Leicester East (UK Parliament constituency)

Leicester East is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since July 2024 by Shivani Raja of the Conservative Party. Similar to Putney which became the only Labour gain in 2019, Leicester East was the sole Conservative gain in the 2024 general election, amid the worst election results for the party since its foundation.

Historic
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, Charnwood1, Evington, Humberstone, and Latimer.

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

2010–2024: The City of Leicester wards of Belgrave, Charnwood, Coleman, Evington, Humberstone & Hamilton, Latimer, Rushey Mead, and Thurncourt.

1 Further to a local government boundary review that became effective in May 2015, the newly created Troon ward replaced the old Charnwood ward covering the Northfields Estate and the adjacent Industrial Estate Area to the north, from which it takes its name.

Current
Following the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, which came into effect for the 2024 general election, the constituency was adjusted slightly to bring the electorate within the permitted range by transferring polling district EVF in Evington ward to Leicester South.

Constituency profile
This is an urban constituency, much of which is densely developed, whether as housing, retail or industry. The seat does not include central Leicester, skirting its ring road, but is served by buses and cycle routes into Leicester City Centre, which is within normal walking distance of the division's south-west quarter. The boundaries include a golf course situated in the south-east and a large municipal garden in the north-west.

Leicester East has an extremely high South Asian population. Almost a third of the population is Hindu, and the majority of the 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.

First creation
The seat was created in 1918 and for the next four years was served by Sir Gordon Hewart KC, who resigned to become Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales. In 1950 the area was divided between Leicester North East and Leicester South East.

Second (current) creation
The constituency was re-created in 1974.

Leicester East has been won by the Labour Party's candidate in 10 of 11 elections since it was re-created. Its MP from 1987 to 2019, Keith Vaz, won an absolute majority of votes from the 1992 general election onward. The result in 2015 made the constituency the 37th-safest of Labour's 232 seats by percentage majority. It had been narrowly won by Conservative Party candidate Peter Bruinvels at the height of his party's popularity in 1983. The following election saw Keith Vaz regain the seat for Labour; he held it at every election thereafter, and since 1992 always won by margins of over 20% and 11,000 votes until he stood down at the 2019 general election. Vaz won his highest majority, 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%.
 * Summary of results

The constituency was the sole gain by the Conservatives in the 2024 general election, with Shivani Raja being elected with 31.1% of the vote. The presence of two former MPs on the ballot split the Labour vote, with the official Labour candidate's vote share falling by 29.3%.

The candidate fielded by the Conservative Party has been runner-up in every election save for Bruinvels' win in 1983 and Raja's victory in 2024. The candidate of UKIP took third place in 2015, for the first time; her 2010 counterpart had won 1.5% of the vote, the party not having previously stood in the constituency. The pro-UKIP swing between the 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.
 * Opposition parties

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

MPs 1918–1950
Leicester prior to 1918

MPs since 1974
Leicester South East and Leicester North East prior to 1974

Elections in the 2010s
In November 2021 Webbe was given a 10-week suspended sentence for making threatening phone calls to a friend of her partner. Webbe, who since September 2020 had been suspended from the Labour Party and was sitting as an independent MP, was then expelled from the party and continued to sit as an independent until Parliament was dissolved.

Elections in the 2000s
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.