Hitchin was a
parliamentary constituency
An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...
in
Hertfordshire which returned one
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...
(MP) to the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...
of the
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...
from
1885 until it was abolished for the
1983 general election.
Boundaries and boundary changes
1885–1918: The Sessional Divisions of Aldbury (except the parishes of Great Hadham and Little Hadham), Buntingford, Hitchin, Odsey, Stevenage, and Welwyn, and the parish of Braughing.
The constituency was established by the
Redistribution of Seats Act 1885
The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 (48 & 49 Vict., c. 23) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was a piece of electoral reform legislation that redistributed the seats in the House of Commons, introducing the concept of equal ...
(which followed on from the
Third Reform Act
In the United Kingdom under the premiership of William Gladstone, the Representation of the People Act 1884 (48 & 49 Vict. c. 3, also known informally as the Third Reform Act) and the Redistribution Act of the following year were laws which ...
) as one of four Divisions of the abolished three-member Parliamentary County of
Hertfordshire, and was formally named as the Northern or Hitchin Division of Hertfordshire. It included the towns/villages of
Hitchin,
Stevenage,
Welwyn
Welwyn is a village and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England. The parish also includes the villages of Digswell and Oaklands. It is sometimes referred to as Old Welwyn or Welwyn Village, to distinguish it from the much newer and larger ...
,
Baldock
Baldock ( ) is a historic market town and unparished area in the local government district of North Hertfordshire in the county of Hertfordshire, England, where the River Ivel rises. It lies north of London, southeast of Bedford, and north n ...
and
Royston.
1918–1945: The Urban Districts of Baldock, Hitchin, Royston, and Stevenage, the Rural Districts of Ashwell, Buntingford, Hitchin, and Welwyn, and in the Rural District of Hertford the parishes of Aston, Bennington, Datchworth, Sacombe, Walkern, and Watton-at-Stone.
Minor changes.
1945–1950: The Urban Districts of Baldock, Hitchin, Letchworth, Royston, and Stevenage, the Rural Districts of Hitchin, and Welwyn, and parts of the Rural Districts of Braughing and Hertford.
The constituency included a part of the
Urban District of Welwyn Garden City, which had been formed as a separate local authority, and this was now transferred to
St Albans. Other nominal changes as a result of changes to local authority boundaries.
1950–1955: The Urban Districts of Baldock, Hitchin, Letchworth, Royston, and Stevenage, the Rural District of Hitchin, in the Rural District of Braughing the parishes of Anstey, Ardeley, Aspenden, Broadfield, Buckland, Buntingford, Cottered, Hormead, Meesden, Throcking, Westmilll, and Wyddiall, and in the Rural District of Hertford the parishes of Aston, Bennington, Datchworth, Sacombe, Walkern, and Watton-at-Stone.
The Rural District of Welwyn transferred to St Albans.
1955–1974: The Urban Districts of Baldock, Hitchin, Letchworth, Royston, and Stevenage, and the Rural District of Hitchin.
The part of the Rural District of Braughing transferred to the new County Constituency of
East Hertfordshire
East Hertfordshire is a local government district in Hertfordshire, England. Its council is based in Hertford, the county town of Hertfordshire. The largest town in the district is Bishop's Stortford, and the other main towns are Ware, Bunti ...
and the part of the Rural District of Hertford transferred to
Hertford.
1974–1983: The Urban Districts of Baldock, Hitchin, Letchworth, and Royston, and the Rural District of Hitchin.
The Urban District of Stevenage formed the majority of the new County Constituency of
Hertford and Stevenage
Hertford and Stevenage was a parliamentary constituency in Hertfordshire, which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from February 1974 until it was abolished for the 1983 gene ...
.
The constituency was abolished for the
1983 general election and was replaced by the new County Constituency of
North Hertfordshire, with the exception of a small part in the south-east which was included in the new County Constituency of
Stevenage (Codicote and
Knebworth
Knebworth is a village and civil parish in the north of Hertfordshire, England, immediately south of Stevenage. The civil parish covers an area between the villages of Datchworth, Woolmer Green, Codicote, Kimpton, Whitwell, St Paul's Walden ...
).
Members of Parliament
Notes:-
*
a Dimsdale was a Baron of the Russian Empire.
*
b Cecil associated himself with the non-coalition wing of the Conservative Party, at some point in the 1918-1922 Parliament.
Elections
Elections in the 1880s
Elections in the 1890s
Elections in the 1900s
Elections in the 1910s
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:
Robert Cecil
*Liberal:
Elections in the 1920s
Elections in the 1930s
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:
Arnold Wilson
Sir Arnold Talbot Wilson (18 July 1884 – 31 May 1940) was a British soldier, colonial administrator, Conservative politician, writer and editor. Wilson served under Percy Cox, the colonial administrator of Mesopotamia (Mandatory Iraq) ...
* Labour:
George Lindgren
George Samuel Lindgren, Baron Lindgren, JP, DL (11 November 1900 – 8 September 1971) was a British Labour Party politician.
Born in Islington, London, at the 1935 general election he was an unsuccessful candidate in the safe Conservative ...
Elections in the 1950s
Elections in the 1960s
Elections in the 1970s
References
* {{Rayment-hc, h, 3, date=March 2012
Parliamentary constituencies in Hertfordshire (historic)
Hitchin
Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1885
Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 1983