Council profile

Hertfordshire

Data through 26 October 2026

County council · East of England · 78 seats in 78 divisions · All seats elected every four years · Next election 3 May 2029

Liberal Democrats run Hertfordshire County Council as a minority administration. The council has 78 councillors in 78 divisions. Seats by party: Lib Dem 31, Conservative 22, Reform 13, Green 5, Labour 4, Restore Britain 1, Other 1. The next election is on 3 May 2029.

A government plan to replace the councils in this area with four unitary councils was paused for review on 7 September 2026. Elections due in May 2027 will go ahead on existing council boundaries. Source

Seats by party

Liberal Democrats (Minority)
78 seats - 40 for a majority
13
4
22
31
5
1
1
1
Reform 13Labour 4Conservative 22Lib Dem 31Green 5Restore Britain 1Other 1Vacant 1
Seat changes since the 1 May 2025 election Restore Britain +1 Reform −1 Labour −1 1 vacant
Vote share at the 1 May 2025 election (78 seats, all wards)
ShareSeats won
Lib Dem26.0%31
Conservative25.9%22
Reform24.0%14
Labour13.6%5
Green9.3%5
Other1.2%1
Next election
3 May 2029
all 78 seats up, then every four years
Largest party
Lib Dem 31
9 short of the 40 needed for a majority
Closest result
Green won by 6 votes over Lib Dem, 1 May 2025
Latest by-election
Labour hold, 6 September 2024 (3 since 2021)
Constituencies
2024Now
Voted Leave in 2016
50%
GB 52%

Who holds each ward

Abbots LangleyBaldock & Letchworth EastBedwellBerkhamstedBishops Stortford EastBishops Stortford RuralBishops Stortford WestBorehamwood NorthBorehamwood SouthBridgewaterBroadwaterBuntingfordBushey NorthBushey SouthCentral Watford & OxheyChellsCheshunt CentralColney Heath & MarshalswickCroxleyFlamstead End & TurnfordGoffs Oak & Bury GreenHaldensHandside & PeartreeHarpenden North EastHarpenden RuralHarpenden South WestHatfield EastHatfield NorthHatfield RuralHatfield SouthHemel Hempstead EastHemel Hempstead North EastHemel Hempstead North WestHemel Hempstead South EastHemel Hempstead St PaulsHemel Hempstead TownHertford All SaintsHertford RuralHertford St AndrewsHitchin NorthHitchin RuralHitchin SouthHoddesdon NorthHoddesdon SouthKings LangleyKnebworth & CodicoteLetchworth NorthLetchworth SouthLondon ColneyMeriden TudorNascot ParkNorth WatfordOld StevenagePotters Bar EastPotters Bar West & ShenleyRickmansworth East & Oxhey ParkRickmansworth WestRoyston East & ErmineRoyston West & RuralSawbridgeworthShephallSouth Oxhey & EastburySt Albans CentralSt Albans EastSt Albans NorthSt Albans SouthSt NicholasSt Stephen'sThree Rivers RuralTringWaltham CrossWare NorthWare SouthWatlingWelwynWelwyn Garden City SouthWest WatfordWoodside Stanborough
LabourConservativeLib DemReformGreenRestore BritainIndependentSplit evenly

Coloured by the party holding most of the ward's seats today; where seats are split evenly, by the party with the higher share at the last election.

Councillors and last results

Select a ward for its full results, candidates and last by-election.

Ward and councillorsLast election
Abbots Langley
Stephen Giles-Medhurst
1 May 2025
Lib Dem 34.0% lead 8.0 pts
Baldock & Letchworth East
Alistair Willoughby
1 May 2025
Labour 35.4% lead 5.3 pts
Bedwell
Peter Colley
1 May 2025
Reform 39.9% lead 11.5 pts
Berkhamsted
Nigel Taylor
1 May 2025
Lib Dem 51.7% lead 33.1 pts
Bishops Stortford East
Calvin Horner
1 May 2025
Lib Dem 44.7% lead 22.2 pts
Bishops Stortford Rural
Mark Pope
1 May 2025
Conservative 30.7% lead 0.2 pts
Bishops Stortford West
Miriam Swainston
1 May 2025
Lib Dem 27.5% lead 3.1 pts
Borehamwood North
Simon Rhodes
1 May 2025
Reform 30.5% lead 6.9 pts
Borehamwood South
Saul Jacob
1 May 2025
Reform 33.1% lead 4.4 pts
Bridgewater
Caroline Smith-Wright
1 May 2025
Lib Dem 35.8% lead 5.1 pts
Broadwater
Janet Bainbridge
1 May 2025
Reform 35.4% lead 8.6 pts
Buntingford
Terry Smith
1 May 2025
Reform 37.3% lead 10.1 pts
Bushey North
Laurence Brass
1 May 2025
Lib Dem 53.9% lead 34.3 pts
Bushey South
Seamus Quilty
1 May 2025
Conservative 39.1% lead 2.4 pts
Central Watford & Oxhey
Peter Taylor
1 May 2025
Lib Dem 55.4% lead 39.3 pts
Chells
Robin Parker
1 May 2025
Lib Dem 44.1% lead 13.1 pts
Cheshunt Central
Paul Seeby
1 May 2025
Conservative 38.2% lead 5.3 pts
Colney Heath & Marshalswick
John Hale
1 May 2025
Lib Dem 55.1% lead 36.2 pts
Croxley
Chris Lloyd
1 May 2025
Lib Dem 45.1% lead 16.3 pts
Flamstead End & Turnford
Lesley Greensmyth
1 May 2025
Reform 38.0% lead 0.9 pts
Goffs Oak & Bury Green
Anthony Owen
1 May 2025
Reform 42.8% lead 8.6 pts
Haldens
Hillary Skoczylas
1 May 2025
Lib Dem 32.2% lead 7.7 pts
Handside & Peartree
Gemma Moore
1 May 2025
Lib Dem 40.8% lead 18.3 pts
Harpenden North East
Stuart Roberts
1 May 2025
Lib Dem 40.6% lead 5.2 pts
Harpenden Rural
Allison Wren
1 May 2025
Lib Dem 39.0% lead 11.5 pts
Harpenden South West
Matt Cowley
1 May 2025
Conservative 47.4% lead 17.7 pts
Hatfield East
Michael Blissett
1 May 2025
Reform 26.9% lead 2.0 pts
Hatfield North
Beth Kelly
1 May 2025
Labour 32.5% lead 1.9 pts
Hatfield Rural
Fiona Thomson
1 May 2025
Conservative 45.4% lead 14.8 pts
Hatfield South
Paul Zukowskyj
1 May 2025
Lib Dem 44.1% lead 19.6 pts
Hemel Hempstead East
Andrew Williams
1 May 2025
Conservative 30.4% lead 1.8 pts
Hemel Hempstead North East
Colette Wyatt-Lowe
1 May 2025
Conservative 42.6% lead 16.2 pts
Hemel Hempstead North West
David Herring
1 May 2025
Reform 32.1% lead 0.8 pts
Hemel Hempstead South East
Jan Maddern
1 May 2025
Independent 35.2% lead 9.8 pts
Hemel Hempstead St Pauls
Christopher Wright
1 May 2025
Reform 32.8% lead 7.8 pts
Hemel Hempstead Town
Adrian England
1 May 2025
Lib Dem 37.7% lead 13.2 pts
Hertford All Saints
Ben Crystall
1 May 2025
Green 49.7% lead 29.8 pts
Hertford Rural
Ken Crofton
1 May 2025
Conservative 40.2% lead 13.4 pts
Hertford St Andrews
Rachel Carter
1 May 2025
Green 29.4% lead 1.5 pts
Hitchin North
Ian Albert
1 May 2025
Labour 41.9% lead 23.9 pts
Hitchin Rural
David Barnard
1 May 2025
Conservative 33.8% lead 11.7 pts
Hitchin South
Chris Lucas
1 May 2025
Lib Dem 43.5% lead 24.4 pts
Hoddesdon North
Alexander Curtis
1 May 2025
Conservative 40.7% lead 4.4 pts
Hoddesdon South
Steve Wortley
1 May 2025
Conservative 43.8% lead 11.3 pts
Kings Langley
Richard Roberts
1 May 2025
Conservative 37.6% lead 8.3 pts
Knebworth & Codicote
Ralph Muncer
1 May 2025
Conservative 38.4% lead 13.3 pts
Letchworth North
Vacant
1 May 2025
Labour 29.7% lead 4.0 pts
Letchworth South
Sean Prendergast
1 May 2025
Lib Dem 35.2% lead 9.7 pts
London Colney
Liz Needham
1 May 2025
Lib Dem 32.0% lead 7.4 pts
Meriden Tudor
Penelope Hill
1 May 2025
Lib Dem 40.0% lead 10.2 pts
Nascot Park
Mark Watkin
1 May 2025
Lib Dem 53.0% lead 34.9 pts
North Watford
Richard Short
1 May 2025
Lib Dem 43.1% lead 15.6 pts
Old Stevenage
Doug Bainbridge
1 May 2025
Reform 34.4% lead 8.2 pts
Potters Bar East
John Graham
1 May 2025
Conservative 34.5% lead 7.1 pts
Potters Bar West & Shenley
Morris Bright
1 May 2025
Conservative 35.4% lead 7.3 pts
Rickmansworth East & Oxhey Park
Vishal Patel
1 May 2025
Conservative 37.9% lead 8.1 pts
Rickmansworth West
Paula Hiscocks
1 May 2025
Conservative 35.9% lead 3.2 pts
Royston East & Ermine
Ruth Brown
1 May 2025
Lib Dem 39.1% lead 15.5 pts
Royston West & Rural
Steve Jarvis
1 May 2025
Lib Dem 48.7% lead 26.9 pts
Sawbridgeworth
Eric Buckmaster
1 May 2025
Conservative 45.1% lead 14.3 pts
Shephall
Wendy Rouse
1 May 2025
Reform 38.5% lead 11.7 pts
South Oxhey & Eastbury
Christopher Alley
1 May 2025
Conservative 31.1% lead 1.1 pts
St Albans Central
Matt Fisher
1 May 2025
Green 40.2% lead 0.1 pts
St Albans East
Anthony Rowlands
1 May 2025
Lib Dem 60.7% lead 47.6 pts
St Albans North
Helen Campbell
1 May 2025
Lib Dem 56.3% lead 44.0 pts
St Albans South
Sandy Walkington
1 May 2025
Lib Dem 60.9% lead 48.4 pts
St Nicholas
Matthew Hurst
1 May 2025
Reform 30.5% lead 1.3 pts
St Stephen's
Ajanta Hilton
1 May 2025
Lib Dem 43.9% lead 18.3 pts
Three Rivers Rural
Louise Price
1 May 2025
Lib Dem 36.6% lead 4.4 pts
Tring
Sally Symington
1 May 2025
Lib Dem 44.6% lead 23.0 pts
Waltham Cross
Dee Hart
1 May 2025
Conservative 32.1% lead 3.3 pts
Ware North
Kirsty Taylor-Moran
1 May 2025
Green 32.5% lead 2.1 pts
Ware South
Steven Watson
1 May 2025
Green 31.4% lead 2.9 pts
Watling
Caroline Clapper
1 May 2025
Conservative 67.4% lead 51.5 pts
Welwyn
Tony Kingsbury
1 May 2025
Conservative 43.4% lead 20.9 pts
Welwyn Garden City South
Mark Biddle
1 May 2025
Reform 33.3% lead 4.8 pts
West Watford
Nigel Bell
1 May 2025
Labour 37.3% lead 3.7 pts
Woodside Stanborough
Tim Williams
1 May 2025
Lib Dem 43.7% lead 11.6 pts

Changed party since the election

2 councillors now sit for a different party from the one they were elected for.

WardCouncillorElected asNow
BedwellPeter ColleyReform 2025Restore Britain
WatlingCaroline ClapperConservative 2025Reform

Every council by-election since 2021

3 by-elections since July 2021, 1 of them gains.

DateWardResultWinner's share
6 September 2024BedwellLabour hold
14 December 2023Harpenden RuralLib Dem gain from Conservative
9 February 2023Hitchin NorthLabour hold

Parliamentary constituencies

ConstituencyShare of council2024 winnerProjected now
Welwyn Hatfield9%LabourLabour 36%
Broxbourne9%ConservativeConservative 35%
Hertford and Stortford9%LabourLabour 35%
Hemel Hempstead9%LabourLabour 34%
Watford9%LabourLabour 34%
North East Hertfordshire9%LabourLabour 32%
Hertsmere9%ConservativeConservative 37%
Harpenden and Berkhamsted8%Lib DemLib Dem 47%
Stevenage8%LabourLabour 36%
South West Hertfordshire8%ConservativeConservative 32%
St Albans8%Lib DemLib Dem 44%
Hitchin5%LabourLabour 39%

Share of the council: the proportion of its census neighbourhoods (2021 LSOAs) in each seat. The projection is PollCheck's demographic model at current polling, not a forecast.

Who lives in Hertfordshire

1,198,794 residents in 482,899 households

Voted Leave in 2016
50% 2 below GB
Degree or higher
39% 5 above GB
No qualifications
15% 3 below GB
Own their home
65% 4 above GB
Rent from a council or housing association
18% 1 above GB
Rent privately
17% 3 below GB
Aged 15 to 34
29% 2 below GB
Aged 65 and over
21% 1 below GB

GB figure. 2021 Census (Scotland: 2022): age as a share of residents aged 15 and over, qualifications of residents aged 16 and over, housing as a share of households. Leave: 2016 EU referendum, Electoral Commission results by counting area.

Councils most like this one

Closest on the measures above: the 2016 Leave vote, age, qualifications and housing. Maps show which party holds each ward.

Sources and method

Seat totals and control: PollCheck council control tracker. Councillors: Open Council Data (CC BY-SA 4.0). Election results: Democracy Club (CC BY 4.0), with some vote counts from DCLEAPIL, Leman (2025) (CC BY-SA 4.0), and corrections checked against councils' official declarations. Ward boundaries: Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v.3.0. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Census: Office for National Statistics and National Records of Scotland.

Councillor lists and DCLEAPIL-derived vote counts on this page are available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

In wards electing more than one councillor, a party's share counts only its leading candidate (the Rallings and Thrasher method). Independents count individually. The lead is the gap between the top two parties' shares.