List of Parliamentary constituencies in Leicestershire and Rutland

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The county of Leicestershire in relation to England EnglandLeicestershire.svg
The county of Leicestershire in relation to England

The ceremonial county of Leicestershire (which includes the unitary authority of Leicester), is divided into 10 Parliamentary constituencies - 3 Borough constituencies and 7 County constituencies. One of these also includes the small historic county of Rutland, which was administratively a district of Leicestershire from 1974 to 1997. Since 1997, Rutland has been a separate unitary authority.

Contents

Constituencies

   Conservative   Labour   Liberal Democrat ¤

Name [nb 1] Electorate [1] Majority [2] [nb 2] Member of Parliament [2] Nearest opposition [2] Map
Bosworth CC 81,54226,278 Luke EvansRick Middleton‡
Bosworth2007Constituency.svg
Charnwood CC 79,53422,397 Edward ArgarGary Godden‡
Charnwood2007Constituency.svg
Harborough CC 80,15117,278 Neil O'BrienCelia Hibbert‡
Harborough2007Constituency.svg
Leicester East BC 78,4336,019 Claudia Webbe [nb 3] Bhupendra Dave†
LeicesterEast2007Constituency.svg
Leicester South BC*77,70822,675 Jon AshworthNatalie Neale†
LeicesterSouth2007Constituency.svg
Leicester West BC 64,9404,212 Liz KendallAmanda Wright†
LeicesterWest2007Constituency.svg
Loughborough CC 79,7647,169 Jane HuntStuart Brady‡
Loughborough2007Constituency.svg
North West Leicestershire CC 78,93520,400 Andrew BridgenTerri Eynon‡
NorthWestLeicestershireConstituency.svg
Rutland and Melton CC 82,70526,924 Alicia KearnsAndy Thomas‡
RutlandMelton2007Constituency.svg
South Leicestershire CC 80,52024,004  Alberto CostaTristan Koriya‡
SouthLeicestershire2007Constituency.svg

Historic constituencies

In the unreformed House of Commons, Leicestershire and Rutland were represented by two Knights of the Shire each, and the only parliamentary borough was Leicester, which sent two burgesses.

Under the Reform Act 1832, Leicestershire was split into two divisions, North and South, which each elected two members. The Reform Act 1885 redistributed these seats into four single-member divisions: Melton, or Eastern, Loughborough, or Mid, Harborough, or Southern, and Bosworth, or Western.

At the 1918 general election, the four divisions of the county were retained, and the borough of Leicester was split into three single-member constituencies, Leicester East, Leicester South, and Leicester West. From 1950 to 1974 Leicester had four constituencies, these being Leicester North East, Leicester North West, Leicester South East and Leicester South West: the three seat arrangement of South, East and West was reverted to thereafter.

Rutland constituted a constituency on its own until 1918, when it became part of the Rutland and Stamford constituency, with nearby Stamford in Lincolnshire.

In 1983, seats in Leicestershire were redrawn. Rutland was merged with Melton to form Rutland and Melton, with Loughborough, Bosworth, and Harborough remaining as seat names. The new North West Leicestershire constituency was created. A further constituency, Charnwood was created in the north for the 1997 election.

2010 boundary changes

In the Fifth Review the Boundary Commission for England recommended that Leicestershire retained its current constituencies, with minor changes only to reflect revisions to local authority ward boundaries. Although virtually unchanged, Blaby was renamed South Leicestershire on the grounds that it does not match the borders of Blaby district, and the village of Blaby itself is not one of the major population centres.

NameBoundaries 1997-2010Boundaries 2010–present
1 Bosworth CC
LeicestershireParliamentaryConstituenciesNumbered.svg
LeicestershireRutlandParliamentaryConstituencies2007.svg
2 Charnwood CC
3 Harborough CC
4 Leicester East BC
5 Leicester South BC
6 Leicester West BC
7 Loughborough CC
8 North West Leicestershire CC
9 Rutland and Melton CC
10 South Leicestershire CC

(previously Blaby CC)

Proposed boundary changes

See 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies for further details.

Following the abandonment of the Sixth Periodic Review (the 2018 review), the Boundary Commission for England formally launched the 2023 Review on 5 January 2021 and published their initial proposals on 8 June. [3]

The commission has proposed retaining the current number of constituencies in Leicestershire, but there would be significant changes, with Rutland now being included with Stamford in Lincolnshire. Charnwood, Rutland and Melton, and South Leicestershire would be abolished and new constituencies of Mid Leicestershire, Melton and Syston, and Blaby, Oadby and Wigston created. As Leicester West would now include part of Blaby District, it is proposed that it is renamed Leicester West and Glenfield. The constituency of Harborough would be completely reconfigured to be coterminous with the District of Harborough and Bosworth would be renamed Hinckley and Bosworth. [4] [5] The following seats are proposed:

Containing electoral wards from Blaby

Containing electoral wards from Charnwood

Containing electoral wards from Harborough

Containing electoral wards from Hinckley and Bosworth

Containing electoral wards from Leicester

Containing electoral wards from Melton

Containing electoral wards from North West Leicestershire

Containing electoral wards from Oadby and Wigston

Revised proposals will be published in late 2022 and the final report will be submitted in June 2023.

Results history

Primary data source: House of Commons research briefing - General election results from 1918 to 2019 [6]

2019

The number of votes cast for each political party who fielded candidates in constituencies comprising Leicestershire and Rutland in the 2019 general election were as follows:

PartyVotes%Change from 2017SeatsChange from 2017
Conservative 281,01953.3%Increase2.svg4.4%70
Labour 169,47532.1%Decrease2.svg8.0%30
Liberal Democrats 51,6069.8%Increase2.svg3.2%00
Greens 18,7053.5%Increase2.svg1.4%00
Brexit 4,0500.8%new00
Others2,8350.5%Decrease2.svg1.8%00
Total527,690100.010

Percentage votes

Election year1983198719921997200120052010201520172019
Conservative 50.652.048.736.838.137.441.043.948.953.3
Labour 25.327.333.043.841.536.127.630.640.132.1
Liberal Democrat 122.720.217.115.117.020.823.38.06.69.8
Green Party -*****0.42.72.13.5
UKIP ---***2.614.41.8*
Brexit Party ---------0.8
Other1.40.51.24.33.45.85.10.40.50.5

11983 & 1987 - SDP-Liberal Alliance

* Included in Other

Seats

Election year1983198719921997200120052010201520172019
Conservative 8665557777
Labour 1335553333
Total99910101010101010

11983 & 1987 - SDP-Liberal Alliance

Maps

Historical representation by party

A cell marked → (with a different colour background to the preceding cell) indicates that the previous MP continued to sit under a new party name.

1885 to 1918

   Conservative    Labour    Liberal    Liberal-Labour

Constituency1885188688911892941895190004190606Jan 1910Dec 19101316
Bosworth Ellis C. McLaren H. McLaren
Harborough Paget Tapling Logan Stanhope Lehmann Logan Harris
Leicester McArthur Whitehead Broadhurst Thomasson Crawshay-Williams Hewart
Picton Hazell Rolleston MacDonald
Loughborough Johnson-Ferguson de Lisle Johnson-Ferguson Levy
Melton J. Manners H. Manners E. Manners C. Manners Walker Yate

1918 to 1974

From 1918 to 1983 Rutland was categorised with Lincolnshire.

   Coalition Liberal (1918-22) / National Liberal (1922-23)   Coalition National Democratic & Labour    Conservative    Labour    Liberal    National Labour    National Liberal (1931-68)

Constituency191822192219231924271929311931331935194519505019511955565719596219641966671970
Bosworth McLaren Paget Ward Gee Edge Allen Wyatt Butler
Harborough Fraser Black Winby Stuart Tree Attewell Baldock Farr
Leicester East / Leicester NE (1950) Hewart Banton Evans Banton Loder Wise Lyons Donovan Ungoed-Thomas Bradley
Leicester South / Leicester SW (1950)BlaneReynolds Allen Waterhouse Bowden Boardman
Leicester West / Leicester NW (1950) Green Hill Pethick-Lawrence Pickering Nicolson B. Janner G. Janner
Leicester South East Waterhouse Peel
Loughborough Guest Spears Rye Winterton Kimball Follick Cronin
Melton Yate Everard Nutting Pike

1974 to present

   Conservative    Independent    Labour    Liberal Democrats    Social Democratic

ConstituencyFeb 1974Oct 19741979811983198719921997200104200520101120152017201920
Blaby / South Leicestershire (2010) Lawson Robathan Costa
Bosworth Butler Tredinnick Evans
Harborough Farr Garnier O'Brien
Leicester East Bradley Bruinvels Vaz Webbe
Leicester South Boardman Marshall Spencer Marshall Gill Soulsby Ashworth
Leicester West G. Janner Hewitt Kendall
Loughborough Cronin Dorrell Reed Morgan Hunt
Melton / Rutland and Melton (1983) Latham Duncan Kearns
North West Leicestershire Ashby Taylor Bridgen
Charnwood Dorrell Argar

See also

Footnotes

  1. BC denotes borough constituency, CC denotes county constituency.
  2. The majority is the number of votes the winning candidate receives more than their nearest rival.
  3. Elected from Labour in 2019, expelled by the party in 2021.

Related Research Articles

Leicestershire County of England

Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands, being within the East Midlands. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warwickshire to the south-west, Staffordshire to the west, and Derbyshire to the north-west. The border with most of Warwickshire is Watling Street, the modern A5 road.

Oadby and Wigston Borough in England

Oadby and Wigston is a local government district and borough in the English county of Leicestershire. It was formed in 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, from the merger of the Oadby and Wigston urban districts. The population of the district at the 2011 census was 56,170. The district forms part of the Harborough constituency.

Borough of Charnwood Borough in England

The Borough of Charnwood is a local government district with borough status in the north of Leicestershire, England, which has a population of 166,100 as of the 2011 census. It borders Melton to the east, Harborough to the south east, Leicester and Blaby to the south, Hinckley and Bosworth to the south west, North West Leicestershire to the west and Rushcliffe in Nottinghamshire to the north. It is named after Charnwood Forest, an area which the borough contains much of.

Harborough District District in England

Harborough is a local government district of Leicestershire, England, named after its main town, Market Harborough. Covering 230 square miles (600 km2), the district is by far the largest of the eight district authorities in Leicestershire and covers almost a quarter of the county.

Bosworth (UK Parliament constituency) UK Parliament constituency in England since 1885

Bosworth is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Luke Evans, a Conservative.

Rutland and Melton (UK Parliament constituency) Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1983 onwards

Rutland and Melton is a county constituency spanning Leicestershire and Rutland, represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom since 2019 by Alicia Kearns, a Conservative. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first-past-the-post system of election.

Harborough (UK Parliament constituency) Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom

Harborough is a constituency covering the south east of Leicestershire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2017 by Neil O'Brien of the Conservative Party.

Charnwood (UK Parliament constituency) UK Parliament constituency since 1997

Charnwood is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Edward Argar, a Conservative.

Loughborough (UK Parliament constituency) Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1885 onwards

Loughborough is a constituency in Leicestershire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Jane Hunt, a Conservative. From 2010 until 2019, it was represented by Nicky Morgan, who served in the governments of David Cameron and Boris Johnson. In 2020, she was elevated to the Peerage and became a member of the House of Lords. The constituency is a considered a bellwether, as it has reflected the national result at every general election since February 1974.

Leicestershire Police English territorial police force

Leicestershire Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing Leicestershire and Rutland in England. Its headquarters are at Enderby, Leicestershire.

Leicestershire County Council

Leicestershire County Council is the county council for the English non-metropolitan county of Leicestershire. It was originally formed in 1889 by the Local Government Act 1888. The county is divided into 52 electoral divisions, which return a total of 55 councillors. The council is controlled by the Conservative Party. The leader of the county council is currently Nick Rushton, who was elected to the post in September 2012. The headquarters of the council is County Hall beside the A50 at Glenfield, just outside the city of Leicester in Blaby district.

South Leicestershire (UK Parliament constituency) Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 2010 onwards

South Leicestershire is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Alberto Costa, a member of the Conservative Party.

Grade II* listed buildings in Leicestershire

The county of Leicestershire is divided into eight districts: Charnwood, Melton, Harborough, Oadby and Wigston, Blaby, Hinckley and Bosworth, North West Leicestershire, and Leicester. As there are 333 Grade II* listed buildings in the county they have been split into separate lists for each district.

2017 Leicestershire County Council election

The 2017 Leicestershire County Council election took place on 4 May 2017 as part of the 2017 local elections in the United Kingdom. All councillors were elected from electoral divisions by first-past-the-post voting for a four-year term of office.

The Leicestershire County Cup is an annual rugby union knock-out club competition organized by the Leicestershire Rugby Union. It was first introduced in 1890 with the inaugural winners being South Wigston. The competition was known as the Leicestershire League Cup until 1893 when it was changed to Leicestershire Senior Cup. The first competition was open to the top sides in the county apart from the Leicester FC first XV, who were considered too strong and would instead enter an 'A' team up until 1906. Smaller clubs in the county, as well as senior club second sides, played in the Leicestershire Junior Cup which had its inaugural competition three seasons earlier in 1887.

References

General
Specific
  1. Baker, Carl; Uberoi, Elise; Cracknell, Richard (28 January 2020). "General Election 2019: full results and analysis".{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  2. 1 2 3 "Constituencies A-Z - Election 2019". BBC News. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  3. "2023 Review". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
  4. Martin, Dan (8 June 2021). "Radical plans to redraw Leicestershire's political map unveiled". Leicestershire Live. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  5. 2023 review - East Midlands Boundary Commission for England
  6. Watson, Christopher; Uberoi, Elise; Loft, Philip (17 April 2020). "General election results from 1918 to 2019".