St Albans is a constituency in Hertfordshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Daisy Cooper, a Liberal Democrat.

This article also describes the eponymous parliamentary borough (1554–1852), consisting only of the city of St Albans, which elected two Members of Parliament (MPs) by the bloc vote system.

Constituency profile

St Albans is a constituency in Hertfordshire in the East of England. It covers the city of St Albans and the outlying villages of London Colney, How Wood and Bricket Wood.

St Albans is an ancient cathedral city and is sometimes considered part of the London commuter belt; it is located around north-west of the centre of the capital. Verulamium, one of the largest towns in Roman Britain, was located where St Albans currently stands. St Albans was a rural market town until the late Victorian era, after which it underwent significant suburban growth to accommodate the redistribution of people away from London. The city is highly-affluent with low levels of deprivation, and the average house price is nearly double the UK average.

St Albans has low proportions of young adults and retirees and a large population of middle-aged adults. Residents have high rates of homeownership and very high levels of income. The child poverty rate is less than half the overall UK figure. Residents are generally well-educated and a high proportion work in the retail, business administration and science sectors. The percentage claiming unemployment benefits is low. White people made up 81% of the population at the 2021 census, with Asians being the largest ethnic minority group at 10%.

At the local council level, almost all seats in this constituency are represented by Liberal Democrats. Voters in St Albans strongly supported remaining in the European Union in the 2016 referendum; an estimated 63% voted to remain compared to the UK-wide figure of 48%.

History

Up to 1852 The Parliamentary Borough of St Albans was represented by two MPs in the House of Commons of England from 1554 to 1707, then of the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800, and finally in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 onwards, until it was disenfranchised as a result of electoral corruption in 1852.Reform Act 1867

1885 to date The constituency was re-established in an enlarged form by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 (which followed on from the Third Reform Act) as one of four Divisions of the abolished three-member Parliamentary County of Hertfordshire, and was formally named as the Mid or St Albans Division of Hertfordshire. Political history before 1997

Until 1997 the seat was held by one Conservative or another save for two years in the very early 20th century following a by-election victory by the Liberal Party under the leadership of Henry Campbell-Bannerman, and later – from 1945 – for five years under Labour's landslide Attlee ministry.

Political history since 1997 The seat swung towards the left wing on boundary changes effective in 1997, and the founding of the New Labour movement which sought public sector reform and investment with expansion based on international investor-friendly economic growth. The seat followed its projections in line with the large swing led by Tony Blair, to see it return to a Labour politician. Results, except for a strong Tory surge in 2015 were closer than the 1979–1992 Tory victories forming a complex three-party contest (including the Liberal Democrats) – only once did another candidate in this time reach the deposit (politics)-retaining threshold of 5% of the vote, UKIP at its 2015 peak.

Despite the former Labour MP for the seat, Kerry Pollard, standing there in 2005, 2015 and 2017, he fell varyingly short. The 2019 vote share fell to below that seen in the 1980s, locally, for the party's candidate – the party leader was to the left of the party, Jeremy Corbyn.

The seat has had great fluctuation in Liberal Democrat vote share: 2001 and 2015 were ebbs at below 20% of the vote; in 2010 and 2017 the Liberal Democrat candidate, promisingly, took 4.4% and 10.7% less than the winning Conservative. Liberal Democrat Daisy Cooper went on to win in 2019. She became first member of a liberal party to represent the constituency since John Bamford Slack in early 1900s.

In December 2023, the Labour Party included the seat in its published list of 211 non-battleground seats, suggesting they did not see it as winnable.

Prominent members The noble and local landowning Grimston family have produced nine members throughout the seat's history. The three first heirs to the Earldom of Verulam have won election in the seat – the latest MP from the family was John Grimston who later became the 6th Earl (died 1973).

Sir Hildred Carlile (died 1942) was a textiles entrepreneur and generous benefactor of Bedford College, University of London.

Francis Fremantle was chairman of the Parliamentary Medical Committee from 1923 to 1943.

Peter Lilley was a frontbench minister in government from 1992 until 1997, the Secretary of State for Social Security, after two years as Secretary of State for Trade and Industry.

Boundaries and boundary changes (since 1885)

Historic

1885–1918 The Municipal Borough of St Albans; The Sessional Divisions of Barnet and St Albans; and Parts of the Sessional Divisions of Watford, Hertford and Dacorum.

As well from the Borough of St Albans, the seat included the towns of Harpenden, Hatfield and Chipping Barnet.

1918–1945 The Municipal Borough of St Albans; The Urban Districts of Barnet and East Barnet Valley; The Rural Districts of Barnet and Hatfield; and The Rural District of St Albans civil parishes of Sandridge Rural, St Michael Rural, St Peter Rural, and St Stephen.

North-western parts, including Harpenden, transferred to the new Hemel Hempstead Division. South-western corner (Aldenham) transferred to Watford.

1945–1950 The Municipal Borough of St Albans; The Urban District of Welwyn Garden City; The Rural District of Hatfield; and The Rural District of St Albans civil parishes of Sandridge Rural, St Michael Rural, St Peter Rural, and St Stephen.

The Urban Districts of Barnet and East Barnet (formerly East Barnet Valley) and the Rural District of Elstree (formerly Barnet) formed the new Barnet Division. The Urban District of Welwyn Garden City had been formed as a separate local authority which had previously been partly in the Hitchin Division.  Other marginal changes as a result of changes to local authority boundaries.

1950–1955 The Municipal Borough of St Albans; The Urban District of Welwyn Garden City; The Rural District of Welwyn; and The Rural District of St Albans civil parishes of Sandridge Rural, St Michael Rural, St Peter Rural, St Stephen, and Wheathampstead.

The Rural District of Welwyn was transferred from Hitchin and the parish of Wheathampstead from Hemel Hempstead.  The Rural District of Hatfield was transferred to Barnet.

1955–1974 The Municipal Borough of St Albans; and The Rural District of St Albans civil parishes of Colney Heath, London Colney, Sandridge Rural, St Michael Rural, St Stephen, and Wheathampstead.

The Urban District of Welwyn Garden City and the Rural District of Welwyn were transferred to Hertford. (The parish of St Peter Rural had been divided into the parishes of Colney Heath and London Colney).

1974–1983 The Municipal Borough of St Albans; The Urban District of Harpenden; and The Rural District of St Albans civil parishes of Harpenden Rural, Redbourn, St Michael Rural, Sandridge, and Wheathampstead.

Boundaries moved northwards: Harpenden U.D. and the parishes of Harpenden Rural and Redbourn were transferred in from Hemel Hempstead. The parishes of Colney Heath, London Colney and St Stephen were transferred out to form part of the new constituency of South Hertfordshire.

1983–1997 The District of St Albans wards of Ashley, Batchwood, Clarence, Colney Heath, Cunningham, Harpenden East, Harpenden North, Harpenden South, Harpenden West, Marshalswick North, Marshalswick South, Redbourn, St Peter's, Sandridge, Sopwell, and Verulam.

Minor changes: Colney Heath transferred from abolished South Hertfordshire; Wheathampstead transferred to Welwyn Hatfield.

1997–2010 The District of St Albans wards of Ashley, Batchwood, Clarence, Colney Heath, Cunningham, London Colney, Marshalswick North, Marshalswick South, Park Street, St Peter's, St Stephen's, Sopwell, and Verulam; and The District of Three Rivers ward of Bedmond.

Moved southwards again, gaining London Colney from Hertsmere, Park Street and St Stephen's from Watford and the Three Rivers District ward of Bedmond from South West Hertfordshire. Northern parts, including Harpenden, formed part of the new constituency of Hitchin and Harpenden.

2010–2024

The City of St Albans wards of Ashley, Batchwood, Clarence, Colney Heath, Cunningham, London Colney, Marshalswick North, Marshalswick South, Park Street, St Peter's, St Stephen, Sopwell, and Verulam; and The Three Rivers District ward of Bedmond and Primrose Hill.

Marginal adjustments to bring the parliamentary boundaries in line with those of local government wards, which had changed since the 1995 review.

Current Further to the 2023 review of Westminster constituencies, which came into effect for the 2024 general election, the composition of the constituency was unchanged except for the small part in the District of Three Rivers, which was transferred to South West Hertfordshire.

Following a local government boundary review which came into effect in May 2022, the constituency now comprises the following wards of the City of St Albans from the 2024 general election:

Batchwood; Bernards Heath; Clarence; Colney Heath; Cunningham; Hill End; London Colney; Marshalswick East & Jersey Farm (majority); Marshalswick West (nearly all); Park Street; St Peters; St Stephen (nearly all); Sopwell; Verulam (nearly all). The seat is in Hertfordshire, England. Specifically, it comprises the cathedral city of St Albans and some of the surrounding countryside, mainly to the south of the city.

Neighbouring seats, clockwise from north, are: Harpenden and Berkhamsted, Welwyn Hatfield, Hertsmere, South West Hertfordshire.

Members of Parliament MPs 1553–1640 ParliamentFirst memberSecond member 1553 (Oct) John Maynard Thomas Johnson 1554 (Apr) Thomas Wendy Oliver Starkey 1554 (Nov) John Maynard Oliver Starkey 1555 John Astley Robert Stepneth 1558 Henry Heydon Francis Southwell 1559 (Jan) Christopher Smith John Dodmer 1562–3 Robert Wroth Roger Carew 1571 William Skipwith George Ferrers 1572 (Apr) Henry Cocke Charles Smythe 1584 Henry Maynard Humphrey Coningsby 1586 (Oct) Henry Maynard Humphrey Coningsby 1588 (Oct) Henry Maynard Humphrey Coningsby 1593 Henry Maynard Humphrey Coningsby 1597 (Oct) Henry Maynard Humphrey Coningsby 1601 Francis Bacon, sat for Ipswich, replaced Nov 1601 by Henry Frowick Adolphus Carey 1604 Sir Francis Bacon, sat for Ipswich repl. by Tobie Matthew Adolphus Carey 1610 Sir Thomas Parry Sir Henry Helmes 1614 Sir Francis Bacon, sat for Cambridge University repl. by Thomas Perient Henry Finch 1620 Sir Thomas Richardson Robert Shute 1621 Sir Thomas Richardson Henry Meautys 1624 Sir Arthur Capell Sir John Luke 1625 Sir Charles Morrison, 1st Baronet Sir John Luke 1626 Sir Charles Morrison, 1st Baronet Sir Edward Goring 1628 Sir John Jennings Robert Kirkham 1629–1640No Parliaments summoned

MPs 1640–1852