Hitchin (UK Parliament constituency)

Hitchin
Former County constituency for the House of Commons
1885–1983
Number of members	one
Replaced by	Hertfordshire North and Stevenage[1]

Hitchin was a parliamentary constituency in Hertfordshire which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885 until it was abolished for the 1983 general election.

Boundaries

1885-1918: The Sessional Divisions of Aldbury (except the civil parishes of Great Hadham and Little Hadham), Buntingford, Hitchin, Odsey, Stevenage, and Welwyn, and the civil parish of Braughing.

1918-1950: 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 civil parishes of Aston, Bennington, Datchworth, Sacombe, Walkern, and Watton-at-Stone.

1950-1955: The Urban Districts of Baldock, Hitchin, Letchworth, Royston, and Stevenage, the Rural District of Hitchin, in the Rural District of Braughing the civil parishes of Anstey, Ardeley, Aspenden, Broadfield, Buckland, Buntingford, Cottered, Hormead, Meesden, Throcking, Westmilll, and Wyddiall, and in the Rural District of Hertford the civil parishes of Aston, Bennington, Datchworth, Sacombe, Walkern, and Watton-at-Stone.

1955-1974: The Urban Districts of Baldock, Hitchin, Letchworth, Royston, and Stevenage, and the Rural District of Hitchin.

1974-1983: The Urban Districts of Baldock, Hitchin, Letchworth, and Royston, and the Rural District of Hitchin.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1885	Baron Robert Dimsdale ^a	Conservative
	1892	George Bickersteth Hudson	Conservative
	1906	Julius Bertram	Liberal
	Jan 1910	Alfred Peter Hillier	Conservative
	1911 by-election	Lord Robert Cecil ^b	Conservative
	1918		Coalition Conservative
	1922		Conservative
	1923	Guy Molesworth Kindersley	Conservative
	1931	Viscount Knebworth	Conservative
	1933 by-election	Sir Arnold Wilson	Conservative
	1941 by-election	Seymour Berry	Conservative
	1945	Philip Asterley Jones	Labour
	1950	Nigel Fisher	Conservative
	1955	Martin Maddan	Conservative
	1964	Shirley Williams	Labour
	Feb 1974	Ian Stewart	Conservative
1983		constituency abolished

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

General Election 1885: Hitchin ^[2][3][4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Baron Dimsdale	4,419	60.6	n/a
	Liberal	Henry George Fordham	2,869	39.4	n/a
Majority			1,550	21.2	n/a
Turnout				81.0	n/a
	Conservative win (new seat)

General Election 1886: Hitchin ^[2][3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Baron Dimsdale	unopposed	n/a	n/a
	Conservative hold		Swing	n/a

Elections in the 1890s

General Election 1892: Hitchin ^[2][3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	George Bickersteth Hudson	4,187	60.5	n/a
	Liberal	John Wattridge	2,728	39.5	n/a
Majority			1,459	21.0	n/a
Turnout				77.0	n/a
	Conservative hold		Swing	n/a

General Election 1895: Hitchin ^[2][3][5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	George Bickersteth Hudson	unopposed	n/a	n/a
	Conservative hold		Swing	n/a

Elections in the 1900s

General Election 1900: Hitchin ^[2][3][6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	George Bickersteth Hudson	unopposed	n/a	n/a
	Conservative hold		Swing	n/a

General Election 1906: Hitchin ^[2][3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	Julius Bertram	4,157	50.5	n/a
	Conservative	J J W Miller	4,081	49.5	n/a
Majority			76	1.0	n/a
Turnout				83.9	n/a
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	n/a

Elections in the 1910s

General Election January 1910: Hitchin ^[2][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Alfred Peter Hillier	5,761	59.8	+10.3
	Liberal	St. George William Lane Fox-Pitt	3,877	40.2	-10.3
Majority			1,884	19.6	+20.6
Turnout				88.5	+4.6
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+10.3

General Election December 1910: Hitchin ^[2][8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Alfred Peter Hillier	5,233	57.0	-2.8
	Liberal	Thomas Tylston Greg	3,942	43.0	+2.8
Majority			1,291	14.0	-5.6
Turnout				84.3	-4.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	-2.8

Hitchin by-election, 1911^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Lord Edgar Algernon Robert Gascoyne-Cecil	5,542	58.6	+1.6
	Liberal	Thomas Tylston Greg	3,909	41.4	-1.6
Majority			1,633	17.2	+3.2
Turnout				84.8	+0.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.6

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: Lord Edgar Algernon Robert Gascoyne-Cecil
• Liberal:

Robert Cecil

General Election 14 December 1918: Hitchin ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Rt Hon. Lord Edgar Algernon Robert Gascoyne-Cecil	9,828
	Labour	Robert Green	5,661
	NFDDSS	George Humm	722	4.5
Majority
Turnout
	Unionist hold		Swing

• endorsed by Coalition Government

Elections in the 1920s

General Election 1922: Hitchin^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Rt Hon. Edgar Algernon Robert Gascoyne-Cecil	13,124	62.0
	Labour	Benjamin Skene Mackay	8,049	38.0
Majority			5,078	24.0
Turnout
	Unionist hold		Swing

General Election 1923: Hitchin ^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Guy Molesworth Kindersley	11,157	49.7	-12.3
	Labour	Benjamin Skene Mackay	5,913	26.3	-11.7
	Liberal	Dugald Macfadyen	5,390	24.0	n/a
Majority			5,244	23.4	-0.6
Turnout				67.7
	Unionist hold		Swing	-0.3

General Election 1924: Hitchin^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Guy Molesworth Kindersley	14,019	59.2	+9.5
	Labour	Julian Athelstan Tayler	5,773	24.4	-1.9
	Liberal	Dugald Macfadyen	3,881	16.4	-7.6
Majority			8,246	34.8	+11.4
Turnout				69.5	+1.8
	Unionist hold		Swing	+5.7

General Election 1929: Hitchin^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Guy Molesworth Kindersley	14,786	44.8	-14.4
	Liberal	Enid Lapthorn	9,325	28.3	+3.9
	Labour	Richard W Gifford	8,880	26.9	+10.5
Majority			5,461	16.5	-18.3
Turnout				73.4	+3.9
	Unionist hold		Swing	-9.2

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1931: Hitchin ^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Viscount Knebworth	25,841	75.7
	Labour	Dermot Johnston Freyer	8,312	24.3
Majority			17,529	51.4
Turnout				71.1	-2.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

Sir Arnold Wilson

Hitchin by-election, 1933

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Sir Arnold Talbot Wilson	14,569	58.4
	Labour	William Bennett	10,362	41.6
Majority			4,207	16.8
Turnout				51.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1935: Hitchin ^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Sir Arnold Talbot Wilson	21,452	63.34
	Labour	George Samuel Lindgren	12,417	36.66
Majority			9,035	26.68
Turnout				66.44
	Conservative hold		Swing

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: Sir Arnold Wilson
• Labour: George Lindgren

Hitchin by-election, 1941^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	John Seymour Berry	unopposed	n/a	n/a
	Conservative hold		Swing	n/a

General Election 1945: Hitchin ^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Philip Asterley Jones	20,779	42.64
	Conservative	John Seymour Berry	20,433	41.93
	Liberal	Maj. Thomas Darling	7,515	15.42
Majority			346	0.71
Turnout				72.44
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1950: Hitchin

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Nigel Thomas Loveridge Fisher	23,580	45.11
	Labour	Philip Asterley Jones	21,829	41.76
	Liberal	FS Haig	6,863	13.13
Majority			1,751	3.35
Turnout				85.78
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

General Election 1951: Hitchin

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Nigel Thomas Loveridge Fisher	27,719	52.64
	Labour	Peter Benenson	24,941	47.36
Majority			2,778	5.28
Turnout				84.98
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1955: Hitchin

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	William Francis Martin Maddan	26,371	50.93
	Labour	Peter Benenson	25,406	49.07
Majority			965	1.86
Turnout				83.17
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1959: Hitchin

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	William Francis Martin Maddan	30,193	46.82
	Labour	Peter Benenson	25,818	40.03
	Liberal	Robert Glenton	8,481	13.15
Majority			4,375	6.78
Turnout				85.43
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1964: Hitchin

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Shirley Vivian Teresa Brittain Williams	34,034	45.84
	Conservative	William Francis Martin Maddan	30,649	41.28
	Liberal	Elma Tryphosa Dangerfield	9,564	12.88
Majority			3,385	4.56
Turnout				84.54
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

General Election 1966: Hitchin

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Shirley Vivian Teresa Brittain Williams	42,233	56.52
	Conservative	John Heydon Romaine Stokes	32,483	43.48
Majority			9,750	13.05
Turnout				65.54
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1970: Hitchin

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Shirley Vivian Teresa Brittain Williams	40,932	48.53
	Conservative	Richard Napier Luce	37,258	44.18
	Liberal	Thomas Willis	6,148	7.29
Majority			3,674	4.36
Turnout				76.88
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election February 1974: Hitchin

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Ian Stewart	27,222	44.11
	Labour	Ann Mallalieu	23,204	37.60
	Liberal	D Beavan	10,824	17.54
	Independent	P Bianchi	467	0.76
Majority			4,018	6.51
Turnout				85.57
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

General Election October 1974: Hitchin

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Ian Stewart	25,842	44.59
	Labour	Ann Mallalieu	22,656	39.09
	Liberal	Eric Dix	9,454	16.31
Majority			3,186	5.50
Turnout				79.59
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1979: Hitchin

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Ian Stewart	33,169	52.54
	Labour	Denis O'Flynn	19,940	31.59
	Liberal	Eric Dix	8,224	13.03
	Ecology	Brian Goodale	911	1.44
	National Front	Victor Logan	881	1.40
Majority			13,229	20.96
Turnout				82.19
	Conservative hold		Swing

References

1. "Hitchin', Feb 1974 - May 1983". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
2. British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, FWS Craig
3. The Liberal Year Book, 1907
4. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1886
5. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1901
6. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1901
7. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1916
8. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1916
9. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
10. British parliamentary election results, 1918-1949 (Craig)
11. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
12. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
13. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
14. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, F W S Craig
15. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, F W S Craig
16. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, F W S Craig
17. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, F W S Craig
18. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, F W S Craig

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