Rushey Mead | |
---|---|
Location within Leicestershire | |
Population | 15,962 (2011) |
Unitary authority | |
Ceremonial county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | LEICESTER |
Postcode district | LE4 |
Dialling code | 0116 |
Police | Leicestershire |
Fire | Leicestershire |
Ambulance | East Midlands |
UK Parliament | |
Rushey Mead is an area, suburb, electoral ward and administrative division of the city of Leicester, in the ceremonial county of Leicestershire, England. The population of the ward at the 2011 census was 15,962. [1] It comprises the northern Leicester suburb of Rushey Mead in its entirety, as well as a part of the neighbouring area, suburb and electoral ward of Belgrave and historical parts of neighbouring Northfields and Thurmaston.
Rushey Mead is bounded by the wards and areas of Belgrave to the south and west and Humberstone & Hamilton and Northfields to the east and south-east on the other side of the Midland Main Line. [2] North and north-west of Rushey Mead are the Leicestershire villages of Thurmaston and Birstall at the Leicestershire county border and in the Borough of Charnwood at the start of the Leicester Urban Area in that direction.
Rushey Mead was originally a part of the Thurmaston civil parish during the 19th century. The modern day suburb was split from Thurmaston and gazetted as a "Thurmaston Urban District" in 1894, before being annexed to the City of Leicester in 1935, when it was renamed Rushey Mead.
Jesse Jackson, the American politician who was twice a Democratic Party candidate for nomination in elections to be President of the United States visited Rushey Mead on 5 December 2015 to open a park named in his honour. [3]
The Mazda Lamps factory opened on Melton Road in 1946. In 1964 the factory was renamed as Thorn Lighting.
Further details concerning the history of the Mazda factory on Melton Road, Rushey Mead, Leicester
In 1946 British Thomson-Houston (BTH) opened what was, until 1964, called the Mazda Lamps factory on Melton Road, Leicester, producing electric lamps of many kinds. [4] BTH had licensed the 'Mazda (light bulb)' brand name from General Electric of USA (GE). In 1964 the lamp factory was renamed as Thorn Lighting after the merger of Thorn Lighting with AEI. General Electric, one of the world's biggest companies, took over the Thorn Lighting company in 1991.
Earlier history In 1928 BTH was amalgamated with its rival, the Metropolitan-Vickers company, to form Associated Electrical Industries (AEI). The two companies' brand identities were maintained until the 1960's until, soon after 1967, the holding company, AEI, was taken over by one of the UK's biggest companies, the General Electric Company (GEC), which is distinct from — and should never be confused with — the giant US company General Electric (GE).
At Christmas time, for many years, there had been a public Christmas Lights Display on the site of the lamp factory.
The site of the former Thorn Lighting factory is now occupied by a Sainsbury’s Supermarket. There is now a large metallic tree built opposite the former site on the corner of Melton Road and Troon Way called The World Tree, there being a map of the world on the base of the tree. This was built in honour of the former factory.
Like neighbouring Belgrave, Rushey Mead has a large Asian population.
The population of Rushey Mead was 15,962 and was made up of approximately 51% females and 49% males.
The average age of people in Rushey Mead is 39, while the median age is lower at 38.
53.9% of people living in Rushey Mead were born in England. Other top answers for country of birth were 18.7% India, 6.6% Kenya, 1.7% Sri Lanka, 1.2% Africa not otherwise specified, 1.0% Pakistan, 0.5% Ireland, 0.4% Zimbabwe, 0.4% Scotland, 0.3% Somalia.
61.0% of people living in Rushey Mead speak English. The other top languages spoken are 23.6% Gujarati, 5.5% Punjabi, 1.8% Tamil, 1.3% Polish, 0.9% Urdu, 0.9% Slovak, 0.9% South Asian Language, 0.5% Portuguese, 0.4% Hindi.
The religious make up of Rushey Mead is 43.1% Hindu, 21.7% Christian, 10.5% Muslim, 9.8% Sikh, 9.2% No religion, 0.3% Buddhist, 0.1% Jewish. 668 people did not state a religion. 18 people identified as Jedi knights and 2 people said they believe in Heavy Metal.
54.2% of people are married, 5.4% cohabit with a member of the opposite sex, 0.4% live with a partner of the same sex, 24.5% are single and have never married or been in a registered same sex partnership, 6.0% are separated or divorced. There are 552 widowed people living in Rushey Mead.
The top occupations listed by people in Rushey Mead are Process, plant and machine operatives 15.0%, Administrative and secretarial 13.6%, Elementary 13.3%, Sales and customer service 12.2%, Administrative 11.3%, Process, plant and machine operatives 10.9%, Professional 10.6%, Skilled trades 10.0%, Elementary administration and service 9.5%, Sales 9.4%.
Primary schools: Wyvern Primary, Herrick Primary, Sandfield Primary and Rushey Mead Primary.
Secondary schools: Rushey Mead Academy, which is the best state-funded secondary school in Leicester and Leicestershire [5] and Soar Valley College.
Located in Rushey Mead, on the corner of Melton Road and Troon Way, is a 5m high steel tree sculpture with bronze light bulbs on the branches. It stands opposite the former site of the GE-Thorn Lighting factory, which a Sainsbury's supermarket now occupies. It cost £62,000 and was paid for by Sainsbury's. It was unveiled on 4 March 2016 by the Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow in the attendance of Mayor of Leicester Peter Soulsby and Leicester East MP Keith Vaz. [6] [7]
The River Soar runs along the west of Rushey Mead and up to Watermead Country Park.
The electoral ward of Rushey Mead contains parts of the neighbouring area and suburb of Belgrave meaning that despite the actual geographical location that specific area may also be classed as being in Rushey Mead by virtue of the electoral ward mapping.
There is a large Sainsbury’s supermarket on Melton Road including a garage and café.
First Leicester service 4 serves Rushey Mead on Glenagles Avenue and Trevino Drive and Arriva Midlands services 5, 5A and 6 all serve Rushey Mead along the A607.
All bus services operate along the Golden Mile from and into Leicester City Centre.
The nearest bus stations, both in Leicester City Centre are the Haymarket and St Margaret's.
The nearest train stations are Leicester railway station and Syston railway station.
The Midland Main Line runs along at the east of Rushey Mead.
The nearest airport is East Midlands Airport, located in Leicestershire and 19.8 miles (31.9 km) away from Rushey Mead.
Rushey Mead is located within the Leicester East parliament constituency, a seat currently held by the Conservative Party since 2024. The Labour Party consistently held the seat between 1987 and 2024 but lost the seat to the outgoing Conservative Government despite a landslide victory across the country for the Labour Party in that particular election.
The Rushey Mead electoral ward is currently, since 2023 represented on Leicester City Council by three Conservative Party Councillors.
The electoral ward of Rushey Mead includes parts of the neighbouring suburb and Leicester area of Belgrave.
Former Councillors for Rushey Mead include Ross Willmott, a former leader of the city council and the Labour Party candidate for Leicestershire Police and Crime Commissioner, Piara Singh Clair MBE, former deputy city mayor and cabinet member for Culture, Leisure, Sport and Regulatory Services and Rita Patel, former assistant city mayor and cabinet member for Equalities and Special Projects and founder of the Peepul Centre, located in the neighbouring area of Belgrave and close to Leicester City Centre.
Rushey Mead was represented within the East Midlands parliamentary constituency in the European Parliament.
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Bhupen Dave | 3,036 | 45.4 | ||
Conservative | Geeta Karavadra | 2,990 | 44.7 | ||
Conservative | Devi Singh Patel | 2,844 | 42.6 | ||
Labour | Piara Singh Clair | 2,008 | 30.1 | ||
Labour | Gurinder Singh Sandhu | 1,761 | 26.4 | ||
Labour | Priya Evarista Lavina Mendes | 1,751 | 26.2 | ||
Independent | Rita Patel | 1,328 | 19.9 | ||
Independent | Dharmesh Bhagwanji Lakhani | 941 | 14.1 | ||
Independent | Rajul Tejura | 761 | 11.4 | ||
Liberal Democrats | Hash Chandarana | 475 | 7.1 | ||
Independent | Ross Willmott | 384 | 5.7 | ||
Liberal Democrats | Pradeep Gocal | 301 | 4.5 | ||
Liberal Democrats | Asit Sodha | 213 | 3.2 | ||
Turnout | 6,682 | 50.6 | |||
Registered electors | 13,209 | ||||
Conservative gain from Labour | |||||
Conservative gain from Labour | |||||
Conservative gain from Labour |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Rita Patel | 4,118 | |||
Labour | Piara Singh Clair | 3,786 | |||
Labour | Ross Willmott | 3,320 | |||
Conservative | Geeta Mahesh Karavadra | 1166 | |||
Conservative | Sudhir Odedra | 998 | |||
Conservative | Heten Tejura | 883 | |||
Liberal Democrats | Hash Chandarana | 556 | |||
Liberal Democrats | Nitesh Pravin Dave | 554 | |||
Green | Anne Louise Scott | 451 | |||
Majority | |||||
Turnout |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Rita Patel | 4,597 | |||
Labour | Piara Singh Clair | 4,584 | |||
Labour | Ross Willmott | 4,390 | |||
Conservative | Hemubhai Chandarana | 1797 | |||
Conservative | Rashmi Vyas | 1702 | |||
Conservative | Sarban Singh | 1389 | |||
Liberal Democrats | Hash Chandarana | 586 | |||
Green | Nimit Jethwa | 513 | |||
UKIP | Keith Agius | 472 | |||
UKIP | Adam Barker | 399 | |||
UKIP | Kyle Perkins | 353 | |||
Liberal Democrats | Nitesh Dave | 327 | |||
Liberal Democrats | Jaswinder Kaur | 305 | |||
LICC | Leila Khamis | 117 | |||
Majority | |||||
Turnout | 66.4 | ||||
Labour hold | Swing |
Highfield Rangers F.C. is based in Rushey Mead. They are currently members of the Leicestershire Senior League Premier Division.
Actresses Parminder Nagra and Rakhee Thakrar went to Soar Valley College within Rushey Mead.
Leicester is a city, unitary authority area, unparished area and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a population of 373,399 in 2022. The greater Leicester urban area had a population of 559,017 in 2021, making it the 11th most populous in England, and the 13th most populous in the United Kingdom. A 2023 report ranked Leicester 16th out of the 50 largest UK cities on a range of economic measures, and the first of seven East Midlands cities.
The East Midlands is one of nine official regions of England. It comprises the eastern half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It consists of Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, and Rutland. The region has a land area of 15,624 km2 (6,032 sq mi), with an estimated population 4,934,939 in 2022. With a sufficiency-level world city ranking, Nottingham is the only settlement in the region to be classified by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network.
Leicestershire is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warwickshire to the south-west, and Staffordshire to the west. The city of Leicester is the largest settlement.
Charnwood is a local government district with borough status in the north of Leicestershire, England. It is named after Charnwood Forest, much of which lies within the borough. Towns in the borough include Loughborough, Shepshed and Syston. Villages in the borough include Barrow upon Soar, Birstall, Hathern, Mountsorrel, Quorn, Rothley, Sileby and Woodhouse Eaves.
Thorn Lighting Ltd, a subsidiary of the Zumtobel Group, is a global supplier of both outdoor and indoor luminaires and integrated controls.
British Thomson-Houston (BTH) was a British engineering and heavy industrial company, based at Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Originally founded to sell products from the Thomson-Houston Electric Company, it soon became a manufacturer using licences from the American company. They were known primarily for their electrical systems and steam turbines.
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Thurmaston is a village and civil parish in Leicestershire, England, located within the Borough of Charnwood. At the 2011 census, it had a population of 9,668. It is pronounced "Thurmston".
Rutland and Melton was a county constituency spanning Leicestershire and Rutland, represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1983 to 2024. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first-past-the-post system of election. For its entire existence, the seat elected members of the Conservative Party.
Charnwood was a constituency of the House of Commons in the UK Parliament from 1997 to 2024.
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North Evington is an area, suburb, electoral ward and administrative division of the city of Leicester, England.
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The A607 is an A road in England that starts in Belgrave, Leicester and heads northeastwards through Leicestershire and the town of Grantham, Lincolnshire, terminating at Bracebridge Heath, a village on the outskirts of Lincoln. It is a primary route from Thurmaston to the A1 junction at Grantham.
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The Edison and Swan Electric Light Company Limited was a manufacturer of incandescent lamp bulbs and other electrical goods. It was formed in 1883 with the name Edison & Swan United Electric Light Company with the merger of the Swan United Electric Company and the Edison Electric Light Company.