Election 97

Watford

Current MP Tristan Garel-Jones
Conservative 97 19,227
Labour 97 25,019
LibDem 97 9,272
Nationalist 97 0
Other 97 234
Elected party
Watford

Robert Waller wrote
Old constituency Watford
Conservative 92 28,159
Labour 92 19,896
LibDem 92 9,807
Nationalist 92 0
Other 92 673
Elected party Conservative

Watford was for years after the last war the safest, and occasionally the only, Labour seat in booming Hertfordshire. With the growth of the New Towns, like Stevenage and Welwyn, in the area, it ceased to be the largest town in Herts and its Labour dominance vanished. When, in 1979, the Labour MP Raphael Tuck retired, his successor Tony Banks (now a Newham MP) was defeated by Tristan Garel Jones for the Tories. Assisted by boundary changes, he has been there ever since. The latest changes favour neither side, and Labour's only hope of taking Watford is a sizeable 8 per cent swing.


Super Profiles

4,591 10.83 9.03 120
2,822 6.66 11.17 60
8,611 20.31 11.25 181
7,968 18.80 14.70 128
8,633 20.37 10.45 195
0 0.00 2.81 0
3,975 9.38 8.01 117
2,065 4.87 15.25 32
1,037 2.45 7.13 34
1,902 4.49 10.17 44