Welwyn Hatfield is a

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 (polity), state (a country, administrative region, ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

represented in the

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of the

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since

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Grant Shapps Grant Shapps (born 14 September 1968) is a British politician who is serving as Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy since October 2022. He previously served as Secretary of State for Transport in the Premiership of Bo ...

, the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

who was previously the

Secretary of State for Transport The Secretary of State for Transport, also referred to as the transport secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the policies of the Department for Transport. The incumbent i ...

History

The seat was created for the February 1974 general election following the second periodic review of Westminster constituencies, initially as the County Constituency of Welwyn and Hatfield. It was formed from parts of the abolished constituency of

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, ne ...

. For the 1983 general election, the constituency was renamed in line with the recently created

District of Welwyn Hatfield The Borough of Welwyn Hatfield is a local government district in southern Hertfordshire, England, governed by Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council. It covers the two towns of Welwyn Garden City and Hatfield, along with numerous smaller settlements ...

. ;Political history Despite its short history, the seat has seen two parties serve it, with two

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

periods of representation, during the longer part of the

Labour Government 1974-1979 Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

and during the first two terms of the Blair ministry. Other than this the seat has elected a

as its MP. The 2005 majority more than tripled on the second election of

, in 2010, from a historically breakable (in the constituency) majority of 5,946 votes to the 26th largest

share of the vote, which on standard uniform swing seen in elections since 1931 represented a

safe seat A safe seat is an electoral district (constituency) in a legislative body (e.g. Congress, Parliament, City Council) which is regarded as fully secure, for either a certain political party, or the incumbent representative personally or a combinat ...

, but a 5% swing to Labour in 2017 means the seat is somewhat marginal again, needing a 7.1% swing to become Labour. ;Prominent frontbenchers The first MP ended his term in the Commons as the member for Welwyn Hatfield before which he was Defence Minister from 1970 to 1972 then a Foreign Office Minister until February 1974 - later that year Lord Balniel was awarded a

life peerage In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages Ac ...

, accelerating and safeguarding his right to sit in the Lords. The second MP later became the politically neutral

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. During five years of the Blair ministry, the constituency's MP

Melanie Johnson Melanie Jane Johnson (born 5 February 1955) is a Labour politician in the United Kingdom. Early life Johnson was born in Ipswich. She attended the Independent Clifton High School in Clifton, Bristol. Leaving Bristol for London, she studied at ...

was a frontbench minister, serving as

Economic Secretary to the Treasury The Economic Secretary to the Treasury is the sixth-most senior ministerial post in His Majesty's Treasury, after the First Lord of the Treasury, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, the Paymaster-General and the ...

, Minister for Competition and Consumers and the Minister for Public Health.

, her successor, was appointed the Minister of State for Housing and Local Government for the first two years of the

UK coalition government 2010 The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

before being appointed to chair his party. Following the Conservative victory in 2015, he was appointed Minister of State at the

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. Shapps became Home Secretary on the 19th October 2022 following the resignation of

Suella Braverman Sue-Ellen Cassiana "Suella" Braverman (; ''née'' Fernandes, born 3 April 1980) is a British barrister and politician who has served as Home Secretary since 25 October 2022. She previously held the position from 6 September to 19 October 2022 ...

Constituency profile

The area has a higher than average proportion of managers, professionals and retired people than much of

Greater London Greater may refer to: *Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality (mathematics), inequality *Greater (film), ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film *Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record *Greater (song), "Greate ...

. The seat has a strong local economy, with extensive retail and industrial/commercial premises, particularly in

Welwyn Garden City Welwyn Garden City ( ) is a town in Hertfordshire, England, north of London. It was the second garden city in England (founded 1920) and one of the first new towns (designated 1948). It is unique in being both a garden city and a new town and ...

and Hatfield. Two of the four largest Hertfordshire economic towns,

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, Stevena ...

and

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

are also close by. Accordingly, workless claimants who were registered jobseekers were in November 2012 significantly lower than the national average of 3.8%, at 2.4% of the population based on a statistical compilation by ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

''.

Boundaries and boundary changes

1974–1983: The Urban District of Welwyn Garden City, and the Rural Districts of Hatfield and Welwyn. Both the urban district and the rural district ceased to exist in 1974 and were replaced with the Welwyn Hatfield District. 1983–1995: The District of Welwyn Hatfield wards of Brookmans Park and Little Heath, Haldens, Handside, Hatfield Central, Hatfield East, Hatfield North, Hatfield South, Hollybush, Howlands, Peartree, Sherrards, Welham Green and Redhall, Welwyn East, and Welwyn West, and the City of St Albans ward of Wheathampstead (formerly in the St Albans parliamentary constituency). The Welwyn Hatfield ward of

Northaw Northaw is a village in the Welwyn Hatfield district of Hertfordshire, England. It is part of the civil parish of Northaw and Cuffley (where at the 2011 Census the population was included), which was originally known as Northaw. The parish had ...

was included in the new Broxbourne parliamentary constituency. 1995–2007: As above minus Wheathampstead ward, which was transferred to the new County Constituency of

Hitchin and Harpenden Hitchin and Harpenden is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2017 by Bim Afolami, a Conservative. History The constituency was created for the 1997 general election from parts of several former Her ...

. 2007–present: Updated list of Welwyn Hatfield wards, namely Brookmans Park and Little Heath, Haldens, Handside, Hatfield Central, Hatfield East, Hatfield North, Hatfield South, Hatfield West, Hollybush, Howlands, Panshanger, Peartree, Sherrards, Welham Green, Welwyn North, and Welwyn South. Northaw remained in the Broxbourne Constituency.

Members of Parliament

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 1990s

Elections in the 1980s

Elections in the 1970s

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Welwyn Hatfield (Uk Parliament Constituency) Parliamentary constituencies in Hertfordshire Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1974 Politics of Welwyn Hatfield