The placeConstituency · South East · Electorate 72,242 · 2023 boundaries

Harpenden and Berkhamsted.

Liberal Democrats MP Victoria Collins holds the seat on 50.2% of the vote — a split-council geography across 2 councils.

Member of ParliamentVictoria Collins · Liberal Democrats
CouncilsDacorum · St Albans
Boundary set2023
ONS codeE14001268
Electorate · 2024
72.2k
Registered to vote
2024 GE — winner
50.2%
Liberal Democrats · +19.7pp over Con
Settlements
13
Largest: Harpenden
Crime · per 1k pop · 3mo
12.8
data.police.uk · 12mo rolling
Dispatch
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.

50.2%
LD vote · 2024 GE
2
Councils overlapping the seat
13
Wards · 18 councillors
§ 01The local picture — wards.13 wards · 18 councillors · 2 councils

Ward-level direction-of-travel: who controls what, who flipped recently, who holds the line. Each ward links to the council that runs it.

WardLatest winnerVotesCouncilLast cycle
Aldbury Wigginton Paul David Reynolds471Dacorum LDMay 2023
Ashridge Terry Douris643Dacorum LDMay 2023
Berkhamsted Castle(2 seats)Bristow · Freedman2,492Dacorum LDMay 2023
Berkhamsted East(2 seats)Stevens · Taylor2,365Dacorum LDMay 2023
Berkhamsted West Will Jankowski643Dacorum LDJul 2025
Harpenden North Rural Sue Griffiths661St Albans LDOct 2024
Northchurch Lara Pringle707Dacorum LDMay 2023
Redbourn Brian Ralph Gunson507St Albans LDMay 2025
Sandridge Wheathampstead(2 seats)McKenzie · Johns1,993St Albans LDMay 2024
Tring Central(2 seats)Weston · Wilkie1,682Dacorum LDMay 2023
Tring East Michela Capozzi580Dacorum LDMay 2023
Tring West Rural Caroline A Smith-Wright899Dacorum LDFeb 2024
Watling(2 seats)Barradell · Timmis1,294Dacorum LDMay 2023

Source · Democracy Club · DCLEAPIL v1.0 (CC BY-SA 4.0)

§ 02Settlements.13 named places

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.

large-town 31,952town 43,644village 19,540

Source · ONS Built-Up Areas · Census 2021

SettlementPop.Class
Harpenden28,647large town
Berkhamsted21,616town
Tring12,427town
Rural & dispersed9,601town
Redbourn4,943village
Wheathampstead3,415village
Showing 6 of 13·All 13 settlements
§ 03Demographics.Census 2021 · vs national avg

Headline indicators.

IndicatorLocalNationalΔ
Employment rate60.9%57.1%+7%
Owner-occupied75.6%63.1%+20%
Private rented13.0%20.0%-35%
Social rented11.3%16.8%-33%

Ethnicity.

White91.4%
Asian3.4%
Black1.2%
Mixed3.2%
Other0.8%

Source · Census 2021

Population by age & sexCensus 2021 · 18 bands · click to expand
Male 48.6% Female 51.4% Median seat
MaleAgeFemale
85+
80-84
75-79
70-74
65-69
60-64
55-59
50-54
45-49
40-44
35-39
30-34
25-29
20-24
16-19
10-15
5-9
0-4

Source · Census 2021 (ONS) · % of usual residents; tick marks the median seat per band

§ 04Local economy.Income · tax · businesses · schools
Median income
£38,800
HMRC SPI · 2024
Mean income
£78,900
HMRC SPI · 2024
Businesses
5,865
VAT/PAYE-registered
Schools
55
38 primary · 7 secondary
GCSE pass
81.6%
Attainment 8: 56.2

Income tax contribution.

Total income tax£1220m
Taxpayers57,000
Median per taxpayer£4,490
Mean per taxpayer£21,600

Source · HMRC SPI · ±8% confidence

Where the money flows back in.

For council finance & suppliers

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.

For household tax breakdown

Move the income slider on My place to see income tax, NI, VAT and council tax against your earnings — the household lens.

§ 05Recorded crime.data.police.uk · 12-month rolling

Headline rate.

Per 1k pop · 3mo
12.8
-38% vs national
Monthly avg / 1k
4.3
12-month rolling
Top category
Violence & sexual offences
28% of recorded crime

By category.

Violence & sexual offences3.5
Anti-social behaviour2.9
Shoplifting1.5
Criminal damage & arson1.2
Vehicle crime0.9
Other theft0.8
Burglary0.6

Source · data.police.uk · 3-month rate per 1,000 pop

Showing 7 of 15·All 15 categories — full monthly trend & settlement breakdown
§ 06Election history.1 contest · created on 2023 boundaries

2024 — full result.

CandidateVotes%
Victoria CollinsWONLD27,28250.2
Nigel GardnerCon16,57430.5
Saba PoursaeediRef4,2457.8
Zara LayneLab4,0617.5
Paul De HoestGrn1,9513.6
Mark PattenInd2230.4

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
Method The dispatch paragraphs are AI-generated from the public sources listed below. Every figure links to its source. If we’re wrong, please tell us — corrections within 48 hours.
BoundariesONS Open Geography Portal
2023 boundary review
Wards & councilsLGBCE · Democracy Club
DCLEAPIL v1.0 (CC BY-SA 4.0)
SettlementsONS Built-Up Areas
Census 2021
DemographicsONS · Nomis · Census 2021
National avg over 575 seats
Income & taxHMRC SPI
±8% confidence
SchoolsDfE · attainment data
Crimedata.police.uk
LSOA-aggregated · rolling 12mo
ElectionsElectoral Commission