South Hertfordshire (UK Parliament constituency)

South Hertfordshire was a constituency in Hertfordshire which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was created for the February 1974 general election and abolished for the 1983 general election when it was mainly replaced by the new Hertsmere constituency.

South Hertfordshire
Former County constituency for the House of Commons
South Hertfordshire in Hertfordshire, showing boundaries used from 1974-1983
County	Hertfordshire
1974–1983
Number of members	One
Replaced by	Hertsmere, Watford and St Albans[1]
Created from	Barnet, Enfield West and St Albans

Boundaries

The Urban District of Potters Bar, the Rural District of Elstree, in the Rural District of St Albans the parishes of Colney Heath, London Colney, and St Stephen, and in the Rural District of Watford the parish of Aldenham.[2]

The Urban District of Potters Bar in Middlesex had been included in Hertfordshire following the creation of Greater London in 1965 and was now transferred from the abolished Borough Constituency of Enfield West.  The Rural District of Elstree was previously in the abolished County Constituency of Barnet.  The parishes of Colney Heath, London Colney and St Stephen were transferred from St Albans and Aldenham from South West Hertfordshire.

On its abolition in 1983, Colney Heath was transferred back to St Albans and St Stephen transferred to Watford.  Remainder formed the majority of the new County Constituency of Hertsmere.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	Feb 1974	Cecil Parkinson	Conservative
1983		constituency abolished: see Hertsmere

Election results

General election February 1974: South Hertfordshire

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Cecil Parkinson	21,190	40.3
	Labour	Alf Dubs	18,104	34.4
	Liberal	John Henchley	13,356	25.4
Majority			3,086	5.9
Turnout			52,650	82.2
	Conservative win (new seat)

General election October 1974: South Hertfordshire

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Cecil Parkinson	21,018	42.7	+2.4
	Labour	Alf Dubs	18,790	38.2	+3.8
	Liberal	John Henchley	9,393	19.1	-6.3
Majority			2,228	4.5	-1.4
Turnout			49,201	76.1	-6.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	-0.7

General election 1979: South Hertfordshire

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Cecil Parkinson	27,857	54.1	+11.4
	Labour	NG Male	16,059	31.2	-7.0
	Liberal	Gerald Sattin	7,001	13.6	-5.5
	National Front	S Fenn	605	1.2	New
Majority			11,798	22.9	+18.4
Turnout			51,522	79.0	+2.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	+9.2

References

1. "'Hertfordshire South', Feb 1974 - May 1983". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
2. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1970". www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 2019-02-25.

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "H" (part 3)