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Parliamentary constituency

Hitchin

Current MP, latest election result, geographic context and official constituency information.

At a glance

Current MP
Alistair Strathern
Party
Labour
Latest election
4 July 2024
Electorate
75,877
Turnout
69.2%
Majority
8,109

Where is Hitchin?

The map shows this constituency alongside neighbouring parliamentary constituencies for geographic context.

Hitchin Stevenage Luton North Luton South and South Bedfordshire Welwyn Hatfield St Albans North East Hertfordshire Mid Bedfordshire Harpenden and Berkhamsted Bedford Hertsmere North Bedfordshire Watford Hemel Hempstead Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard Chipping Barnet Broxbourne South West Hertfordshire Southgate and Wood Green Harrow East Hendon Enfield North Aylesbury Edmonton and Winchmore Hill Hertford and Stortford St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire Huntingdon Chingford and Woodford Green Epping Forest Chesham and Amersham South Cambridgeshire Milton Keynes Central Cambridge Milton Keynes North Harlow Wellingborough and Rushden Buckingham and Bletchley North West Essex Brentwood and Ongar Northampton South Wycombe Northampton North Mid Buckinghamshire Ely and East Cambridgeshire Daventry Chelmsford South Northamptonshire Basildon and Billericay Braintree Henley and Thame West Suffolk Rayleigh and Wickford Bicester and Woodstock Maldon Witham Didcot and Wantage England
Hitchin

Boundary data: ONS Open Geography Portal.

Local context

About this constituency

Hitchin constituency is centred on the Hertfordshire market town of Hitchin and includes surrounding suburban, village and rural communities. Hitchin provides the main commercial and transport focus, with a compact historic centre and extensive residential neighbourhoods. Outside the town, the landscape becomes more open, with farmland, villages and low chalk hills characteristic of northern Hertfordshire. Rail and road connections link the constituency with London, Stevenage, Luton and Cambridge. The seat is therefore less continuously urban than neighbouring commuter constituencies, combining one principal town with a substantial countryside hinterland and smaller settlements that retain their own local identities.

Description last reviewed 11 September 2026.

Current MP

Alistair Strathern MP

Labour

Represents Hitchin in the House of Commons.

Latest election

2024 General Election

Held on 4 July 2024

Winning party
Labour
Majority
8,109
Turnout
69.2%
Full candidate result (6 candidates)
CandidatePartyVotesShareChange
Alistair StrathernElectedLabour23,06743.9%17.7%
Bim AfolamiConservative14,95828.5%-18.5%
Charles BunkerReform UK6,76012.9%—
Chris LucasLiberal Democrat4,9139.4%-14.3%
Will LavinGreen Party2,6315.0%3.5%
Sid CordleChristian Peoples Alliance1810.3%-0.2%

Election data comes from UK Parliament. Turnout percentage is calculated by Project Open Gov from Parliament's turnout and electorate figures.

People and place

A population and household snapshot for Hitchin, using validated House of Commons Library constituency datasets.

Estimated population105,041
EstimateMid-2024 estimate
Region / nationEast of England

Age profile

0 to 1722.7% · 23,843 people
18 to 245.7% · 6,002 people
25 to 3412.8% · 13,441 people
35 to 4921.6% · 22,724 people
50 to 6419.5% · 20,454 people
65 and over17.7% · 18,577 people

Population figures are mid-2024 estimates from the House of Commons Library. Project Open Gov calculates the estimated population shown above by summing the six published age-band counts. View population source ↗

Home ownership and renting

Housing tenure shows how households in this constituency described their home at the most recent census.

40,758 householdsCensus 2021
Home owners68.6% · 27,958 households
Private renters15.1% · 6,140 households
Social renters14.7% · 5,972 households
Other tenure1.7% · 688 households

“Other tenure” combines shared ownership and households recorded as living rent free.

Housing-tenure figures come from the most recent census: 2021 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and 2022 in Scotland. View housing-tenure source ↗

Household composition

A broad view of household types in this constituency. Project Open Gov uses the four broad groups supplied by the Commons Library so the presentation remains consistent across the UK.

40,752 householdsCensus 2021
One-person households27.3% · 11,119 households
Families with dependent children31.6% · 12,879 households
Other single-family households38.2% · 15,554 households
Other household types2.9% · 1,200 households

Household-composition figures come from the Commons Library constituency dataset. The source uses census data and Project Open Gov displays its broad household groups rather than attempting to harmonise the detailed categories itself. View household-composition source ↗

Disability and day-to-day activities

The source records whether day-to-day activities are limited and uses separate person-level tables for England & Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

98,715 people in the source baseCensus 2021Source comparison: England & Wales
Day-to-day activities limited a lot5.2% · 5,168 people
Day-to-day activities limited a little9.5% · 9,330 people
Not disabled under the Equality Act85.3% · 84,217 people

Comparison note: the workbook uses different source terminology across the UK: England & Wales uses “Disabled under the Equality Act”, while Scotland and Northern Ireland use “Disabled” / “Non-disabled”. Project Open Gov therefore preserves the source categories and does not present them as one single like-for-like UK legal definition.

Disability figures come from the Commons Library constituency workbook. This profile uses the person-level tables only; the workbook also contains separate household-level disability tables which are not used here. View disability source ↗

This constituency in Parliament

A high-confidence subset of current-session parliamentary records from this constituency's current MP where the full constituency name is stated explicitly in the written question, debate title or recorded section.

This is not a complete record of every local issue raised in Parliament. Project Open Gov does not currently infer a constituency connection from the MP relationship alone, speech text, nearby place names or other local entities.

Written question1 June 2026

Personal Independence Payment: Hitchin

Raised by Alistair Strathern MP

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to reduce waiting times for responses to people with PIP enquiries in Hitchin constituency.

Petitions

Open UK Government and Parliament petitions that have reached at least 10,000 signatures nationally, ranked here by the number of signatures recorded in this constituency.

Petition signatures are not a poll and do not show what the constituency as a whole thinks. A person can also sign more than one petition.

Open petitionCloses 20 November 2026

Hold a UK-wide briefing on climate and nature risks

Signatures in this constituency415
Signatures nationally134,545

Government response published · Debate scheduled for 16 November 2026

Open petitionCloses 8 December 2026

End the mandatory fortification of white flour with folic acid immediately

Signatures in this constituency204
Signatures nationally127,802

Government response published · 100,000-signature debate threshold reached

View 63 more petitions
Open petitionCloses 16 March 2027

Reduce the state pension age to 65 for all

Signatures in this constituency157
Signatures nationally112,527

Government response published · 100,000-signature debate threshold reached

Signature counts come from the official UK Government and Parliament petitions data and may change while a petition remains open. Browse official petitions ↗

Funding and local projects

National Lottery grants awarded to organisations recorded in this parliamentary constituency since 4 July 2024.

The constituency is based on the recipient organisation recorded in the source data. The funded activity may sometimes take place across a wider area.

Grants recorded36
Total awarded£812,119

Most recent awards

National Lottery grantAwarded 29 April 2026

Rebellious Bodies Festival 2026

Grant to individual

£29,710

Arts Council England · Arts

About this award

Rebellious Bodies Festival 2026 - Dance - National Lottery Project Grants

National Lottery grantAwarded 28 April 2026

Hitchin Pickleball and Netball Project

Uplay Sports CIC

£11,659

Sport England · Sport

About this award

This project will support inactive adults aged 50+ and girls aged 10-14 to become more active. This will be achieved by providing weekly pickleball sessions for older adults and female-only netball sessions for girls. Funding will support facility hire, coaching fees, promotion and equipment.

National Lottery grantAwarded 15 April 2026

A Sustainable female Junior Pathway at NHK Basketball club

North Herts Knights Basketball Club

£9,900

Sport England · Sport

About this award

This project will establish three girls-only development basketball programmes, for under-12s, under-14s, and a mixed community session for under-16 and under-18 girls, in Arlesey and Hitchin, North Hertfordshire. Three hour-long sessions will run for 25 weeks for the three groups. Funding will support facility hire, coaching, coaching courses and promotion costs.

National Lottery grantAwarded 13 April 2026

CF - New Pavilion

Clifton Cricket Club

£15,000

Sport England · Sport

About this award

This project will provide a new pavilion for the cricket club following flood damage. Funding will support building costs towards the new pavilion which will have accessible changing rooms and be available for community groups.

National Lottery grantAwarded 12 March 2026

Solar panels batteries and LED lighting

Meppershall Village Hall

£19,750

The National Lottery Community Fund · Charitable and Community including Health, Education and Environment

About this award

Meppershall Village Hall - Environment - National Lottery Awards for All England

31 more awards are available.

Source: DCMS National Lottery Grants Database. The figures shown cover awards from 4 July 2024 to 1 July 2026. View official grants data ↗

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