Hitchin and Harpenden Constituency Profile

The Parliamentary Constituency of Hitchin & Harpenden was created in 1995 as a result of the Boundary Review.

The constituency is made up of:

• the town of Hitchin and the surrounding villages (Pirton, Holwell, Ickleford, Offley, Lilley, Hexton, St Paul's Walden, King's Walden, St Ippolyts, Breachwood Green, Preston, Little & Great Wymondley, Langley, Kimpton and Whitwell), which were transferred from the old constituency of North Hertfordshire.   The new Chesfield Ward became part of the constituency for the General Election in 2010.
• the town of Harpenden and the villages of Redbourn and Sandridge which were transferred from the St Albans constituency.
• the village of Wheathampstead which transferred from the Welwyn and Hatfield constituency.

Hitchin is an important old market town whereas Harpenden has only expanded from a small village over the last century.

With Harpenden close to the M1 motorway and Hitchin close to the A1, both towns have seen a spread of the industrial and commercial towns that their population serve. Apart from a similar history and connections with the same county town, there is no other easy or obvious link, particularly as the journey from one end of the constituency to the other is difficult involving, for the main part, minor roads.   However the one thing that all parts of the constituency share, is the need to provide more homes and new school places for the increased number of residents who are attracted to the constituency.