County Hertfordshire Created 1983 Member of parliament Mark Prisk Replaced by East Hertfordshire | Electorate 79,255 (December 2010) European Parliament constituency East of England Number of members 1 | |
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Created from Hertfordshire East and Hertford and Stevenage Major settlements Hertford, Bishop's Stortford, Ware, Hertfordshire | ||
Hertford and Stortford is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by Mark Prisk of the Conservative Party.
Contents
Boundaries
1983-1997: The District of East Hertfordshire wards of Bishop's Stortford Central, Bishop's Stortford Chantry, Bishop's Stortford Parsonage, Bishop's Stortford Thorley, Braughing, Buntingford, Hertford Bengeo, Hertford Castle, Hertford Kingsmead, Hertford Sele, Hunsdon, Little Hadham, Much Hadham, Sawbridgeworth, Standon St Mary, Stapleford, Tewin, Thundridge, Ware Christchurch, Ware Priory, Ware St Mary's, and Ware Trinity.
1997-2010: The District of East Hertfordshire wards of Bishop's Stortford Central, Bishop's Stortford Chantry, Bishop's Stortford Parsonage, Bishop's Stortford Thorley, Great Amwell, Hertford Bengeo, Hertford Castle, Hertford Kingsmead, Hertford Sele, Hunsdon, Little Amwell, Much Hadham, Sawbridgeworth, Stanstead, Ware Christchurch, Ware Priory, Ware St Mary's, and Ware Trinity.
2010-present: The District of East Hertfordshire wards of Bishop's Stortford All Saints, Bishop's Stortford Central, Bishop's Stortford Meads, Bishop's Stortford Silverleys, Bishop's Stortford South, Great Amwell, Hertford Bengeo, Hertford Castle, Hertford Heath, Hertford Kingsmead, Hertford Sele, Hunsdon, Much Hadham, Sawbridgeworth, Stanstead Abbots, Ware Chadwell, Ware Christchurch, Ware St Mary's, and Ware Trinity.
Description
The constituency is semi-rural which includes picturesque villages and farmland separating the county town of Hertford, population 25,000, which is architecturally rich. The rivers Rib, Beane, Mimram, and Lea all meet in Hertford, which is protected from over development by Green Belt land which encircles the town separating it from its neighbour Ware (17,000) in the western part of the constituency. Farms continue between Ware and the ancient market town of Bishop's Stortford with a population of more than 32,000 people in the north east corner of the seat. Bishop's Stortford has developed into a popular area for commuters, with rail links to London's Liverpool Street station. Thorley on the south side of Stortford, contains a huge residential estate of owner occupied houses built mainly in the 1980s. The constituency is affluent, having a majority of professional and managerial workers as it is within commuting distance of London. Stansted Airport, which lies just outside the seat's eastern perimeter has been responsible for bringing jobs and an improved train service to the constituency. The pharmaceutical industry is also an important provider of jobs - GlaxoSmithKline has facilities in Ware and nearby Harlow, and Merck was based until recently at Gilston on the seat's southern border. London is within commuting distance with trains to the City running from all the towns in the constituency.