South Hertfordshire (UK Parliament constituency)

Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1974–1983

South Hertfordshire

Former county constituency
for the House of Commons

South Hertfordshire in Hertfordshire, showing boundaries used from 1974–1983

County| Hertfordshire
1974 (1974)–1983
Seats| One
Created from| Barnet, Enfield West and St Albans
Replaced by| Hertsmere, Watford and St Albans[1]

South Hertfordshire was a constituency in Hertfordshire which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) 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.

## Boundaries

[edit]

Statutory definition

* 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]

Components' immediate predecessor seats

* The land of the Urban District of Potters Bar in local government administration-abolished Middlesex has been in Hertfordshire since the creation of Greater London in 1965. It now moved into this new seat from the abolished Enfield West seat.

* The Rural District of Elstree was in the abolished Barnet seat.

* The three St Albans district parishes came from the very long-lived St Albans seat and Aldenham came from South West Hertfordshire.

Components' immediate successors

* Colney Heath went back to the St Albans seat and St Stephen transferred to the Watford seat.

* The rest formed most of the new constituency of Hertsmere.

## Members of Parliament

[edit]

Election | Member | Party

|
|

| Feb 1974 | Cecil Parkinson | Conservative
1983 | constituency abolished: see Hertsmere

## Election results

[edit]

### Elections in the 1970s

[edit]

1970 notional result[3]

Party  | Vote  | %
| Conservative | 22,900 | 48.9
| Labour | 18,000 | 38.5
| Liberal | 5,900 | 12.6
Turnout | 46,800  | 73.2
Electorate | 63,896
General election February 1974: South Hertfordshire  Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Conservative | Cecil Parkinson | 21,190  | 40.2  | −8.7
| Labour | Alf Dubs | 18,104  | 34.4  | −4.1
| Liberal | John Henchley  | 13,356  | 25.4  | +12.8
Majority | 3,086  | 5.9  | −4.6
Turnout | 52,650  | 82.2  | +9.0
Registered electors | 64,035  |  |
| Conservative hold | Swing | −2.3  |
General election October 1974: South Hertfordshire  Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Conservative | Cecil Parkinson | 21,018  | 42.7  | +2.5
| Labour | Alf Dubs | 18,790  | 38.2  | +3.8
| Liberal | John Henchley  | 9,393  | 19.1  | −6.3
Majority | 2,228  | 4.5  | −1.3
Turnout | 49,201  | 76.1  | −6.1
Registered electors | 64,666  |  |
| Conservative hold | Swing | −0.7  |
General election 1979: South Hertfordshire  Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Conservative | Cecil Parkinson | 27,857  | 54.1  | +11.3
| 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
Registered electors | 65,198  |  |
| Conservative hold | Swing | +9.2  |

## References

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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 25 February 2019.
3. ^ Michael Stead. "1970 notional general election & February 1974 general election". BBC. Retrieved 18 March 2025.

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