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 Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...

(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. ...

of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the Parliamentary sovereignty in the United Kingdom, supreme Legislature, legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of We ...

from

1885 Events January–March * January 3– 4 – Sino-French War – Battle of Núi Bop: French troops under General Oscar de Négrier defeat a numerically superior Qing Chinese force, in northern Vietnam. * January 4 &ndash ...

until it was abolished for the

1983 general election The following elections occurred in the year 1983. Africa * 1983 Cameroonian parliamentary election * 1983 Equatorial Guinean legislative election * 1983 Kenyan general election * 1983 Malagasy parliamentary election * 1983 Malawian general e ...

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 equa ...

(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 f ...

) 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 Hitchin () is a market town and unparished area in the North Hertfordshire district in Hertfordshire, England, with an estimated population of 35,842. History Hitchin is first noted as the central place of the Hicce people, a tribe holding 300 ...

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a large town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Ste ...

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 and

Royston Royston may refer to: Places Australia *Royston, Queensland, a rural locality Canada *Royston, British Columbia, a small hamlet England *Royston, Hertfordshire, a town and civil parish, formerly partly in Cambridgeshire *Royston, South Yorkshi ...

. 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 St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major town on the old Roma ...

. 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, Bu ...

and the part of the Rural District of Hertford transferred to

Hertford Hertford ( ) is the county town of Hertfordshire, England, and is also a civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of the county. The parish had a population of 26,783 at the 2011 census. The town grew around a ford on the River Lea ...

. 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. The constituency was abolished for the

and was replaced by the new County Constituency of

North Hertfordshire North Hertfordshire is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district in Hertfordshire, England. Its council is based in Letchworth. The district was formed on 1 April 1974 by the amalgamation of the Urban district (Great Britain and Ir ...

, with the exception of a small part in the south-east which was included in the new County Constituency of

(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 an ...

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 Robert Cecil may refer to: * Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury (1563–1612), English administrator and politician, MP for Westminster, and for Hertfordshire * Robert Cecil (1670–1716), Member of Parliament for Castle Rising, and for Wootton Ba ...

*Liberal:

Robert Cecil, 1st Viscount Cecil of Chelwood cph

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 s ...

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