Leeds South (UK Parliament constituency)

Leeds South
Former Borough constituency for the House of Commons
County	1885–1974: West Riding of Yorkshire 1974–1983: West Yorkshire
1885–1983
Seats	One
Created from	Leeds
Replaced by	Leeds Central and Morley & Leeds South [1]

Leeds South was a parliamentary constituency in the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885 until it was abolished for the 1983 general election. It was then largely replaced by the new Morley and Leeds South constituency.

It was the seat of the former Leader of the Labour Party, the late Hugh Gaitskell, and the former Home Secretary Merlyn Rees.

Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat will be re-established for the next general election, formed primarily from the (to be abolished) constituency of Leeds Central, but excluding the city centre. ^[2]

Boundaries

1885–1918: The Municipal Borough of Leeds wards of East Hunslet, South, and West Hunslet, and part of Bramley ward.

1918–1950: The County Borough of Leeds wards of Holbeck and West Hunslet, and part of New Wortley ward.

1950–1951: The County Borough of Leeds wards of Beeston, Holbeck South, Hunslet Carr and Middleton, and West Hunslet.

1951–1955: The County Borough of Leeds wards of Beeston, Holbeck, Hunslet Carr, and Middleton. ^[3]

1955–1974: The County Borough of Leeds wards of Beeston, Holbeck, Hunslet Carr, and Middleton.

1974–1983: The County Borough of Leeds wards of Beeston, East Hunslet, Holbeck, Middleton, and West Hunslet.

Proposed

Map of boundaries from 2024

The re-established constituency will be composed of the following (as they existed on 1 December 2020):

• The City of Leeds wards of: Beeston & Holbeck; Burmantofts & Richmond Hill; Hunslet & Riverside; Middleton Park; Temple Newsam (polling districts TNA, TND, TNE, TNH, TNI, TNJ, TNK and TNL). ^[4]

The part ward of Temple Newsam will be transferred from Leeds East, with remaining areas currently part of the Leeds Central constituency (to be abolished).

History

The constituency was created in 1885 by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, and was first used in the general election of that year. Leeds had previously been represented by two MPs (1832–1868) and three MPs (1868–1885). From 1885 it was represented by five single-member constituencies: Leeds Central, Leeds East, Leeds North, Leeds South and Leeds West. The constituencies of Morley, Otley and Pudsey were also created in 1885.

The constituency was abolished for the 1983 general election. It was then largely replaced by the new Morley and Leeds South constituency. After the 1983 general election Leeds was represented by the constituencies of Leeds Central, Leeds East, Leeds North East, Leeds North West, Leeds West and Morley and Leeds South. There were also constituencies of Elmet (created 1983) and Pudsey.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1885	Sir Lyon Playfair	Liberal
	1892	John Lawson Walton	Liberal
	1908	William Middlebrook	Liberal
	1922	Henry Charleton	Labour
	1931	Noel Whiteside	Conservative
	1935	Henry Charleton	Labour
	1945	Hugh Gaitskell	Labour
	1963	Merlyn Rees	Labour
1983		constituency abolished

Elections

Elections in the 1880s

Lyon Playfair

General election 1885: Leeds South ^{[5] [6]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Lyon Playfair	5,208	64.5
	Conservative	Stuart Cunningham Macaskie	2,869	35.5
Majority			2,339	29.0
Turnout			8,077	73.9
Registered electors			10,931
	Liberal win (new seat)

Playfair was appointed Vice-President of the Committee of the Council on Education, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 12 Feb 1886: Leeds South ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Lyon Playfair	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

General election 1886: Leeds South ^{[5] [6]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Lyon Playfair	4,665	61.5	−3.0
	Conservative	Thomas Hirst Bracken [7]	2,924	38.5	+3.0
Majority			1,741	23.0	−6.0
Turnout			7,589	69.4	−4.5
Registered electors			10,931
	Liberal hold		Swing	−3.0

Elections in the 1890s

Walton

General election 1892: Leeds South ^{[5] [6]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Lyon Playfair	4,829	59.4	-2.1
	Conservative	Reginald Neville	3,294	40.6	+2.1
Majority			1,535	18.8	−4.2
Turnout			8,123	71.9	+2.5
Registered electors			11,290
	Liberal hold		Swing	−2.1

By-election, 22 Sep 1892 ^{[5] [6] [8]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Walton	4,414	56.0	−3.4
	Conservative	Reginald Neville	3,466	44.0	+3.4
Majority			948	12.0	−6.8
Turnout			7,880	69.8	−2.1
Registered electors			11,290
	Liberal hold		Swing	−3.4

• Caused by Playfair's elevation to the peerage.

General election 1895: Leeds South ^{[5] [6] [8]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Walton	4,608	47.6	−11.8
	Conservative	Reginald Neville	4,447	46.0	+5.4
	Ind. Labour Party	Alfred Shaw	622	6.4	New
Majority			161	1.6	−17.2
Turnout			9,677	81.2	+9.3
Registered electors			11,921
	Liberal hold		Swing	−8.6

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1900: Leeds South ^{[5] [6] [8]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Walton	4,952	51.2	+3.6
	Conservative	Reginald Neville	4,718	48.8	+2.8
Majority			234	2.4	+0.8
Turnout			9,670	71.9	−9.3
Registered electors			13,442
	Liberal hold		Swing	+0.4

Walton

General election 1906: Leeds South ^{[5] [6]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Walton	6,200	50.2	−1.0
	Labour Repr. Cmte.	Albert E. Fox	4,030	32.6	New
	Conservative	Henry Cameron-Ramsay-Fairfax-Lucy	2,126	17.2	−31.6
Majority			2,170	17.6	+15.2
Turnout			12,356	81.7	+9.8
Registered electors			15,119
	Liberal hold		Swing	+15.3

Middlebrook

1908 Leeds South by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William Middlebrook	5,274	41.7	−8.5
	Conservative	Reginald Neville	4,915	38.9	+21.7
	Labour	Albert E. Fox	2,451	19.4	−13.2
Majority			359	2.8	−14.8
Turnout			12,640	82.5	+0.8
Registered electors			15,321
	Liberal hold		Swing	+2.4

Elections in the 1910s

General election January 1910: Leeds South ^{[5] [9]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William Middlebrook	8,969	67.3	+17.1
	Conservative	William Nicholson	4,366	32.7	+15.5
Majority			4,603	34.6	+17.0
Turnout			13,335	84.8	+3.1
	Liberal hold		Swing	+15.9

General election December 1910: Leeds South ^{[5] [9]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William Middlebrook	6,064	48.2	-19.1
	Conservative	William Nicholson	3,804	30.3	-2.4
	Labour	John Badlay	2,706	21.5	New
Majority			2,260	17.9	-16.7
Turnout			12,574	80.0	-4.8
	Liberal hold		Swing

General Election 1914–15:

Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

• Liberal: William Middlebrook
• Unionist:
• Labour:

Middlebrook

General election 14 December 1918: Leeds South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
C	Liberal	William Middlebrook	10,609	60.6	+12.4
	Labour	Frank Fountain	5,510	31.5	+10.0
	Independent	James A Brook*	1,377	7.9	New
Majority			5,099	29.1	+11.2
Turnout			17,496	48.8	−31.2
Registered electors			35,843
	Liberal hold		Swing	+1.2
Cindicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

* Brook was supported by the three local branches of National Association of Discharged Sailors and Soldiers, National Federation of Discharged and Demobilized Sailors and Soldiers and Comrades of the Great War.

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1922: Leeds South ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Henry Charleton	13,210	53.7	+22.2
	Liberal	William Middlebrook	11,380	46.3	−14.3
Majority			1,830	7.4	N/A
Turnout			24,590	69.8	+21.0
Registered electors			35,252
	Labour gain from Liberal		Swing	+18.3

General election 1923: Leeds South ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Henry Charleton	11,705	44.2	−9.5
	Unionist	Reginald Neville	7,679	29.0	New
	Liberal	Granville Gibson	7,083	26.8	−19.5
Majority			4,026	15.2	+7.8
Turnout			26,467	74.1	+4.3
Registered electors			35,719
	Labour hold		Swing	+5.0

General election 1924: Leeds South ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Henry Charleton	12,799	46.3	+2.1
	Unionist	B.T. Graham Ford	11,008	39.9	+10.9
	Liberal	Frank Geary	3,801	13.8	−13.0
Majority			1,791	6.4	−8.8
Turnout			27,608	76.5	+2.4
Registered electors			36,085
	Labour hold		Swing	−4.4

General election 1929: Leeds South ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Henry Charleton	18,043	52.5	+6.2
	Unionist	B.T. Graham Ford	9,433	27.5	−12.4
	Liberal	Ernest Kilburn Scott	6,884	20.0	+6.2
Majority			8,610	25.0	+18.6
Turnout			34,360	76.2	−0.3
Registered electors			45,084
	Labour hold		Swing	+9.3

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Leeds South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Noel Whiteside	14,881	42.12
	Labour	Henry Charleton	14,156	40.07
	Liberal	Frederick L. Boult	6,291	17.81
Majority			725	2.05	N/A
Turnout			35,328	77.56
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

General election 1935: Leeds South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Henry Charleton	15,223	46.03
	Conservative	Noel Whiteside	14,207	42.96
	Social Credit	Wilfred Townend	3,642	11.01	New
Majority			1,016	3.07	N/A
Turnout			33,072	73.68
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

General Election 1939–40:

Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1940. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by the Autumn of 1939, the following candidates had been selected;

• Labour: Hugh Gaitskell ^[11]
• Conservative: Donald Kaberry ^[11]
• Liberal: J. Alun Williams ^[12]
• British Union: John Angus Macnab

Election in the 1940s

General election 1945: Leeds South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Hugh Gaitskell	17,899	61.03
	Conservative	Arthur Maxwell Ramsden	7,497	25.56
	Liberal	William Barford	3,933	13.41	New
Majority			10,402	35.47
Turnout			29,329	75.95
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Leeds South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Hugh Gaitskell	29,795	61.11
	Conservative	B.H. Wood	14,436	29.61
	Liberal	Edgar Meeks	4,525	9.28
Majority			15,359	31.50
Turnout			48,756	84.61
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1951: Leeds South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Hugh Gaitskell	30,712	65.06
	Conservative	Winifred D. Brown	16,493	34.94
Majority			14,219	30.12
Turnout			47,205	82.19
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1955: Leeds South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Hugh Gaitskell	25,833	65.15
	Conservative	Winifred D. Brown	13,817	34.85
Majority			12,016	30.30
Turnout			39,650	72.85
	Labour hold		Swing

Hugh Gaitskell

General election 1959: Leeds South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Hugh Gaitskell	24,442	58.6	-6.5
	Conservative	John Francis William Addey	12,956	31.0	-3.8
	Liberal	John Brian Meeks	4,340	10.4	New
Majority			11,486	27.6	-2.7
Turnout			41,738	79.0	+6.2
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

1963 Leeds South by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Merlyn Rees	18,785	62.93	+4.37
	Conservative	John Udal	5,996	20.09	-10.95
	Liberal	Brian Walsh	4,399	14.74	+4.34
	Communist	Bert Ramelson	670	2.24	New
Majority			12,789	42.84	+15.32
Turnout			29,850
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1964: Leeds South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Merlyn Rees	22,339	63.12
	Conservative	Percival Arthur Woodward	12,123	34.26
	Communist	Bert Ramelson	928	2.62	N/A
Majority			10,997	28.86
Turnout			35,390	72.00
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1966: Leeds South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Merlyn Rees	23,171	68.76
	Conservative	Percival Arthur Woodward	9,813	29.12
	Communist	Bert Ramelson	714	2.12
Majority			13,358	39.64
Turnout			33,698	68.11
	Labour hold		Swing

Election in the 1970s

General election 1970: Leeds South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Merlyn Rees	19,536	59.82
	Conservative	Gavin K. Macpherson	9,311	28.51
	Liberal	Stephen Cooksey	3,810	11.67	New
Majority			10,225	31.31
Turnout			32,657	65.95
	Labour hold		Swing

General election February 1974: Leeds South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Merlyn Rees	21,365	55.24
	Liberal	Denis Pedder	9,505	24.57
	Conservative	Peter David Harmer	7,810	20.19
Majority			11,860	30.67
Turnout			38,680	73.95
	Labour hold		Swing

General election October 1974: Leeds South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Merlyn Rees	21,653	64.44
	Conservative	Thomas Neil Metcalfe Stow	6,388	19.01
	Liberal	John Adams	5,563	16.55
Majority			15,265	45.43
Turnout			33,604	63.76
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1979: Leeds South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Merlyn Rees	22,388	65.02
	Conservative	R. Ratcliffe	8,058	23.40
	Liberal	F. Hurst	3,568	10.36
	National Front	B. Spink	416	1.21	New
Majority			14,330	41.62
Turnout			35,430	68.70
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 2020s

Next general election: Leeds South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Hilary Benn [13]
	Liberal Democrats	George Sykes [14]
	SDP	Daniel Whetstone [15]
Majority
Turnout
Registered electors
			Swing

References

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "L" (part 1)

1. "'Leeds South', Feb 1974 - May 1983". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Archived from the original on 3 April 2016. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
2. "Yorkshire and the Humber | Boundary Commission for England". Boundary Commission for England . Retrieved 20 June 2023.
3. "The House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Order 1951. SI 1951/320". Statutory Instruments 1951. Vol. II. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office. 1952. pp. 410–412.
4. "The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule 1 Part 9 Yorkshire and the Humber region.
5. British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, FWS Craig
6. The Liberal Year Book, 1907
7. "Biography of Candidates: Yorkshire" . Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer . 3 July 1886. p. 9. Retrieved 3 December 2017– via British Newspaper Archive.
8. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1901
9. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1916
10. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
11. Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer 31 March 1939
12. Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer 6 June 1939
13. Hilary Benn [@hilarybennmp] (18 March 2022). "A heartfelt thank you to the members of Leeds Central Labour Party and our affiliated trade unions and socialist societies for unanimously re-selecting me as your Labour candidate. Now let's carry on campaigning to secure the election of a Labour Government" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
14. "Liberal Democrat Prospective Parliamentary Candidates". Mark Pack . Retrieved 29 March 2024.
15. "GENERAL ELECTION CANDIDATES". SDP . Retrieved 29 March 2024.

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Bristol South East	Constituency represented by the chancellor of the Exchequer 1950–1951	Succeeded by Saffron Walden
Preceded by Lewisham South	Constituency represented by the leader of the opposition 1955–1963	Succeeded by Belper