North Hertfordshire

History

North Hertfordshire was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, covering the area of five former districts, which were all abolished at the same time:

• Baldock Urban District
• Hitchin Urban District
• Hitchin Rural District
• Letchworth Urban District
• Royston Urban District

The new district was named North Hertfordshire, reflecting its position within the wider county.

Governance

Liberal Democrat Labour ;Administration (23) : Labour (23) ;Other parties (28) : : Conservatives (7) : Independent (1) Council Offices, Gernon Road, Letchworth Garden City, SG63JF

North Hertfordshire District Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Hertfordshire County Council. Much of the district is covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government for their areas.

Political control

The council has been under no overall control since the 2019 election. Following the 2024 election the council is being run by a Labour minority administration.

The first election to North Hertfordshire District Council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new system came into force on 1 April 1974. Political control since 1974 has been as follows:

Leadership

The leaders of the council since 1974 have been:

Composition

Following the 2024 election and subsequent changes of allegiance up to May 2025, the composition of the council was:

The next election is due in 2028.

Elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2024, the council has comprised 51 councillors representing 25 wards, with each ward elected one, two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years.

Premises

When the council was created in 1974, it inherited five sets of offices from the five former authorities, spread across the four towns of Hitchin, Letchworth, Baldock and Royston. Initially the new council used the former Hitchin Rural District Council's offices (later called Centenary House) on Grammar School Walk in Hitchin as its headquarters, with the other offices providing additional accommodation. In 1975, the year after the new council's creation, it consolidated most of its functions into a new six-storey building called Council Offices on Gernon Road in Letchworth, designed by Tony Walker of architects Damond Lock, Grabowski and Partners. The building was formally opened on 22 July 1975 by Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester. The council rented the building until 2013, when it purchased it for £3.6 million.

Towns and parishes

North Hertfordshire contains four towns, being Baldock, Hitchin, Letchworth, and Royston. The district also borders the northern, western and southern edges of Stevenage, and some parts of the latter's urban area lie within North Hertfordshire rather than the borough of Stevenage, notably including much of the Great Ashby area. Knebworth is a post town, but its parish council has not formally declared it a town.

North Hertfordshire contains 35 civil parishes. Six of the smaller parishes do not have parish councils, having instead a parish meeting, being those marked with asterisks(*) below. In addition, the three towns of Baldock, Hitchin, and Letchworth are unparished areas, as no successor parishes were created for those three former urban districts on their abolition in 1974. A Letchworth Garden City Parish was subsequently created in 2005, but was abolished in 2013.

• Ashwell
• Barley
• Barkway
• Bygrave
• Caldecote
• Clothall*
• Codicote
• Graveley
• Great Ashby
• Hexton*
• Hinxworth
• Holwell
• Ickleford
• Kelshall*
• Kimpton
• Kings Walden
• Knebworth
• Langley*
• Lilley
• Newnham
• Nuthampstead*
• Offley
• Pirton
• Preston
• Radwell*
• Reed
• Royston
• Rushden
• Sandon
• St Ippolyts
• St Paul's Walden
• Therfield
• Wallington
• Weston
• Wymondley

Arms

Logo

In 2021 the council adopted a new logo of four hearts (shown in the infobox above) and the style "North Herts Council" instead of its full formal name of "North Hertfordshire District Council". Prior to this, the council had used a logo of the initials "NHDC" in a green and purple square for approximately thirty years.

Media

In terms of television, North Hertfordshire is served by BBC East and ITV Anglia with television signals received from the Sandy Heath TV transmitter.

Radio stations that broadcast to the area are:

• BBC Three Counties Radio
• BBC Radio Cambridgeshire (covering Royston)
• Heart Hertfordshire

Local newspapers for the area are:

• The Comet
• Hertfordshire Mercury
• Royston Crow

References

References

1. "North Hertfordshire Local Authority".
2. {{cite legislation UK. (1972)
3. {{cite legislation UK. (1973)
4. "Council minutes, 22 May 2025".
5. "Council departments".
6. "Meet our Leadership Team".
7. {{cite legislation UK. (1972)
8. "Election Maps". Ordnance Survey.
9. "Compositions Calculator". University of Exeter.
10. (28 May 1993). "Bob's top job". Royston and Buntingford Mercury.
11. (22 May 1992). "Council elects new chairman". Letchworth and Baldock Gazette.
12. (28 April 1995). "Council leader expects Tories to hold their own". Royston and Buntingford Mercury.
13. (19 May 1995). "Councillors compromise". Letchworth and Baldock Gazette.
14. (14 May 1999). "Triumphant Tories in the driving seat again". Royston and Buntingford Mercury.
15. (7 January 2022). "Town pays tribute to 'Mr Royston' who made huge contribution to community". Royston Crow.
16. "Council minutes, 20 May 2010".
17. (3 May 2019). "Local Elections 2019: North Herts council leader loses seat after drawing straws". The Comet.
18. "Council minutes, 21 May 2019".
19. (9 May 2021). "Local Election 2021 results: NHDC leader loses seat". Royston Crow.
20. "Council minutes, 26 May 2021".
21. (24 May 2024). "New council leader and cabinet for North Herts announced". The Comet.
22. "Council minutes, 23 May 2024".
23. (5 December 2025). "North Herts Council leader removed after vote of no confidence". The Comet.
24. (14 January 2026). "Cllr Val Bryant named new leader of North Herts Council". The Comet.
25. (4 May 2024). "Local elections 2024: full mayoral and council results for England". The Guardian.
26. Day, Christopher. (2025-05-13). "Labour councillor resigns from party's North Herts Council group".
27. "North Hertfordshire". Thorncliffe.
28. "Local authority, combined authority, and county combined authority election cycles in England".
29. {{cite legislation UK. (2023)
30. "New political map for North Herts Council {{!}} North Herts Council".
31. (24 July 1975). "A royal welcome". Letchworth and Baldock Citizen Gazette.
32. "History".
33. (12 December 2013). "NHDC buys own Letchworth GC offices for £3.6M". Archant.
34. "Parish Councils and Meetings".
35. (22 November 2012). "Council minutes, 22 November 2012".
36. "East of England Region". Civic Heraldry of England.
37. "Council Plan 2022{{ndash}}2027". North Herts Council.
38. (1 May 2004). "Full Freeview on the Sandy Heath (Central Bedfordshire, England) transmitter".