Hertfordshire — UK General Election Results

Compiled by EveryElectionResult.com's data team · Last updated 2026-08-30

Henry Frederick Cowper (Liberal) and Thomas Frederick Halsey (Conservative) and Abel Smith (Conservative) were elected unopposed for Hertfordshire at the 1880 general election. This page covers every general election in Hertfordshire from 1832 to 1880.

This constituency elected more than one MP at once in some years. Before the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 (and in a shrinking number of boroughs through 1948), most UK constituencies elected two or more MPs together by "multi-member plurality" (block vote): each elector could cast one vote per available seat, and the top vote-getters overall were all elected. In those elections below, "Elected" lists every MP returned, "Votes" is the count that secured the last seat, and "Majority" is the gap between that seat and the first candidate who missed out.

Full Election History, 1832–1880

Election	Elected	Votes	Vote Share	Runner-up	Majority	Turnout
1832	John Saunders Sebright (Whig); Nicolson Calvert (Whig); James Walter Grimston (Conservative)	2,074	25.7% (top seat)	Rowland Alston (Whig)	67 (0.8 pts)	65.8%
1835	Rowland Alston (Whig); James Walter Grimston (Conservative); Abel Smith (Conservative)	Elected unopposed — no other candidate stood, no vote count on record				0.0%
1837	Rowland Alston (Whig); James Walter Grimston (Conservative); Abel Smith (Conservative)	Elected unopposed — no other candidate stood, no vote count on record				0.0%
1841	James Walter Grimston (Conservative); Granville Dudley Ryder (Conservative); Abel Smith (Conservative)	2,525	27.5% (top seat)	Rowland Alston (Whig)	793 (8.4 pts)	57.9%
1847	Thomas Plumer Halsey (Conservative); Henry Meux (Conservative); Thomas Crosbie Wiliam Brand (Whig)	Elected unopposed — no other candidate stood, no vote count on record				0.0%
1852	Thomas Plumer Halsey (Conservative); Henry Meux (Conservative); Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-Lytton (Conservative)	2,190	17.9% (top seat)	Thomas Crosbie William Trevor (Whig)	147 (1.2 pts)	71.7%
1857	Henry Meux (Conservative); Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-Lytton (Conservative); Christopher William Puller (Whig)	Elected unopposed — no other candidate stood, no vote count on record				0.0%
1859	Abel Smith (Conservative); Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-Lytton (Conservative); Christopher William Giles-Puller (Liberal)	Elected unopposed — no other candidate stood, no vote count on record				0.0%
1865	Henry Frederick Cowper (Liberal); Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-Lytton (Conservative); Henry Edward Surtees (Conservative)	2,478	25.5% (top seat)	Abel Smith (Conservative)	31 (0.3 pts)	53.2%
1868	Henry Frederick Cowper (Liberal); Henry Robert Brand (Liberal); Abel Smith (Conservative)	3,396	26.2% (top seat)	Henry Edward Surtees (Conservative)	40 (0.3 pts)	49.8%
1874	Thomas Frederick Halsey (Conservative); Abel Smith (Conservative); Henry Frederick Cowper (Liberal)	2,974	30.1% (top seat)	Henry Robert Brand (Liberal)	10 (0.1 pts)	50.8%
1880	Henry Frederick Cowper (Liberal); Thomas Frederick Halsey (Conservative); Abel Smith (Conservative)	Elected unopposed — no other candidate stood, no vote count on record				0.0%

Full Result Breakdown by Election

1832 (3 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
John Saunders Sebright	Whig	2,154	25.7%	Yes
Nicolson Calvert	Whig	2,141	25.6%	Yes
James Walter Grimston	Conservative	2,074	24.8%	Yes
Rowland Alston	Whig	2,007	24.0%	No

1835 (3 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Elected
Rowland Alston	Whig	Unopposed	Yes
James Walter Grimston	Conservative	Unopposed	Yes
Abel Smith	Conservative	Unopposed	Yes

1837 (3 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Elected
Rowland Alston	Whig	Unopposed	Yes
James Walter Grimston	Conservative	Unopposed	Yes
Abel Smith	Conservative	Unopposed	Yes

1841 (3 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
James Walter Grimston	Conservative	2,585	27.5%	Yes
Granville Dudley Ryder	Conservative	2,552	27.2%	Yes
Abel Smith	Conservative	2,525	26.9%	Yes
Rowland Alston	Whig	1,732	18.4%	No

1847 (3 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Elected
Thomas Plumer Halsey	Conservative	Unopposed	Yes
Henry Meux	Conservative	Unopposed	Yes
Thomas Crosbie Wiliam Brand	Whig	Unopposed	Yes

1852 (3 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
Thomas Plumer Halsey	Conservative	2,225	17.9%	Yes
Henry Meux	Conservative	2,219	17.8%	Yes
Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-Lytton	Conservative	2,190	17.6%	Yes
Thomas Crosbie William Trevor	Whig	2,043	16.4%	No
Christopher William Puller	Whig	1,890	15.2%	No
George Jacob Bosanquet	Whig	1,868	15.0%	No

1857 (3 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Elected
Henry Meux	Conservative	Unopposed	Yes
Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-Lytton	Conservative	Unopposed	Yes
Christopher William Puller	Whig	Unopposed	Yes

1859 (3 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Elected
Abel Smith	Conservative	Unopposed	Yes
Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-Lytton	Conservative	Unopposed	Yes
Christopher William Giles-Puller	Liberal	Unopposed	Yes

1865 (3 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
Henry Frederick Cowper	Liberal	2,537	25.5%	Yes
Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-Lytton	Conservative	2,485	25.0%	Yes
Henry Edward Surtees	Conservative	2,478	24.9%	Yes
Abel Smith	Conservative	2,447	24.6%	No

1868 (3 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
Henry Frederick Cowper	Liberal	3,693	26.2%	Yes
Henry Robert Brand	Liberal	3,625	25.8%	Yes
Abel Smith	Conservative	3,396	24.1%	Yes
Henry Edward Surtees	Conservative	3,356	23.9%	No

1874 (3 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
Thomas Frederick Halsey	Conservative	4,499	30.1%	Yes
Abel Smith	Conservative	4,498	30.1%	Yes
Henry Frederick Cowper	Liberal	2,974	19.9%	Yes
Henry Robert Brand	Liberal	2,964	19.8%	No

1880 (3 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Elected
Henry Frederick Cowper	Liberal	Unopposed	Yes
Thomas Frederick Halsey	Conservative	Unopposed	Yes
Abel Smith	Conservative	Unopposed	Yes

Margin Over Time

Winning margin (percentage points) at each election, coloured by the winning party.

Trend

Hertfordshire has been contested at 12 general elections on record since 1832. Parties that have won a seat here over that span: Whig, Conservative, Liberal.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who won Hertfordshire in the 1880 general election?

Henry Frederick Cowper (Liberal), Thomas Frederick Halsey (Conservative), Abel Smith (Conservative) were elected unopposed for Hertfordshire in 1880 -- no other candidate stood.

Which parties have won Hertfordshire since 1832?

Since 1832, Hertfordshire has been won by: Conservative, Liberal, Whig.

What was the closest result in Hertfordshire?

The closest result on record for Hertfordshire was 1874, when Conservative beat Liberal by just 10 votes (0.1 percentage points).

Did Hertfordshire ever elect more than one MP at a time?

Yes -- like most UK constituencies before the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, Hertfordshire elected multiple MPs at once in some elections on this page (a system called multi-member plurality, or 'block vote'), each voter casting one vote per available seat.