Watford (UK Parliament constituency)

Watford
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Watford in Hertfordshire.
Location of Hertfordshire within England.
County	Hertfordshire
Electorate	80,939 (December 2010)
Current constituency
Created	1885
Member of parliament	Richard Harrington (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Created from	Hertfordshire
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	East of England

Watford is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Richard Harrington, a member of the Conservative Party.

Before the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 the area was part of the three seat constituency of Hertfordshire. Upon this act, it took up the western division of the county, however later seats such as South West Hertfordshire, established in 1950 have reduced its reach, as settlements in those areas, and Watford itself, have grown.

The seat has been a bellwether of the national result since February 1974. Watford saw considerable Liberal Democrat opposition in 2005, achieving second place, taking many Labour votes with the Conservative candidate close behind.

Before the 2010 general election it was a three-way marginal seat in which local Tories, Labour supporters and Liberal Democrats aimed to garner support for their candidate. This election in Watford was won by Richard Harrington (Con) with 34.9% of the vote. The Liberal Democrats narrowly missed out on the seat with 32.4% of the vote and the defeat for Labour's candidate, Claire Ward, was a pronounced change with 26.7% of the vote.

Dennis Herbert was Deputy Speaker from 1931-1943.

Major John Freeman was only a third-tier (junior) minister in the War Office as MP. His later unusually prominent positions in diplomacy led to his being appointed a member of the Privy Council and thereby being Rt Hon as of 1966.