Leicester South (UK Parliament constituency)

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Not to be confused with Leicestershire South (UK Parliament constituency).
Leicester South
Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
Outline map
Boundary of Leicester South in Leicestershire.
Outline map
Location of Leicestershire within England.
County Leicestershire
Electorate 78,433 (December 2010)[1]
Current constituency
Created 1974 (1974)
Member of parliament Jon Ashworth (Labour)
Number of members One
Created from Leicester South East and Leicester South West
1918–1950
Number of members One
Type of constituency Borough constituency
Replaced by Leicester South East and Leicester South West
Created from Leicester
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency East Midlands

Leicester South is a constituency[n 1] represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2011 by Jon Ashworth of the Labour Party.[n 2]

Boundaries

When originally created in 1918, the South division of the Parliamentary Borough of Leicester was defined as including the municipal wards of Aylestone, Castle, Charnwood, De Montfort, Knighton, Martin's, and Wycliffe.[2]

The initial report of the Boundary Commission for England dated October 1947 and published in December 1947 recommended that Leicester retain three seats, including a revised Leicester South constituency consisting of the wards of Aylestone, De Montfort, Knighton, North Braunstone and Spinney Hill, giving an electorate of 67,574 as of the review date of 15 October 1946.[3] When the Representation of the People Bill enacting the Commission's recommendations was debated in the House of Commons, the Government brought forward amendments at Committee stage on 24 March 1948 to allow 17 more constituencies in England. Home Secretary James Chuter Ede announced that the Boundary Commission would be invited to consider an additional constituency to each of nine Cities, including Leicester.[4] The Government issued a White Paper proposing the new boundaries which created new borough constituencies of Leicester South East and Leicester South West in place of Leicester South. The Boundary Commission recommended no alteration to the proposals,[5] and the revised constituencies were therefore enacted.

In 1969 the Second Periodical Report of the Parliamentary Boundary Commission for England reduced Leicester from four seats to three, and recreated Leicester South as a borough constituency consisting of the Aylestone, Castle, De Montfort, Knighton, Spinney Hill and Wycliffe wards of Leicester.[6]

Minor boundary changes were made as a result of the Third Periodical Report of the Boundary Commission in 1983. Ward boundaries having changed, the constituency was defined as including the Aylestone, Castle, Crown Hills, East Knighton, Eyres Monsell, Saffron, Spinney Hill, Stoneygate, West Knighton and Wycliffe wards. The new constituency took in about 3,000 voters who were previously in other Leicester seats.[7] No changes were made in the Fourth Periodical Report of the Boundary Commission in 1995,[8] and in the Fifth Periodical Report of the Boundary Commission in 2007, the constituency had only minor changes with 73 voters being added from Leicester West.[9]

Presently the seat is centred on the southern part of Leicester covering leafy suburbs such as Stoneygate and Knighton, as well as inner city areas with a strong Asian community and deprived outer estates such as Saffron and Eyres Monsell. The constituency encompasses the council wards of Spinney Hills, Stoneygate, Knighton, Leicester, Freemen, Aylestone, Eyres Monsell and virtually all of Castle. Another demographic feature is the presence of a large number of students studying at the University of Leicester and De Montfort University, which are both situated in the constituency.

Constituency profile

Leicester South is a varied constituency. It contains some of the most pleasant and affluent[citation needed] areas of Leicester such as Stoneygate, Knighton and Aylestone, as well as more deprived areas such as Saffron and Eyres Monsell. The centre of Leicester, also within the constituency, is more ethnically diverse than the southern part of the area[citation needed]. The seat also contains HMP Leicester and both of Leicester's universities.[10]

This was once a Conservative vs. Labour marginal seat[citation needed] and was held by the Conservatives between 1983 and 1987[citation needed]. It moved strongly towards Labour through the 1990s and was considered a safe Labour seat until the death of Jim Marshall in 2004[citation needed]. The subsequent by-election was fought under the shadow of the Iraq war and won by the Liberal Democrats from third place, making Parmjit Singh Gill, at the time, the only Liberal Democrat MP from an ethnic minority. He held the seat for a year before being defeated by Labour candidate Sir Peter Soulsby at the 2005 general election. Soulsby subsequently resigned to become elected Mayor of Leicester in 2011, giving Leicester South its second by-election in the space of seven years; the second by-election was safely held by Labour.[10]

History

The constituency was first created in 1918, abolished in 1950, and reconstituted in 1974.

Leicester South has over the past few decades seen demographic and economic changes which have altered the balance of the constituency. The seat saw close contests between Conservative and Labour candidates in the 1980s, with Labour MP Jim Marshall losing the seat by just 7 votes to the Conservatives in the 1983 general election but regaining it in 1987. In subsequent elections a general trend indicates a Labour majority has accumulated that since 1987 it has become more of a safe seat however it has not sent all MPs since.

Marshall died in 2004 and the resulting by-election was fiercely contested. Along with a by-election in Birmingham Hodge Hill held on the same day, the Liberal Democrat candidates hoped to build on their previous by-election gain at Brent East, as well all having additional competition, in an anti-Iraq War vote, from RESPECT The Unity Coalition. The seat was won by the Liberal Democrat Parmjit Singh Gill with a majority of 1,654.

Sir Peter Soulsby, who had been the unsuccessful Labour candidate at the 2004 by-election, won the seat at the 2005 election and was re-elected in 2010. Sir Peter resigned to fight the election for the new position of Mayor of Leicester in 2011, triggering a by-election on 5 May 2011, coinciding with the referendum on the voting system.[11] Jon Ashworth was elected as his successor, holding the seat for the Labour Party.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1918–1950

Election Member[12] Party
1918 Thomas Blane Conservative
1922 William George Waterhouse Reynolds Conservative
1923 Ronald Wilberforce Allen Liberal
1924 Charles Waterhouse Conservative
1945 Herbert Bowden Labour
1950 constituency abolished

MPs since 1974

Election Member[12] Party
Feb 1974 Tom Boardman Conservative
Oct 1974 Jim Marshall Labour
1983 Derek Spencer Conservative
1987 Jim Marshall Labour
2004 by-election Parmjit Singh Gill Liberal Democrat
2005 Peter Soulsby Labour
2011 by-election Jon Ashworth Labour

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2015: Leicester South[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Co-op Jon Ashworth 27,493 59.8 +14.2
Conservative Leon Hadji-Nikolaou 9,628 20.9 -0.5
UKIP Peter Stone[14] 3,832 8.3 +6.8
Green Gabriella Garcia[15] 2,533 5.5 +3.9
Liberal Democrat Anita Prabhakar[16] 2,127 4.6 -22.3
TUSC Andrew Walton 349 0.8 N/A
Majority 17,845 38.9
Turnout 45,962 62.5
Labour hold Swing +7.4
Leicester South by-election, 2011
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Jon Ashworth 19,771 57.8 +12.2
Liberal Democrat Zuffar Haq 7,693 22.5 -4.4
Conservative Jane Hunt 5,169 15.1 -6.3
UKIP Abhijit Pandya 994 2.9 +1.4
Monster Raving Loony Howling Laud Hope 553 1.6 N/A
Majority 12,078
Turnout 34,180
Labour hold Swing
General Election 2010: Leicester South[17]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Peter Soulsby 21,479 45.6 +6.2
Liberal Democrat Parmjit Singh Gill 12,671 26.9 -3.7
Conservative Ross Grant 10,066 21.4 +3.6
BNP Adrian Waudby 1,418 3.0 +3.0
Green Dave Dixey 770 1.6 -1.6
UKIP Christopher Lucas 720 1.5 +1.5
Majority 8,808 18.7
Turnout 47,124 61.1 +3.4
Labour hold Swing +5.0

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Leicester South[18]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Peter Soulsby 16,688 39.3 -15.2
Liberal Democrat Parmjit Singh Gill 12,971 30.6 +13.4
Conservative Martin McElwee 7,549 17.8 -5.3
Respect Yvonne Ridley 2,720 6.4 N/A
Green Matthew Follett 1,379 3.3 +0.4
Veritas Ken Roseblade 573 1.4 N/A
Socialist Labour Dave Roberts 315 0.7 -0.9
Independent Paul Lord 216 0.5 N/A
Majority 3,717 8.8
Turnout 42,411 58.7 +0.7
Labour gain from Liberal Democrat Swing
By-election 2004: Leicester South
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrat Parmjit Singh Gill 10,274 34.9 +17.7
Labour Peter Soulsby 8,620 29.3 -25.2
Conservative Chris Heaton-Harris 5,796 19.7 -3.4
Respect Yvonne Ridley 3,724 12.7 +12.7
Socialist Labour Dave Roberts 263 0.9 -0.7
Monster Raving Loony R. U. Seerius 225 0.8 +0.8
Independent – Save Our Schools Pat Kennedy 204 0.7 +0.7
Independent Paul Lord 186 0.6 +0.6
Independent (anti-EU) Mark Edwin Benson 55 0.2 +0.2
Independent (yoga and meditation) Jitendra Bardwaj 36 0.1 +0.1
Independent Conservative Alan Gordon Barrett 25 0.1 +0.1
Majority 1,654 5.6
Turnout 29,406 41.6% -12.9%
Liberal Democrat gain from Labour Swing 21.5
General Election 2001: Leicester South[19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Jim Marshall 22,958 54.5 -3.5
Conservative Richard Hoile 9,715 23.1 -0.7
Liberal Democrat Parmjit Singh Gill 7,243 17.2 +3.4
Green Margaret Layton 1,217 2.9
Socialist Labour Arnie Gardner 676 1.6
UKIP Kirti Ladwa 330 0.8
Majority 13,243 31.4
Turnout 42,139 58.0
Labour hold Swing -1.4

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Leicester South[20][21]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Jim Marshall 27,914 58.0 +5.7
Conservative Chris Heaton-Harris 11,421 23.7 -10.9
Liberal Democrat Barry Coles 6,654 13.8 +2.1
Referendum John Hancock 1,184 2.5 N/A
Socialist Labour Jim Dooher 634 1.3 N/A
National Democrats Kevin Sills 307 0.6 N/A
Majority 16,493 34.3 +16.6
Turnout 72,583 66.3 -8.8
Labour hold Swing +8.3
General Election 1992: Leicester South[22][21][23]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Jim Marshall 27,934 52.3 +8.1
Conservative Dr Michael K. Dutt 18,494 34.6 −6.2
Liberal Democrat Mrs Anne Crumbie 6,271 11.7 −2.0
Green John McWhirter 554 1.0 +0.3
Natural Law Mrs Patricia A. Saunders 154 0.3 +0.3
Majority 9,440 17.7 +14.3
Turnout 71,120 75.1 −1.9
Labour hold Swing +7.2

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Leicester South[24][25]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Jim Marshall 24,901 44.2 +3.9
Conservative Derek Spencer 23,024 40.8 +0.5
Liberal Robert Hugh Pritchard 7,773 13.8 −3.9
Green Brian Fewster 390 0.7 −0.2
Independent Labour Mian Mohammad Mayat 192 0.3 N/A
Workers Revolutionary Roberta Frances Manners 96 0.2 N/A
Majority 1,877 3.4 +3.4
Turnout 73,236 77.0 +4.7
Labour gain from Conservative Swing +1.7
General Election 1983: Leicester South[26][27]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Derek Spencer 21,424 40.3 -2.3
Labour Jim Marshall 21,417 40.3 -6.1
Liberal Rob Renold 9,410 17.7 +8.5
Ecology C. Davis 495 0.9 N/A
BNP C. Pickard 280 0.6 N/A
Workers' Party Dave Roberts 161 0.3 N/A
Majority 7 0.0 -3.8
Turnout 72.3 -2.5
Conservative gain from Labour Swing +1.9

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1979: Leicester South[28]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Jim Marshall 24,548 46.4 +3.2
Conservative Ray Godsall 22,550 42.6 +1.7
Liberal John Pick 4,856 9.2 -2.4
National Front A. R. Cartwright 940 1.8 -2.3
Majority 1,998 3.8
Turnout 74.8
Labour hold Swing
General Election October 1974: Leicester South[29]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Jim Marshall 21,588 43.2 +4.6
Conservative Tom Boardman 20,455 40.9 -0.9
Liberal H. Young 5,709 11.4 -5.3
National Front A. R. Cartwright 2,072 4.1
Marxist-Leninist (England) G. H. Rousseau 136 0.3 N/A
Majority 1,133 2.3
Turnout 68.9
Labour gain from Conservative Swing
General Election February 1974: Leicester South[30]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Tom Boardman 22,943 41.8 N/A
Labour Jim Marshall 21,177 38.6 N/A
Liberal Gordon Willey 9,148 16.7 N/A
National Front John Kynaston 1,639 3.0 N/A
Majority 1,766 3.2 N/A
Turnout 76.4 N/A
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1940s

General Election 1945: Leicester South[31] Electorate 57,504
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Herbert William Bowden 19,541 45.0
Conservative Capt. Rt Hon. Charles Waterhouse 18,373 42.3
Liberal Thomas Allan Pratt 5,509 12.7
Majority 1,168 2.7
Turnout 76.8
Labour gain from Conservative Swing

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1935 Electorate 54,500[32]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Charles Waterhouse 24,868 65.0
Labour L. Maddock 13,395 35.0
Majority 11,473 30.0
Turnout 38,263 70.2
Conservative hold Swing
General Election 1931 Electorate 54,208[32]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Charles Waterhouse 32,767 76.8
Labour John Dugdale 9,892 23.2
Majority 22,875 53.6
Turnout 42,659 78.7
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1920s

Henry Purchase
General Election 1929: Leicester South
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Charles Waterhouse 18,343 42.3 -7.7
Labour Herbert Brough Usher 16,198 37.4
Liberal Henry George Purchase 8,811 20.3 +0.0
Majority 2,145 4.9
Turnout 80.4 -1.1
Unionist hold Swing
General Election 1924: Leicester South 5[32]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Charles Waterhouse 15,005 50.0
Labour Herbert Brough Usher 8,912 29.7 n/a
Liberal Ronald Wilberforce Allen 6,079 20.3
Majority 6,093 20.3
Turnout 81.5
Unionist gain from Liberal Swing
General Election 1923: Leicester South [33]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Ronald Wilberforce Allen 14,692 57.9 +8.1
Unionist William George Waterhouse Reynolds 10,674 42.1 -8.1
Majority 4,018 15.8 16.2
Turnout 71.0 -0.7
Liberal gain from Unionist Swing +8.1
General Election 1922: Leicester South [34]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist William George Waterhouse Reynolds 12,534 50.2 -27.0
Liberal Ronald Wilberforce Allen 12,425 49.8 n/a
Majority 109 0.4 -54.0
Turnout 71.7 +5.0
Unionist hold Swing -38.4

Elections in the 1910s

General Election 1918 Electorate 35,909[32]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative
  1. Thomas Andrew Blane
 18,498 77.2
Labour Frederick Fox Riley 5,463 22.8
Majority 13,035 54.4
Turnout 66.7
Conservative hold Swing
  1. coalition coupon

See also

Notes and references

Notes
  1. ↑ A borough constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
  2. ↑ As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.
References
  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ "88. Parliamentary Borough of Leicester" in "Report of the Boundary Commission (England and Wales)", Cd. 8757, vol III.
  3. ↑ "Initial Report", Boundary Commission for England, Cmd. 7260, p. 30-1.
  4. ↑ "All-Night Debate on New Constituencies", The Times, 25 March 1948, p. 4.
  5. ↑ "Report of Boundary Commissioners for England on Representations relating to certain proposed new Constituencies", Cmd. 7400, p. 5.
  6. ↑ F. W. S. Craig, "Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885–1972", Political Reference Publications, Chichester, 1972, p. 138.
  7. ↑ "The BBC/ITN Guide to the New Parliamentary Constituencies", Parliamentary Research Services, Chichester, 1983, p. 89.
  8. ↑ "Media Guide to the New Parliamentary Constituencies", BBC/ITN/PA News/Sky (Local Government Chronicle Elections Centre), 1995, p. 109.
  9. ↑ "Media Guide to the New Parliamentary Constituencies (Fifth Periodical Review)", BBC/ITN/PA News/Sky (Local Government Chronicle Elections Centre), 2007, p. 108.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/2015guide/leicestersouth/
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "L" (part 2)[self-published source][better source needed]
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/2015guide/leicestersouth/
  15. ↑ http://eastmidlands.greenparty.org.uk/elections-candidates.html
  16. ↑ http://www.libdems.org.uk/parmjit_singh_gill
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 "Leicester South", Guardian Online
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ UK General Election results: June 1983
  28. ↑ UK General Election results: May 1979
  29. ↑ UK General Election results: October 1974
  30. ↑ UK General Election results: February 1974
  31. ↑ UK General Election results: July 1945
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 32.2 32.3 The Constitutional Year Book (1937), p.210
  33. ↑ The Constitutional Year Book (1933), p.198
  34. ↑ The Constitutional Year Book (1930), p.234

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