Leicester South (UK Parliament constituency)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Leicester South Borough constituency |
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|---|---|
  |
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| Leicester South shown within Leicester, and Leicester shown within England | |
| Created: | 1918, 1974 |
| MP: | Peter Soulsby |
| Party: | Labour |
| Type: | House of Commons |
| County: | Leicestershire |
| EP constituency: | East Midlands |
Leicester South is a Parliamentary Constituency in the House of Commons.
Contents |
[edit] Boundaries
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, Freemen, Aylestone, Eyres Monsell and virtually all of Castle.
[edit] 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 changes which have altered the balance of the constituency. The seat saw close contests between the Conservatives and Labour 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 the majority grew to the point where it was considered substantially safe.
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 seat saw a fierce challenge by the Liberal Democrats, hoping to build on their previous by-election gain at Brent East, as well as competition for the anti-war vote from RESPECT The Unity Coalition. The seat was won by the Liberal Democrats' Parmjit Singh Gill with a majority of 1,654.
Sir Peter Soulsby, who had contested the seat for Labour at the byelection, won the seat at the 2005 election.
[edit] Members of Parliament
[edit] MPs 1918-1950
| Election | Member | 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 | ||
[edit] MPs 1974-present
[edit] Election results
| General Election 2005: Leicester South | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | Sir Peter Soulsby | 16,688 | 39.3 | −15.2 | |
| Liberal Democrats | 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 (politician) | Paul Lord | 216 | 0.5 | N/A | |
| Majority | 3,717 | 8.8 | |||
| Turnout | 42,411 | 58.7 | +0.7 | ||
| Labour gain from Liberal Democrats | Swing | ||||
| By-election 2004: Leicester South | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Liberal Democrats | Parmjit Singh Gill | 10274 | 34.9 | ||
| Labour | Sir Peter Soulsby | 8620 | 29.3 | ||
| Conservative | Chris Heaton-Harris | 5796 | 19.7 | ||
| Respect | Yvonne Ridley | 3724 | 12.7 | ||
| Socialist Labour | Dave Roberts | 263 | 0.9 | ||
| Monster Raving Loony | R.U. Seerius | 225 | 0.8 | ||
| Independent - Save Our Schools | Pat Kennedy | 204 | 0.7 | ||
| Independent (politician) | Paul Lord | 186 | 0.6 | ||
| Independent (anti-EU) | Mark Edwin Benson | 55 | 0.2 | ||
| Independent (yoga and meditation) | Jitendra Bardwaj | 36 | 0.1 | ||
| Independent (Conservative) | Alan Gordon Barrett | 25 | 0.1 | ||
| Majority | 1654 | 5.6 | |||
| Turnout | |||||
| Liberal Democrats gain from Labour | Swing | ||||
| General Election 2001: Leicester South | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | Jim Marshall | 22,958 | 54.5 | -3.5 | |
| Conservative | Richard Hoile | 9,715 | 23.1 | -0.7 | |
| Liberal Democrats | 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 | |||
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- This page incorporates information from Leigh Rayment's Peerage Page.
| Constituencies in the East Midlands | |
|---|---|
| Labour |
Amber Valley | Ashfield | Bassetlaw | Bolsover | Broxtowe | Corby | Derby North | Derby South | Erewash | Gedling | High Peak | Leicester East | Leicester South | Leicester West | Lincoln | Loughborough | Mansfield | Northampton North | North East Derbyshire | North West Leicestershire | Nottingham East | Nottingham North | Nottingham South | Sherwood | South Derbyshire |
| Conservative |
Blaby | Boston and Skegness | Bosworth | Charnwood | Daventry | Gainsborough | Grantham and Stamford | Harborough | Kettering | Louth and Horncastle | Newark | Northampton South | Rushcliffe | Rutland and Melton | Sleaford and North Hykeham | South Holland and The Deepings | Wellingborough | West Derbyshire |
| Liberal Democrat | |
| East Midlands European constituency: Conservative (2) | UKIP (2) | Labour (1) | Liberal Democrats (1) | |
