The Stevenage constituency is made up of the town of Stevenage (pop. 76,000) and the surrounding villages of Aston, Benington, Walkern, Codicote, Datchworth and Knebworth. Thirty miles north of London, the old town of Stevenage was the first staging post for coach travel on the Great North Road.

Stevenage became a New Town after the Second World War to house people from London's East End who had been bombed out. It still has one of the highest proportions of council tenants in the country with about 11,000 council dwellings. The town is home to a number of high-tech industries, including Matra-Marconi (now part of Astrium), BAe Systems, computer giant Fujitsu and GlaxoSmithKline pharmaceuticals.

The council has been Labour-controlled for about 30 years. The MP in the 70s was Shirley Williams (now Baroness Williams) who joined the SDP during her term of office. The seat was gained by the Conservatives in 1979 who held it until 1997, when Barbara Follett won the seat for Labour with a majority of 11,582. She was re-elected in 2001 with a majority of 8,566, or 20.18 per cent, and again in 2005 with a majority of 3,139 or 7,5%.

Stevenage has excellent rail links to London and the North. The road network has always been far in advance of its time with well-planned dual carriageways and world-renowned cycle tracks. The town's football team, Stevenage Borough F.C., won the FA Trophy for the first time in their history in May 2007, beating Kidderminster Harriers 3-2 despite being 2-0 behind at half time, in what was the first ever final at the new Wembley Stadium. More than 26 000 'Boro' fans attended the match.

>> More detailed information on Stevenage
>> See the Local Election Results 2003-2006
>> See the Local Election Results 1999-2002
>> Read Naomi Russell's detailed article on the development of Stevenage

Constituency office
The constituency office is at:
4 Popple Way, Stevenage, Herts SG1 3TG.
E-mail contact@stevenageclp.org.uk
Telephone 01438 222 800
Fax 01438 222 292
For full contact details, click here. For a map, click here.

Labour in the Stevenage Constituency
For over 30 years the Borough Council has been Labour controlled and Labour currently holds 32 of the 39 seats there. Labour also holds five of the six available County Council seats in the town”

From 1964 to 1979 Stevenage had a Labour MP although the constituency boundaries were very different to today. At the start of that period Stevenage was in with Hitchin and from 1974 to 1979 with Hertford and many East Herts villages. For the next 18 years Stevenage had a Conservative representing it in Parliament. However, in the Labour Landslide of 1997 Barbara Follett was elected with a majority of 11,582. She was returned in 2001 and again in 2005.

Local links

Barbara Follett	East Herts District Council
Richard Howitt MEP	North Herts District Council
Stevenage Borough Council	Hertfordshire County Council
Labour East regional office

For more links to Labour, local and national Government and other sites if interest, please see the Links page.