Barnet was a

parliamentary constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...

in what is now the

London Borough of Barnet The London Borough of Barnet () is a suburban London borough in North London. The borough was formed in 1965 from parts of the ceremonial counties of Middlesex and Hertfordshire. It forms part of Outer London and is the largest London borough ...

, which returned one

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprem ...

History and boundaries

The

House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1944 The House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1944 (7 & 8 Geo.6. c.41) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that established permanent boundary commissions for each of the constituent countries of the United Kingdom, and provide ...

set up Boundaries Commissions to carry out periodic reviews of the distribution of parliamentary constituencies. It also authorised an initial review to subdivide abnormally large constituencies (those exceeding an electorate of 100,000) in time for the 1945 election. This was implemented by the Redistribution of Seats Order 1945 under which Hertfordshire was allocated an additional seat. As a consequence, the new County Constituency of Barnet was formed from the

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major town on the old Roman ...

constituency, comprising the Urban Districts of Barnet and East Barnet, and the Rural District of Elstree. For the 1950 general election, the Rural District of Hatfield was also added from St Albans, but from the 1955 general election, this was transferred back out to the

Hertford Hertford ( ) is the county town of Hertfordshire, England, and is also a civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of the county. The parish had a population of 26,783 at the 2011 census. The town grew around a ford on the River Lea, n ...

constituency. In 1965 the Barnet and East Barnet urban districts were transferred to

Greater London Greater may refer to: *Greatness Greatness is a concept of a state of superiority affecting a person or object in a particular place or area. Greatness can also be attributed to individuals who possess a natural ability to be better than al ...

, becoming part of the

, while Elstree Rural District remained part of Hertfordshire. This did not affect parliamentary boundaries for nine years, however. When seats were next redistributed, with effect from the February 1974 general election, the Greater London parts of the old constituency moved to the new Borough Constituency of

Chipping Barnet Chipping Barnet or High Barnet is a suburban market town in north London, forming part of the London Borough of Barnet, England. It is a suburban development built around a 12th-century settlement, and is located north-northwest of Chari ...

. The Elstree Rural District was transferred to the new County Constituency of South Hertfordshire.The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1970 (S.I. 1970 No. 1674)

Members of Parliament

Elections

Election in the 1940s

Elections in the 1950s

Elections in the 1960s

Election in the 1970s

References and sources

;References ;Sources * ''Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885-1972'', compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Reference Publications 1972) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Barnet (Uk Parliament Constituency) Parliamentary constituencies in London (historic) Parliamentary constituencies in Hertfordshire (historic) Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1945 Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 1974 Politics of the London Borough of Barnet History of the London Borough of Barnet