.7	+0.1
	Green	Tim Lee	2,965	5.3	+0.1
Majority			16,835	30.3	–6.2
Turnout			55,764	73.4	+2.7
	Conservative hold		Swing	–3.1

General election 2015: North East Hertfordshire

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Oliver Heald	28,949	55.4	+1.9
	Labour	Chris York	9,869	18.9	+2.5
	UKIP	William Compton	6,728	12.9	+8.8
	Liberal Democrats	Joe Jordan	3,952	7.6	−15.8
	Green	Mario May	2,789	5.2	+3.5
Majority			19,080	36.5	+6.4
Turnout			52,500	70.7	+0.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	−0.3

General election 2010: North East Hertfordshire

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Oliver Heald	26,995	53.5	+6.2
	Liberal Democrats	Hugh Annand	11,801	23.4	+2.0
	Labour	David Kirkman	8,291	16.4	−11.6
	UKIP	Adrianne Smyth	2,075	4.1	+0.8
	Green	Rosemary Bland	875	1.7	New
	Independent	Richard Campbell	209	0.4	New
	Your Right To Democracy Party Limited	David Ralph	143	0.3	New
	Independent	Philip Reichardt	36	0.1	New
Majority			15,194	30.1	+10.8
Turnout			50,425	69.8	+3.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: North East Hertfordshire

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Oliver Heald	22,402	47.3	+3.2
	Labour	Andy Harrop	13,264	28.0	−8.4
	Liberal Democrats	Iain Coleman	10,147	21.4	+4.2
	UKIP	David Hitchman	1,561	3.3	+1.0
Majority			9,138	19.3	+11.6
Turnout			47,374	65.6	+0.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	+5.8

General election 2001: North East Hertfordshire

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Oliver Heald	19,695	44.1	+2.4
	Labour	Ivan Gibbons	16,251	36.4	+0.6
	Liberal Democrats	Alison Kingman	7,686	17.2	−1.0
	UKIP	Malcolm Virgo	1,013	2.3	New
Majority			3,444	7.7	+1.8
Turnout			44,645	65.0	−12.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: North East Hertfordshire

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Oliver Heald	21,712	41.7
	Labour	Ivan Gibbons	18,624	35.8
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Jarvis	9,493	18.2
	Referendum	Jonathan Grose	2,166	4.2
Majority			3,088	5.9
Turnout			51,995	77.1
	Conservative win (new seat)

Note: Although a Conservative win due to the seat being newly created, the winning candidate was the previous MP for North Hertfordshire, which was abolished and largely reformed as North East Hertfordshire.

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in Hertfordshire
• List of parliamentary constituencies in the East of England (region)