General Election 2024: Vulnerable Tory seat of Hitchin poised for intriguing three-way battle

  • Political correspondent Emma Hutchinson explores the marginal constituency of Hitchin in one of a series of reports looking at the key General Election battlegrounds in the ITV News Anglia region.

The new constituency of Hitchin in Hertfordshire is set to see an unusual face-off between two men who were MPs in the last parliament.

Bim Afolami took the spoils last time for the Conservatives, when it was known as Hitchin and Harpenden in Hertfordshire. This time he will be up against Alistair Strathern, who won for Labour in the Mid Bedfordshire by-election but has decided to switch seats.

The altered seat now crosses the county border into Bedfordshire, taking in growing communities such as Shefford and Stotfold.

Hitchin is the 11th most marginal Conservative seat in the Anglia region, out of 65, and is number 10 on Labour's target list.

But Chris Lucas for the Liberal Democrats will also have high hopes, as his party boosted their share of the vote in the 2019 election and the area had a high proportion of Remain voters in the 2016 referendum.

The new Hitchin constituency now stretches into parts of Bedfordshire Credit: ITV News Anglia

The constituency centres on the Saxon market town of Hitchin, which was historically at the heart of farmland but is now a fast growing part of the region.

Its closeness to London makes it a popular commuter area, with trains to the capital and Cambridge taking just half an hour.

The candidates are:

  • Bim Afolami, Conservatives

  • Charles Bunker, Reform UK

  • Sid Cordle, Christian People's Alliance

  • Will Lavin, Green Party

  • Chris Lucas, Liberal Democrat

  • Alistair Strathern, Labour

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