Harpenden and Berkhamsted.
Liberal Democrats MP Victoria Collins holds the seat on 50.2% of the vote — a split-council geography across 2 councils.
3 Jun 2026
Collins has been most visible locally, intervening repeatedly in a planning and enforcement crisis at Flamstead, where she liaised with Dacorum Borough Council, wrote formally to government, and helped push for an emergency injunction after an unauthorised encampment caused significant distress to residents. Her rebel votes tell a second story: in June 2025 she backed two amendments to the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill against her party's majority, placing her among the more pro-access wing of the Lib Dems on assisted dying -- a 12-percentage-point gap from her party's average on that stance.
A 99.4% party-line voter overall, Collins departs from the Lib Dem mainstream mainly on that issue and on local democracy, where she votes in favour 10 percentage points more than the party average. Her participation rate of 70% sits below the Commons norm. She has backed Lords scrutiny of government legislation on 96% of relevant votes, consistently opposing the government's attempts to overturn Lords amendments to the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill. Her 253 contributions span economy, technology, local government, social care, and health -- a broad range without a single dominant specialism, though no committee role currently focuses her activity.
Her constituency news coverage over the past 90 days has been dominated by the Flamstead encampment dispute, where she earned visible credit for constituent responsiveness, though the underlying planning enforcement situation took time to resolve. Across 81 articles, her average media score is marginally positive at 0.06 -- reflecting routine coverage rather than any sustained controversy. She holds no select committee seat, so her influence runs mainly through chamber speeches and constituency casework.
Ward-level direction-of-travel: who controls what, who flipped recently, who holds the line. Each ward links to the council that runs it.
| Ward | Latest winner | Votes | Council | Last cycle |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aldbury Wigginton | Paul David Reynolds | 471 | Dacorum LD | May 2023 |
| Ashridge | Terry Douris | 643 | Dacorum LD | May 2023 |
| Berkhamsted Castle(2 seats) | Bristow · Freedman | 2,492 | Dacorum LD | May 2023 |
| Berkhamsted East(2 seats) | Stevens · Taylor | 2,365 | Dacorum LD | May 2023 |
| Berkhamsted West | Will Jankowski | 643 | Dacorum LD | Jul 2025 |
| Harpenden North Rural | Sue Griffiths | 661 | St Albans LD | Oct 2024 |
| Northchurch | Lara Pringle | 707 | Dacorum LD | May 2023 |
| Redbourn | Brian Ralph Gunson | 507 | St Albans LD | May 2025 |
| Sandridge Wheathampstead(2 seats) | McKenzie · Johns | 1,993 | St Albans LD | May 2024 |
| Tring Central(2 seats) | Weston · Wilkie | 1,682 | Dacorum LD | May 2023 |
| Tring East | Michela Capozzi | 580 | Dacorum LD | May 2023 |
| Tring West Rural | Caroline A Smith-Wright | 899 | Dacorum LD | Feb 2024 |
| Watling(2 seats) | Barradell · Timmis | 1,294 | Dacorum LD | May 2023 |
Source · Democracy Club · DCLEAPIL v1.0 (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The seat’s population is concentrated in Harpenden (28,647), with Berkhamsted (21,616) as the second pole. Total population across named built-up areas: 95,136.
Source · ONS Built-Up Areas · Census 2021
| Settlement | Pop. | Class |
|---|---|---|
| Harpenden | 28,647 | large town |
| Berkhamsted | 21,616 | town |
| Tring | 12,427 | town |
| Rural & dispersed | 9,601 | town |
| Redbourn | 4,943 | village |
| Wheathampstead | 3,415 | village |
Headline indicators.
| Indicator | Local | National | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employment rate | 60.9% | 57.1% | +7% |
| Owner-occupied | 75.6% | 63.1% | +20% |
| Private rented | 13.0% | 20.0% | -35% |
| Social rented | 11.3% | 16.8% | -33% |
Ethnicity.
Source · Census 2021
Population by age & sexCensus 2021 · 18 bands · click to expand
Source · Census 2021 (ONS) · % of usual residents; tick marks the median seat per band
Income tax contribution.
| Total income tax | £1220m |
| Taxpayers | 57,000 |
| Median per taxpayer | £4,490 |
| Mean per taxpayer | £21,600 |
Source · HMRC SPI · ±8% confidence
Where the money flows back in.
This constituency is served by Dacorum and St Albans. Each council’s service spend, peer rank and supplier list lives on its own page — open from the meta block above or the compass strip below.
Move the income slider on My place to see income tax, NI, VAT and council tax against your earnings — the household lens.
Headline rate.
By category.
Source · data.police.uk · 3-month rate per 1,000 pop
2024 — full result.
| Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Victoria CollinsWON | LD | 27,282 | 50.2 |
| Nigel Gardner | Con | 16,574 | 30.5 |
| Saba Poursaeedi | Ref | 4,245 | 7.8 |
| Zara Layne | Lab | 4,061 | 7.5 |
| Paul De Hoest | Grn | 1,951 | 3.6 |
| Mark Patten | Ind | 223 | 0.4 |
Turnout 54,336
Prior contests.
Created on the 2023 boundary review. 2024 General Election was the first contest on these boundaries.
Sources, methods & last update
2023 boundary review
DCLEAPIL v1.0 (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Census 2021
National avg over 575 seats
±8% confidence
LSOA-aggregated · rolling 12mo