Forgive the self-indulgence, but I briefly want to consider a couple of Hertfordshire parliamentary constituencies. For biographical reasons, it is an interest of mine but it also reveals a difficulty the Conservative Party faces.
The constituency of Hitchin & Harpenden was formed in 1997. Even in that dreadful year for the Tories, it returned a Conservative MP with a majority of 6,671. A prosperous commuter-belt seat, the Tory majority rose here, eventually exceeding 20,000 in 2015, but by 2019 the majority had fallen to 6,895, with the Liberal Democrats in a strong second place.
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