Leicester West (UK Parliament constituency)

Leicester West
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Leicester West in Leicestershire.
Location of Leicestershire within England.
County	Leicestershire
Electorate	65,432 (December 2010)^[1]
Current constituency
Created	1974 (1974)
Member of parliament	Elizabeth Kendall (Labour)
Number of members	One
1918–1950
Number of members	One
Created from	Leicester
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	East Midlands

Leicester West is a constituency^{[n 1]} represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Elizabeth Kendall of the Labour Party.^{[n 2]}

Boundaries

1983-2010: The City of Leicester wards of Abbey, Beaumont Leys, Mowmacre, New Parks, North Braunstone, Rowley Fields, St Augustine's, Westcotes, and Western Park.

2010-present: The City of Leicester wards of Abbey, Beaumont Leys, Braunstone Park and Rowley Fields, Fosse, New Parks, Westcotes, and Western Park.

The constituency covers the western part of Leicester.

Constituency profile

The whitest of the three Leicester seats, and the one with the highest proportion of social housing. Parts of the seat like Braunstone and Beaumont Leys are made up of large local authority estates and around thirty percent of the housing is council or housing association owned, the second highest in the Midlands. The centre of seat, the Westcote area, is more inner city in character and is popular with young professionals and students.^[2]

Historically this used to be the safest Labour seat in Leicester (in the 1983 Conservative landslide it was the only one to remain in Labour hands). However the high Asian populations in Leicester South and Leicester East have pushed them away from the Conservatives and while this is still a safe Labour seat, represented by the party since the second world war, it is the most marginal of the three Leicester seats.^[3]

Leicester West, as of 2009 and in the depth of a severe recession had the fourth highest level of unemployment in Britain, with 13.8% of residents registered unemployed. Most of the unemployment is concentrated in areas such as Braunstone, which is traditionally one the most deprived parts of the city.^[4]

Members of Parliament

MPs 1918–1950

	Member^[5]	Party
1918	Joseph Frederick Green	Coalition National Democratic Party
1922	Alfred Hill	Labour
1923	Frederick Pethick-Lawrence	Labour
1931	Ernest Harold Pickering	Liberal
1935	Harold Nicolson	National Labour
1945	Barnett Janner, later Baron Janner	Labour
1950	constituency abolished

MPs 1974–present

	Member^[5]	Party
Feb 1974	Greville Janner	Labour
1997	Patricia Hewitt	Labour
2010	Liz Kendall	Labour

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2015: Leicester West^[6]^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Paul Bessant
	Liberal Democrat	Ian Bradwell
	Green	Peter Hague^[8]
	Labour	Liz Kendall
	TUSC	Heather Rawling
	UKIP	Stuart Young^[9]

General Election 2010: Leicester West^[10]^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Liz Kendall	13,745	38.4	-12.4
	Conservative	Celia Harvey	9,728	27.2	+2.8
	Liberal Democrat	Peter Coley	8,107	22.6	+4.4
	BNP	Gary Reynolds	2,158	6.0	+6.0
	UKIP	Stephen Ingall	883	2.5	+2.5
	Green	Geoff Forse	639	1.8	-3.0
	Independent	Steven Huggins	181	0.5	+0.5
	TUSC	Steve Score^[12]	157	0.4	+0.4
	Pirate	Shaun Dyer	113	0.3	+0.3
	Independent	David Bowley	108	0.3	+0.3
Majority			4,017	11.2
Turnout			35,819	55.2	+2.6
	Labour hold		Swing	-7.6%

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Leicester West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Patricia Hewitt	17,184	51.7	−2.5
	Conservative	Sarah Richardson	8,114	24.4	−0.8
	Liberal Democrat	Zuffar Haq	5,803	17.5	+2.2
	Green	Geoff Forse	1,571	4.7	+1.5
	Socialist Alternative	Steve Score	552	1.7	N/A
Majority			9,070	27.3
Turnout			33,224	53.3	+2.4
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 2001: Leicester West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Patricia Hewitt	18,014	54.2	−1.0
	Conservative	Christopher Shaw	8,375	25.2	+1.5
	Liberal Democrat	Andy Vincent	5,085	15.3	+1.1
	Green	Matthew Gough	1,074	3.2	+1.8
	Socialist Labour	Sean Kirkpatrick	350	1.1	−0.1
	Socialist Alliance	Stephen Score	321	1.0	N/A
Majority			9,639	29.0
Turnout			33,219	50.9	−12.2
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Leicester West^[13]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Patricia Hewitt	22,580	55.19
	Conservative	R Thomas	9,716	23.75
	Liberal Democrat	M Jones	5,795	14.16
	Referendum Party	W Shooter	970	2.37
	Green	Geoff Forse	586	1.43
	Socialist Labour	D Roberts	452	1.11
	Socialist (GB)	J Nicholls	327	0.8
	BNP	Adrian Belshaw	302	0.74
	National Democrats	Clive Potter	186	0.46
Majority			12,864	31.44
Turnout			40,912	63.06
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1992: Leicester West^[14]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Greville Janner	22,574	46.8	+2.3
	Conservative	John A. Guthrie	18,596	38.5	−3.5
	Liberal Democrat	Geoffrey F. Walker	6,402	13.3	−0.2
	Green	Miss Claire D. Wintram	517	1.1	+1.1
	Natural Law	Mrs Jenny M. Rosta	171	0.4	+0.4
Majority			3,978	8.2	+5.8
Turnout			48,260	73.7	+0.2
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.9

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Leicester West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Greville Janner	22,156	44.47
	Conservative	J.S.W. Cooper	20,955	42.06
	Social Democratic	W. Edgar	6,708	13.46
Majority			1,201	2.41
Turnout				73.45
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1983: Leicester West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Greville Janner	20,837	44.77
	Conservative	R. Meacham	19,125	41.09
	Social Democratic	S. Fernando	5,935	12.75
	BNP	R. Hill	469	1.01
	Workers Revolutionary	B.J. Prangle	176	0.38
Majority			1,712	3.68
Turnout				68.76
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1979: Leicester West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Greville Janner	26,032	53.60
	Conservative	A.R. Goobey	17,194	35.40
	Liberal	A. Lycett	4,032	8.30
	National Front	P. Ash	1,308	2.69
Majority			8,838	18.20
Turnout				72.26
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election October 1974: Leicester West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Greville Janner	23,406	52.91
	Conservative	A. Simpson	13,446	30.39
	Liberal	J. Windram	5,135	11.61
	National Front	W. Newcombe	2,253	5.09
Majority			9,960	22.51
Turnout				68.43
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election February 1974: Leicester West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Greville Janner	27,195	56.28
	Conservative	A. Simpson	18,543	38.38
	National Front	W. Newcombe	2,579	5.34
Majority			8,652	17.91
Turnout				75.45
	Labour hold		Swing

Election in the 1940s

General Election 1945: Leicester West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Barnett Janner	20,563	53.34
	National Labour	Harold Nicolson	13,348	34.63
	Liberal	Joseph Arnold Kirby	4,639	12.03
Majority			7,215	18.72
Turnout				76.80
	Labour gain from National Labour		Swing

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1935: Leicester West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National Labour	Harold Nicolson	15,821	43.73
	Labour	John Morgan	15,734	43.49
	Liberal	Horace Evelyn Crawfurd	4,621	12.77
Majority			87	0.24
Turnout				66.83
	National Labour gain from Liberal		Swing

General Election 1931: Leicester West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Ernest Harold Pickering	26,826	67.49
	Labour	Frederick Pethick-Lawrence	12,923	32.51
Majority			13,903	34.98
Turnout				74.64
	Liberal gain from Labour		Swing

Elections in the 1910s

General Election 1918: Leicester West^[15]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Coalition National Democratic	Joseph Frederick Green	20,150
	Labour	Ramsay MacDonald	6,347
Majority
Turnout
	Coalition National Democratic gain from Labour		Swing

Notes and references

Notes

↑ A borough constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
↑ 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

↑ "Electorate Figures – Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
↑ http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/2015guide/leicesterwest/
↑ http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/2015guide/leicesterwest/
↑ Unemployment Blackspots
↑ 5.0 5.1 Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "L" (part 2)
↑ http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/2015guide/leicesterwest/
↑ http://electionresults.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/leicester-west-2015.html
↑ https://my.greenparty.org.uk/candidates/106038
↑ http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/2015guide/leicesterwest/
↑ Leicester West, UKPollingReport
↑ "Election 2010 – Constituency – Leicester West". BBC. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
↑ http://www.tusc.org.uk/candidates.php
↑ http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/constit/169.htm
↑ "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
↑ David Marquand, Ramsay MacDonald, (London: Richard Cohen Books), 1977, p. 236.

Constituencies in the East Midlands (46)

Conservative (30)	Amber Valley Boston and Skegness Bosworth Broxtowe Charnwood Daventry Derbyshire Dales Erewash Gainsborough Grantham and Stamford Harborough High Peak Kettering Lincoln Loughborough Louth and Horncastle Mid Derbyshire Newark Northampton North Northampton South North West Leicestershire Rushcliffe Rutland and Melton Sherwood Sleaford and North Hykeham South Derbyshire South Holland and The Deepings South Leicestershire South Northamptonshire Wellingborough

Labour (16)	Ashfield Bassetlaw Bolsover Chesterfield Corby Derby North Derby South Gedling Leicester East Leicester South Leicester West Mansfield North East Derbyshire Nottingham East Nottingham North Nottingham South

East Midlands European constituency: Conservative (2) Labour (1) UKIP (2)

Coordinates: 52°39′N 1°10′W / 52.65°N 1.16°W / 52.65; -1.16