Hertsmere
County constituency for theHouse of Commons
Interactive map of boundaries since 2024
Boundary with in the East of England
County	Hertfordshire
Electorate	73,256 (2023)[1]
Major settlements	Borehamwood,Potters Bar andBushey
Current constituency
Created	1983
Member of Parliament	Oliver Dowden (Conservative)
Seats	One
Created from	South Hertfordshire andSouth West Hertfordshire[2]

Hertsmere is aconstituency^{[n 1]} inHertfordshire,England, represented in theHouse of Commons since 2015 bySir Oliver Dowden of theConservative Party, who is a formerdeputy prime minister.^{[n 2]}

Just beyond the northwestern boundary ofGreater London and with fast railway links into the capital, Hertsmere is a Parliamentary constituency in theHome Counties. The constituency is in theLondon Commuter Belt, largely inside London's orbital motorway,the M25, and within the London green belt, in the South-West ofHertfordshire. Political consultancy Electoral Calculus classifies the constituency's population as broadly Conservative 'kind yuppies'.^[3] Hertsmere has the third-highest Jewish population of any UK Parliamentary constituency.^[4]

According to the census for England and Wales, the population of theHertsmere local authority area (which presently corresponds to the area of the Parliamentary constituency) has increased by 7.8%, from around 100,000 in 2011 to 107,800 in 2021. This is higher than the overall increase for England (6.6%), where the population grew by nearly 3.5 million to 56,489,800, but slightly lower than the increase for the East of England region that Hertsmere belongs to (8.3%). The fastest growing age group in Hertsmere is the over-65s, which has increased since 2011 by 17.6%, close to the overall rate of growth for this age group in England (20.1%).^[5]

Parts of the constituency are among the most prosperous in Britain but 2015 data from the EnglishMultiple deprivation index for the Borough ofHertsmere shows widely varying levels of deprivation, with overall deprivation levels – on a scale from 1 (the most deprived) to 32,844 (the least deprived) – ranging from 3,049 for Borehamwood Cowley Hill, the most deprived area in Hertfordshire and in the 10% most deprived nationally, to 32,695 for Bushey Heath, in the 1% least deprived.^[6]

The constituency of Hertsmere has returned aConservative Member of Parliament at every general election since its creation and has been asafe seat almost throughout, with majorities ranging from 3,075 in1997 (the election in whichLabour won 418 Parliamentary seats, the largest number ever held by a single party) to 21,313 in2019 (when the Conservative Party won 365 seats and a Parliamentary majority of 85). A close result for second place occurred in2010, with only 661 votes separating the Labour Party andLiberal Democrat candidates.

In the history of the constituency the Liberal Democrat vote share has fallen substantially, from a quarter of the vote and second place ahead of Labour in 1983, to less than half that and third place in 2019. In2015 the party fell to fourth place.

• The Borough of Hertsmere; and
• The City of St Albans ward of London Colney.^[7]

The new county constituency was formed largely from the bulk of the abolished constituency ofSouth Hertfordshire. It also included the area comprising the former Urban District ofBushey, transferred fromSouth West Hertfordshire.

Map of boundaries 2010–2024

From 1997 to 2024 the constituency was coterminous with theborough of Hertsmere^[8] in southernHertfordshire (before then it had also included the City of St Albans ward ofLondon Colney, which was transferred to theSt Albans constituency).

Following its review of parliamentary representation inHertfordshire, theBoundary Commission recommended no changes to constituency boundaries for the2010 general election. The seat contained these electoral wards:

• Aldenham East, Aldenham West, Borehamwood Brookmeadow, Borehamwood Cowley Hill, Borehamwood Hillside, Borehamwood Kenilworth, Bushey Heath, Bushey North, Bushey Park, Bushey St James, Elstree, Potters Bar Furzefield, Potters Bar Oakmere, Potters Bar Parkfield, Shenley.^[9][10]

In 2021 theBoundary Commission for England, as part of the2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, published draft changes to constituency boundaries. On 8 November 2022, the final draft of the Boundary Commission's proposals was published, following consultation. The revised Hertsmere CC (County Constituency) was as proposed in the previous draft and became effective for the2024 general election.^[11][12] Although the electorate of the constituency was within 5% of the new 'electoral quota' of 73,393, the commission proposed that changes be made to enable neighbouring constituencies to remain within the electoral range. The borough ward ofBushey North, previously in the Hertsmere constituency, joined theWatford constituency and theWelwyn Hatfield borough ward ofNorthaw and Cuffley, previously in theBroxbourne constituency, joined Hertsmere.^[13] The new Hertsmere constituency contains an electorate of approximately 73,256.^[14]

Hertsmere consists of the major towns and villages ofBushey,Radlett,Potters Bar andBorehamwood, elevated settlements above the headwaters of theRiver Colne which forms much of the northern border. Bushey bordersWatford and theLondon Borough of Harrow to the west and south west, while Potters Bar bordersBarnet andBroxbourne on the east. Borehamwood is just south-east of the centre, the largest town in the constituency — in the north and centre is Radlett, separated by two large villages and farms fromSt Albans to the north.

This safe Conservative constituency was created in 1983 from the former seat ofSouth Hertfordshire.Cecil Parkinson, who had entered Parliament in 1970 and had previously represented South Hertfordshire, was MP from the seat's creation until his retirement in 1992. He was a close ally of Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher and had run her successful1983 election campaign.^[15] Parkinson stepped down from government on the day of Thatcher's resignation as Conservative Party leader.^[16]

James Clappison held the seat for five electoral terms, from 1992 until his decision to stand down from parliament at the2015 general election.^[17]

The seat was subsequently won byOliver Dowden.^[18]

• List of parliamentary constituencies in Hertfordshire
• List of parliamentary constituencies in the East of England (region)

• Hertsmere UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) atMapIt UK
• Hertsmere UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) atMapIt UK
• Hertsmere UK Parliament constituency (boundaries from June 2024) atMapIt UK

51°40′N0°16′W / 51.667°N 0.267°W /51.667; -0.267

• Parliamentary constituencies in Hertfordshire
• Politics of Hertsmere
• Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1983

• Wikipedia articles incorporating an LRPP-MP template with two unnamed parameters
• Pages using gadget WikiMiniAtlas
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from April 2022
• Coordinates on Wikidata
• Pages using the Kartographer extension