Leicester East (UK Parliament constituency)

Leicester East
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Leicester East in Leicestershire
Location of Leicestershire within England
County	Leicestershire
Electorate	74,377 (December 2010) [1]
Current constituency
Created	1974 (1974)
Member of Parliament	Claudia Webbe (Independent)
Seats	One
Created from	Leicester South East Leicester North East
1918–1950
Seats	One
Created from	Leicester
Replaced by	Leicester South East Leicester North East

Leicester East is a constituency ^{[n 1]} represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since December 2019 by Claudia Webbe, who was elected as a Labour MP, but now sits as an Independent due to her suspension and subsequent expulsion from the party in November 2021 after she was convicted of harassment. ^{[2] [3]}

Boundaries

Map of present boundaries

1918–1950: The County Borough of Leicester wards of Belgrave, Latimer, Spinney Hill, and West Humberstone.

1974–1983: The County Borough of Leicester wards of Belgrave, Charnwood, Evington, Humberstone, and Latimer.

1983–2010: The City of Leicester wards of Belgrave, Charnwood, Coleman, Evington, Humberstone, Latimer, Rushey Mead, Thurncourt, and West Humberstone.

2010–present: The City of Leicester wards of Belgrave, Charnwood, Coleman, Evington, Humberstone & Hamilton, Latimer, Rushey Mead, and Thurncourt.

2015–present: The City of Leicester wards of Belgrave, Rushey Mead, Troon, North Evington, Evington, Humberstone & Hamilton and Thurncourt.

The newly created Troon Ward replaced the old Charnwood Ward covering the Northfields Estate and the adjacent Industrial Estate Area to the north, of which it takes its name.

Proposed

Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, enacted by the Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023, the composition of the constituency from the next general election, due by January 2025, will be adjusted to bring the electorate within the permitted range by transferring polling district EVF in Evington ward to Leicester South. ^[4]

Constituency profile

This is an urban seat in the commercial and engineering centre of Leicester. The seat excludes the heart of the city centre, skirting its tightly planned ring road. A golf course is situated in the southeast and a large municipal garden in the northwest of the boundaries.

Leicester East has an extremely high South Asian population. Almost a third of the population are Hindu and the majority of others of Asian ethnicity are of Muslim or Sikh faiths. Those of mixed ethnicities are gradually increasing — to 3.1% of the population in 2011.

The bulk of the eastern outskirts are relatively compact and much of the remainder of the county by the 21st century has become transformed economically into a retirement and commuter belt for the city and its railway links. The division's south-west quarter is within normal walking distance of all parts of Leicester City Centre and the seat is served by buses and cycle routes into the city centre.

Leicester East
Racial makeup (2021) [5]
•  Asian	68.6%
•  White	20.3%
• Other	4.1%
•  Black	4.1%
•  Mixed	2.9%

History

First creation

The seat was created in 1918 and for the next four years was served by Sir Gordon Hewart KC, resigning to become Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales. In 1950 the area was divided between Leicester North East and Leicester South East, which also covered part of the present Charnwood seat and Rutland and Melton.

Second creation, current creation

In 1974 the seat was recreated.

Summary of results

Leicester East has been won by the Labour Party's candidate in 10 of 11 elections since its recreation. Its MP, Keith Vaz, had won an absolute majority (plurality) of votes since the 1992 general election. The 2015 result made the seat the 37-safest of Labour's 232 seats by percentage of majority. ^[6] Leicester East was narrowly won by Conservative candidate Peter Bruinvels at the height of the Tory party's popularity in 1983; ^{[n 2]} the following election saw Labour's Keith Vaz regain the seat; he had held it at every election thereafter, and since 1992 had always won by margins of over 20% and 11,000 votes until standing down at the 2019 general election. Vaz won his highest majority ever, 22,428 votes (42.8%), in 2017. In 2019 Labour held the seat with a substantially reduced majority of 6,019, down from 22,428 - a swing of 15%.

Opposition parties

The candidate fielded by the Conservative Party has been runner-up in every election save for Bruinvels' win in 1983. The candidate of UKIP for the first time took third place in 2015, her 2010 counterpart having won 1.5% of the vote and the party not having stood before. The pro-UKIP swing between 2010 and 2015 elections, of 7.4%, was less than the national average of 9.5%. Susan Cooper was 1.8% away from second place in 2005, giving the best result of a Liberal Democrat to date, attracting just under one fifth of the vote.

Turnout

Turnout in the recreated seat has ranged between 78.7% in 1992 to 62.1% in 2001.

Members of Parliament

Year	Member [7]	Party
1918	Sir Gordon Hewart		Liberal
1922 by-election	George Banton		Labour
1922	Arthur Evans		National Liberal
1923	George Banton		Labour
1924	John Loder		Conservative
1929	Frank Wise		Labour
1931	Abraham Lyons		Conservative
1945	Terence Donovan		Labour
1950	constituency abolished
Feb 1974	constituency recreated
	Tom Bradley		Labour
1981			SDP
1983	Peter Bruinvels		Conservative
1987	Keith Vaz		Labour
2019	Claudia Webbe		Labour
2020			Independent

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

Next general election: Leicester East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Rajesh Agrawal [8]
	Liberal Democrats	Zuffar Haq [9]
	Green	Mags Lewis [10]
	Reform UK	Raj Solanki [11]
Majority
Turnout

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: Leicester East ^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Claudia Webbe	25,090	50.8	–16.2
	Conservative	Bhupendra Dave	19,071	38.6	+14.4
	Liberal Democrats	Nitesh Dave	2,800	5.7	+3.1
	Brexit Party	Tara Baldwin	1,243	2.5	N/A
	Green	Melanie Wakley	888	1.8	-0.2
	Independent	Sanjay Gogia	329	0.7	N/A
Majority			6,019	12.2	–30.6
Turnout			49,421	63.0	–4.4
	Labour hold		Swing	–15.3

General election 2017: Leicester East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Keith Vaz	35,116	67.0	+5.9
	Conservative	Edward Yi He	12,688	24.2	+1.2
	Independent	Sujata Barot	1,753	3.3	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Nitesh Dave	1,343	2.6	0.0
	Green	Melanie Wakley	1,070	2.0	–1.1
	Independent	Ian Fox	454	0.9	N/A
Majority			22,428	42.8	+4.6
Turnout			52,424	67.4	+3.7
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.3

General election 2015: Leicester East ^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Keith Vaz	29,386	61.1	+7.4
	Conservative	Kishan Devani	11,034	23.0	–1.5
	UKIP	Susanna Steptoe	4,290	8.9	+7.4
	Green	Nimit Jethwa	1,468	3.1	+1.5
	Liberal Democrats	Dave Raval	1,233	2.6	–11.6
	TUSC	Michael Barker	540	1.1	N/A
	Independent	Tom Darwood	117	0.2	N/A
Majority			18,352	38.2	+8.9
Turnout			48,599	63.7	–2.1
	Labour hold		Swing	+4.5

General election 2010: Leicester East ^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Keith Vaz	25,804	53.8	−5.0
	Conservative	Jane Hunt	11,722	24.4	+4.6
	Liberal Democrats	Ali Asghar	6,817	14.2	−2.3
	BNP	Colin Gilmore [15]	1,700	3.5	N/A
	Green	Mo Taylor [16]	733	1.5	N/A
	UKIP	Felicity Ransome	725	1.5	N/A
	Unity For Peace And Socialism	Avtar Sadiq	494	1.0	N/A
Majority			14,082	29.3	–9.6
Turnout			47,995	65.8	+3.9
	Labour hold		Swing	−4.8

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: Leicester East ^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Keith Vaz	24,015	58.1	+0.5
	Conservative	Suella Fernandes	8,139	19.7	−4.8
	Liberal Democrats	Susan Cooper	7,052	17.1	+4.8
	Veritas	Colin Brown	1,666	4.0	N/A
	Socialist Labour	Valerie Smalley	434	1.1	−1.0
Majority			15,876	38.4	+5.3
Turnout			41,306	62.2	+0.1
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.6

In 2005 this seat bucked the national trend as there was a swing to Labour whereas the national swing was 2.5% to the Conservatives.

General election 2001: Leicester East ^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Keith Vaz	23,402	57.6	−7.9
	Conservative	John Mugglestone	9,960	24.5	+0.5
	Liberal Democrats	Harpinder Athwal	4,989	12.3	+5.3
	Socialist Labour	David Roberts	837	2.1	+1.1
	BNP	Clive Potter	772	1.9	N/A
	Independent	Shirley Bennett	701	1.7	+1.5
Majority			13,442	33.1	–8.4
Turnout			40,661	62.1	−7.0
	Labour hold		Swing	–4.2

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: Leicester East ^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Keith Vaz	29,083	65.50	+9.2
	Conservative	Simon Milton	10,661	24.01	–9.7
	Liberal Democrats	Jay Matabudul	3,105	6.99	−1.1
	Referendum	Philip Iwaniw	1,015	2.29	N/A
	Socialist Labour	Sohan Singh Sidhu	436	0.98	N/A
	Independent	Neil Slack	102	0.23	N/A
Majority			18,422	41.49	+18.9
Turnout			44,402	69.11
	Labour hold		Swing	+9.4

General election 1992: Leicester East ^{[20] [21]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Keith Vaz	28,123	56.3	+10.1
	Conservative	Jeffery C. Stevens	16,807	33.7	−8.8
	Liberal Democrats	Sheila A. Mitchell	4,043	8.1	−3.3
	Green	Murray R. Frankland	453	0.9	N/A
	Independent	Dennis J. Taylor	308	0.6	N/A
	Natural Law	ASK Mahaldar	186	0.4	N/A
Majority			11,316	22.6	+18.9
Turnout			49,920	78.7	+0.1
	Labour hold		Swing	+9.5

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: Leicester East ^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Keith Vaz	24,074	46.2	+9.2
	Conservative	Peter Bruinvels	22,150	42.5	+3.6
	SDP	Aileen Ayres	5,935	11.4	–9.7
Majority			1,924	3.7	N/A
Turnout			52,159	78.59
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

General election 1983: Leicester East ^[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Bruinvels	19,117	38.9	–2.3
	Labour	Patricia Hewitt	18,184	37.0	–9.9
	SDP	Tom Bradley	10,362	21.1	N/A
	Independent	RV Ganatra	970	2.0	N/A
	BNP	RL Sutton	459	0.9	N/A
Majority			933	1.9	N/A
Turnout			49,092	73.2	–2.4
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+3.8

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1979: Leicester East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tom Bradley	23,844	46.9	+2.1
	Conservative	M Waterhouse	20,988	41.3	+4.8
	Liberal	B Andrews	4,623	9.1	–3.2
	National Front	BJ Calver	1,385	2.7	–3.7
Majority			2,856	5.6	–2.6
Turnout			50,840	75.6	+3.3
	Labour hold		Swing	+1.4

General election October 1974: Leicester East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tom Bradley	20,688	44.8	+0.1
	Conservative	KG Reeves	16,877	36.5	–8.3
	Liberal	W Capstick	5,668	12.3	N/A
	National Front	A Reed-Herbert	2,967	6.4	−1.1
Majority			3,811	8.3	+5.4
Turnout			46,200	72.3	–5.5
	Labour hold		Swing	+4.2

General election February 1974: Leicester East ^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tom Bradley	23,474	47.7	N/A
	Conservative	K.G. Reeves	22,061	44.8	N/A
	National Front	K. Sanders	3,662	7.5	N/A
Majority			1,413	2.9	N/A
Turnout			49,199	77.8	N/A
	Labour win (new seat)

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Leicester East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Terence Donovan	28,414	56.94
	Conservative	Abraham Lyons	15,182	30.42
	Liberal	David Goodwillie Galloway	6,306	12.64
Majority			13,232	26.52	N/A
Turnout			49,902	76.05
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1935: Leicester East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Abraham Lyons	20,442	49.28
	Labour	Frederick Gould	17,532	42.62
	Liberal	Frederick Lawson	3,509	8.46	N/A
Majority			2,910	6.66
Turnout			41,483	70.18
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1931: Leicester East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Abraham Lyons	30,265	68.67
	Labour	Frank Wise	13,811	31.33
Majority			16,454	37.34	N/A
Turnout			44,076	79.10
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1929: Leicester East ^[25]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Frank Wise	22,533	50.8	+1.5
	Unionist	John Loder	13,801	31.1	−19.6
	Liberal	Frederick Lawson	8,054	18.1	N/A
Majority			8,732	19.7	N/A
Turnout			44,388	81.6	+2.0
Registered electors			54,364
	Labour gain from Unionist		Swing	+1.6

General election 1924: Leicester East ^[25]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	John Loder	16,090	50.7	+22.7
	Labour	George Banton	15,669	49.3	+4.5
Majority			421	1.4	N/A
Turnout			31,759	79.6	+3.5
Registered electors			39,906
	Unionist gain from Labour		Swing	+9.1

General election 1923: Leicester East ^[25]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	George Banton	13,162	44.8	−2.9
	Unionist	Arthur Evans	8,247	28.0	N/A
	Liberal	James Henderson-Stewart	7,998	27.2	−25.1
Majority			4,915	16.8	N/A
Turnout			29,407	76.1	−0.8
Registered electors			38,658
	Labour gain from National Liberal		Swing	+11.1

General election 1922: Leicester East ^[25]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National Liberal	Arthur Evans	15,164	52.3	N/A
	Labour	George Banton	13,850	47.7	+20.6
Majority			1,314	4.6	N/A
Turnout			29,014	76.9	+11.3
Registered electors			37,749
	National Liberal gain from Liberal		Swing	N/A

1922 Leicester East by-election ^[25]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	George Banton	14,062	52.9	+25.8
	National Liberal	Albert E. Marlow	8,710	32.7	−40.2
	Liberal	Ronald Wilberforce Allen	3,825	14.4	N/A
Majority			5,352	20.2	N/A
Turnout			26,597	71.3	+5.7
Registered electors			37,319
	Labour gain from National Liberal		Swing	+33.0

Election in the 1910s

General election 1918: Leicester East ^[25]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
C	Liberal	Gordon Hewart	18,024	72.9
	Labour	George Banton	6,697	27.1
Majority			11,327	45.8
Turnout			24,721	65.6
Registered electors			37,687
	Liberal win (new seat)
Cindicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in Leicestershire and Rutland

Notes

1. A borough constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer).
2. Soon thereafter, a lay canon, Peter Bruinvels served the seat 1983–1987.

References

1. "2011 Electorate Figures". Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Archived from the original on 6 November 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
2. Walker, Peter; Syal, Rajeev (28 September 2020). "Labour suspends MP Claudia Webbe over harassment charge". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
3. Mack, Tom (4 November 2021). "MP Claudia Webbe expelled from Labour Party after being handed suspended prison sentence". Leicester Mercury. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
4. "The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule I Part I.
5. https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/topic/home-affairs/communities/demography/census/
6. "Labour Members of Parliament 2015". UK Political.info. Archived from the original on 29 September 2018.
7. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "L" (part 2)
8. "Leicester East Labour MP candidate Rajesh Agrawal steps down as Deputy Mayor of London". Leicestershire Live. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
9. "Liberal Democrats pick well-known Leicester figure to battle for scandal-hit Leicester East seat". Leicester Mercury . Retrieved 15 March 2024.
10. "Greens pick Leicester parliamentary candidates to battle for city's three seats at election". LeicesterMercury. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
11. "Find My PPC (East Midlands)" (PDF). Reform UK . Retrieved 21 December 2023.
12. "Leicester East Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
13. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus . Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
14. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
15. "Full slate in Leicestershire as BNP candidate nominated in Leicester East". BNP. March 2010. Archived from the original on 30 March 2010.
16. "Green Candidate Mo Taylor for Leicester East". Green Party. Archived from the original on 6 March 2012. Retrieved 24 June 2016.
17. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
18. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
19. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
20. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
21. "General Election 1992". Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
22. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
23. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
24. "UK General Election results: February 1974 [Archive]". Politics Resources. Retrieved 24 June 2016.
25. Craig, F. W. S. (1969). British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949 . Glasgow: Political Reference Publications.

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