List of parliamentary constituencies in Leicestershire and Rutland

W

A small county slightly, located in the centre of a country. It is completely bounded by other counties.
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.

Constituencies edit

  Conservative  Labour  Liberal Democrat ¤  Independent

Name[nb 1]Electorate[1]Majority[2][nb 2]Member of Parliament[2]Nearest opposition[2]Map
Bosworth CC81,54226,278Luke EvansRick Middleton‡
Charnwood CC79,53422,397Edward ArgarGary Godden
Harborough CC80,15117,278Neil O'BrienCelia Hibbert‡
Leicester East BC78,4336,019Claudia Webbe[nb 3]Bhupendra Dave†
Leicester South BC*77,70822,675Jon AshworthNatalie Neale†
Leicester West BC64,9404,212Liz KendallAmanda Wright†
Loughborough CC79,7647,169Jane HuntStuart Brady‡
North West Leicestershire CC78,93520,400Andrew BridgenTerri Eynon‡
Rutland and Melton CC82,70526,924Alicia KearnsAndy Thomas‡
South Leicestershire CC80,52024,004 Alberto CostaTristan Koriya‡

Historic constituencies edit

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 edit

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
1Bosworth CC
2Charnwood CC
3Harborough CC
4Leicester East BC
5Leicester South BC
6Leicester West BC
7Loughborough CC
8North West Leicestershire CC
9Rutland and Melton CC
10South Leicestershire CC

(previously Blaby CC)

Proposed boundary changes edit

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.[3] Initial proposals were published on 8 June 2021 and, following two periods of public consultation, revised proposals were published on 8 November 2022. The final recommendations were published on 28 June 2023.

The commission has proposed including Leicestershire and Rutland with Lincolnshire in a sub-region of the East Midlands region, creating one additional seat by re-establishing the constituency of Rutland and Stamford, which spans all three counties. As a consequence, Rutland and Melton would be abolished, being replaced by Melton and Syston, while a reconfigured Charnwood would be renamed Mid Leicestershire. Bosworth is renamed Hinckley and Bosworth and Harborough renamed Harborough, Oadby and Wigston.[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

  • Melton and Syston (part)

Containing electoral wards from North West Leicestershire

Containing electoral wards from Oadby and Wigston

  • Harborough, Oadby and Wigston (part)

Containing electoral wards from Rutland

Results history edit

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

2019 edit

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
Conservative281,01953.3% 4.4%70
Labour169,47532.1% 8.0%30
Liberal Democrats51,6069.8% 3.2%00
Greens18,7053.5% 1.4%00
Brexit4,0500.8%new00
Others2,8350.5% 1.8%00
Total527,690100.010

Percentage votes edit

Election year1983198719921997200120052010201520172019
Conservative50.652.048.736.838.137.441.043.948.953.3
Labour25.327.333.043.841.536.127.630.640.132.1
Liberal Democrat122.720.217.115.117.020.823.38.06.69.8
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 edit

Election year1983198719921997200120052010201520172019
Conservative8665557777
Labour1335553333
Total99910101010101010

11983 & 1987 - SDP-Liberal Alliance

Maps edit

1885-1910 edit

1918-1945 edit

1950-1979 edit

1983-present edit

Historical representation by party edit

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 edit

  Conservative  Labour  Liberal  Liberal-Labour

Constituency188518868891189294189519000419060607Jan 1910Dec 19101316
BosworthEllisC. McLarenH. McLaren
HarboroughPagetTaplingLoganStanhopeLehmannLoganHarris
LeicesterMcArthurWhiteheadBroadhurstThomassonCrawshay-WilliamsHewart
PictonHazellRollestonMacDonald
LoughboroughJohnson-Fergusonde LisleJohnson-FergusonLevy
MeltonJ. MannersH. MannersE. MannersC. MannersWalkerYate
RutlandFinchGretton

1918 to 1950 edit

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)

Constituency1918221922192319242719293119313319351945
BosworthMcLarenPagetWardGeeEdgeAllen
HarboroughFraserBlackWinbyStuartTreeAttewell
Leicester EastHewartBantonEvansBantonLoderWiseLyonsDonovan
Leicester SouthBlaneReynoldsAllenWaterhouseBowden
Leicester WestGreenHillPethick-LawrencePickeringNicolsonB. Janner
LoughboroughGuestSpearsRyeWintertonKimballFollick
MeltonYateEverardNutting

1950 to 1983 edit

From 1918 to 1983 Rutland was categorised with Lincolnshire.

  Conservative  Labour  Social Democratic

Constituency19505019511955565719596219641966671970Feb 1974Oct 1974197981
BosworthAllenWyattButler
HarboroughBaldockFarr
Leicester NE / Leicester E (1974)DonovanUngoed-ThomasBradley
Leicester SW / Leicester S (1974)BowdenBoardmanMarshall
Leicester NW / Leicester W (1974)B. JannerG. Janner
Leicester South EastWaterhousePeel
LoughboroughFollickCroninDorrell
MeltonNuttingPikeLatham
BlabyLawson

1983 to present edit

  Conservative  Independent  Labour  Liberal Democrats  Reclaim

Constituency19831987199219972001042005201011201520172019202323232024
Blaby / South Leics (2010)LawsonRobathanCosta
Bosworth / Hinckley & Bosworth (2024)ButlerTredinnickEvans
Harborough / H., Oadby & Wigston ('24)FarrGarnierO'Brien
Leicester EastBruinvelsVazWebbe
Leicester SouthSpencerMarshallGillSoulsbyAshworth
Leicester WestG. JannerHewittKendall
LoughboroughDorrellReedMorganHunt
Rutland & Melton / R. & Stamford ('24)1LathamDuncanKearns
North West LeicestershireAshbyTaylorBridgen
Charnwood / Mid Leicestershire (2024)DorrellArgar
Melton and Syston

1includes parts of Lincolnshire

See also edit

Footnotes edit

  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.

References edit

General
  • "Boundary Commission for England: Fifth Periodical Report" (PDF). Boundary Commission for England. Crown Copyright. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 July 2011. Retrieved 6 November 2009.
  • Craig, Frederick Walter Scott (1972). Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885–1972. Chichester, Sussex: Political Reference Publications. ISBN 0-900178-13-2.
Specific
  1. ^ Baker, Carl; Uberoi, Elise; Cracknell, Richard (28 January 2020). "General Election 2019: full results and analysis".
  2. ^ a b c "Constituencies A-Z - Election 2019". BBC News. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  3. ^ "2023 Review". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
  4. ^ Moorhouse, Sam (16 November 2022). "Latest political changes planned for Leicestershire". LeicestershireLive. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  5. ^ "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume one: Report | Boundary Commission for England". paras 110-137. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
  6. ^ Watson, Christopher; Uberoi, Elise; Loft, Philip (17 April 2020). "General election results from 1918 to 2019".