Labour Gain Hertford & Stortford in General Election

Labour’s Josh Dean has taken the seat of Hertford & Stortford in a historic victory in the traditionally Conservative seat.

Mr Dean polled 20,808 votes with the Cionservatives' Julie Marson polling 16,060, a majority of 4,748.

Reform's John Burmicz came third with 8,325 whilst the Green Party's Nick Cox received 4373 votes.

Josh Dean was educated at the town's Richard Hale School and gained a Bachelor's degree in Politics and International Relations at the University of Westminster.

Commenting on Twitter, Mr.Dean posted: "It's the honour and privilege of my life to be elected as Hertford and Stortford’s first ever Labour MP.

"I'm deeply humbled by and thankful for the trust our residents have placed in me. I'm looking forward to getting on with the work of delivering change for our community."

Hertford has been represented by a Conservative MP for 45 years and Mr.Dean is the first Labour MP to represent the town since Shirley Williams was MP for the Hertford and Stevenage constituency.

Julie Marson was elected as the Member of Parliament for Hertford & Stortford in the December 2019 General Election. The constituency was previously represented by Conservative Mark Prisk, who served from June 2001 to November 2019, winning 5 elections during the period. Both Marson and Prisk were considered to be on the left of the party.

The neighbouring constituencies of Welwyn & Hatfield, Stevenage, Harlow and North East Hertfordshire also saw Labour gains.

Lewis Cocking and Oliver Dowden in Broxbourne and Hertsmere successfully fought off challenges from Labour and Reform. 

• Josh Dean - Labour - 20,808 (38.5%)
• Julie Marson - Conservative - 16,060 (29.6%)
• John Burmicz - Reform - 8,325 (15.4%)
• Nick Cox - Green - 4,373 (8.1%)
• Helen Campbell - LibDem - 4,167 (7.7%)
• Jane Fowler - Alliance for Democracy & Freedom - 139 (0.3%)
• Barry Hensall - Heritage - 137 (0.3%)

Posting on social media, former MP Julie Marson said: "Thank you to everyone who placed their trust in me with your vote.

"I am obviously disappointed that I was not re-elected to be your Member of Parliament here in Hertford and Stortford. I extend congratulations and very best wishes to my successor. I am proud of the campaign we ran, but we could not outrun the national trend.

"I am extremely grateful for the support of our local members and for the many messages of support I have received from local residents. I also want to extend a special thank you to my husband and family for their unwavering support; I could not have done it without them.

"It truly has been a real privilege to serve this wonderful constituency."

Updated at 12:17 to include full result. 15:05 Added education details for Josh Dean. 20:17 Added statement from Julie Marson.