Stevenage 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, ...

represented in 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

UK Parliament 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 supremac ...

since 2010 by

Stephen McPartland Stephen Anthony McPartland (born 9 August 1976) is a British Conservative Party politician and business consultant. He was first elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Stevenage at the 2010 general election. Early life Born in Liverpool ...

, 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 ...

History

The constituency was created in 1983 from parts of the seats 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 ...

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

, and

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 ...

. A Southern England

new town New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

seat with volatile voting patterns, it was Conservative held between 1983 and 1997 until Labour easily gained it, but their winning margin in 2005 was small and the Conservatives gained the seat at the 2010 election. Its main predecessor, named first, was also a

bellwether A bellwether is a leader or an indicator of trends.bellwether
" ''Cambridge Dictionary''. Ret ...

of the national result.

Shirley Williams Shirley Vivian Teresa Brittain Williams, Baroness Williams of Crosby, (' Catlin; 27 July 1930 – 12 April 2021) was a British politician and academic. Originally a Labour Party Member of Parliament (MP), she served in the Labour cabinet from ...

has been the most prominent member, in fact the second

frontbencher In many parliaments and other similar assemblies, seating is typically arranged in banks or rows, with each political party or caucus grouped together. The spokespeople for each group will often sit at the front of their group, and are then kn ...

since 1974. She held it when she was a Secretary of State in government from 1974 until 1979,

Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection The Department of Prices and Consumer Protection was a short-lived United Kingdom government department created by the incoming Labour government in 1974 when the functions of the Department of Trade and Industry were divided between three new ...

and then

Paymaster General His Majesty's Paymaster General or HM Paymaster General is a ministerial position in the Cabinet Office of the United Kingdom. The incumbent Paymaster General is Jeremy Quin MP. History The post was created in 1836 by the merger of the posi ...

. Barbara Follett achieved two ministerial roles from 2007 until 2010.

Constituency profile

The main town is known for its fast rail links to London and proximity to

Luton Airport London Luton Airport is an international airport located in Luton, Bedfordshire, England, situated east of the town centre, and north of Central London. The airport is owned by London Luton Airport Ltd (LLAL), a company wholly owned by L ...

which accompanies a few headquarters of global businesses based in the seat. Workless claimants, registered jobseekers, were in November 2012 higher than the national average of 3.8%, and eastern regional average of 3.2%, at 4.0% 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

1983–1997: The Borough of Stevenage, the District of North Hertfordshire wards of Codicote and Knebworth, and the District of East Hertfordshire wards of Cottered, Datchworth, Mundern, Walkern, and Watton-at-Stone. The constituency was formed from the majority of the abolished County Constituency of

, except for the wards of Codicote and Knebworth, transferred from the abolished County Constituency of

, and the wards of Cottered and Mundern, transferred from the abolished County Constituency of

. 1997–2010: The Borough of Stevenage, the District of North Hertfordshire wards of Codicote and Knebworth, and the District of East Hertfordshire wards of Datchworth and Walkern. The District of East Hertfordshire wards of

Cottered Cottered is a village and civil parish west of Buntingford and east of Baldock in the East Hertfordshire District of Hertfordshire in England. It had a population of 634 in 2001, increasing to 659 at the 2011 Census. Cottered is home to a Ja ...

, Mundern and

Watton-at-Stone Watton-at-Stone is a village in the English county of Hertfordshire, situated midway between the towns of Stevenage and Hertford in the valley of the River Beane. The 2011 census showed a population of 2,272 living in 946 households. Watton-at ...

were transferred to the new County Constituency of

North East Hertfordshire North East Hertfordshire is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 1997 by Oliver Heald, a Conservative. Constituency profile The constituency includes the towns of Letchworth, Baldock and Royston and th ...

. 2010–present: The Borough of Stevenage, the District of North Hertfordshire wards of Codicote and Knebworth, and the District of East Hertfordshire ward of Datchworth and Aston.

Walkern Walkern is a village and civil parish in East Hertfordshire, England. It is about two miles from Stevenage. The village has several shops, including a convenience store, a hair and beauty salon, a craft shop, a shop that features homestyle prod ...

ward transferred to North East Hertfordshire. The constituency covers the Borough of Stevenage, as well as the villages of

Codicote Codicote is a large village, and civil parish about south of Hitchin in Hertfordshire, England. It has timber-framed and chequered brick houses, of special interest being the 18th-century Pond House and the half-timbered Taverners Place (form ...

and

Knebworth Knebworth is a village and civil parishes in England, 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, Hert ...

to the south and Aston and

Datchworth Datchworth is a village and civil parish between the towns of Hertford, Stevenage and Welwyn Garden City in the county of Hertfordshire, England. Sited on the Roman road from St Albans to Puckeridge, the village has examples of Saxon clearings in ...

to the east.2010 post-revision map non-metropolitan areas and unitary authorities of England
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Members of Parliament

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 1990s

Elections in the 1980s

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stevenage (Uk Parliament Constituency) Parliamentary constituencies in Hertfordshire Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1983 Politics of Stevenage