Former Constituency

Hitchin & Harpenden

The Parliamentary Constituency of Hitchin & Harpenden was created in 1997 as a result of the Boundary Review.

The constituency is made up of:

the town of Hitchin and the surrounding villages (Pirton, Holwell, Ickleford, Offley, Lilley, Hexton, St Paul’s Walden, King’s Walden, St Ippolyts, Breachwood Green, Preston, Little & Great Wymondley, Langley, Kimpton and Whitwell), which were transferred from the old constituency of North Hertfordshire. Graveley Ward was added in 2010
the town of Harpenden and the villages of Redbourn and Sandridge which were transferred from the St Albans constituency.
the village of Wheathampstead which transferred from the Welwyn and Hatfield constituency. Hitchin is an important old market town whereas Harpenden has only expanded from a small village over the last century.

With Harpenden close to the M1 motorway and Hitchin close to the A1 and good rail links to London, both towns have attracted growing population and new businesses. Apart from a similar history and connections with the same county town, there is no other easy or obvious link, particularly as the journey from one end of the constituency to the other is difficult involving, for the main part, minor roads.

Peter Lilley's Increasing Majority

	2015	%	2010	%	2005	%	2001	%	1997	%
Peter Lilley	31,488	56.9	29,869	54.6	23,627	49.9	21,271	47.3	24,038	45.9
Labour	11,433	20.6	7,413	13.6	10,499	22.2	14,608	32.5	17,367	33.1
Lib Dem	4,484	8.1	14,598	26.7	12,234	25.8	8,076	18	10,515	20
Other	7,970	14.4	2,827	5.1	1,027	2.1	969	2.2	507	1
Total	55,375	100	54,707	100	47,387	100	44,924	100	54,427	100
Majority	20,055		15,271		11,393		6,663		6,671
Turnout		68.9		74.1		70.5		67.2		77.3