Hereford (UK Parliament constituency)

Hereford
Former County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Hereford in Herefordshire.
Location of Herefordshire within England.
County	Herefordshire
Major settlements	Hereford
1918–2010
Number of members	One
Replaced by	Hereford and South Herefordshire, North Herefordshire
1295–1918
Number of members	1295–1885: Two 1885–1918: One
Type of constituency	Borough constituency

Hereford was, until 2010, a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Since 1918, it had elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first-past-the-post voting system.

Previously, Hereford had been a parliamentary borough which from 1295 to 1885 had elected two MPs, using the bloc vote system in contested elections. Under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 the borough's representation had been reduced to one seat at the 1885 general election, and for the 1918 general election the borough was abolished and replaced with a county division which carried the same name but covered a wider geographical area.

Hereford sent two representatives to Parliament from the beginning of the reign of Edward I. Although a county town, the early elections were always held at a different location from those of the shire, the former taking place at the Guildhall, the latter in the castle.

In 1885 representation was reduced to one Member.

Journalist Robin Day stood as the Liberal candidate in the 1959 General Election.

From 1931 until 1997, Hereford was held by the Conservative Party, before being taken by Paul Keetch of the Liberal Democrats at the 1997 general election. Keetch served as the Liberal Democrats' spokesman for defence from October 1999 until May 2005, and announced on 17 November 2006 that he would not be standing at the next election.