South Leicestershire (UK Parliament constituency)

South Leicestershire
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of South Leicestershire in Leicestershire.
Location of Leicestershire within England.
County	Leicestershire
Electorate	77,412 (December 2010)
Current constituency
Created	2010
Member of parliament	Alberto Costa (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Created from	Blaby, Harborough
1832–1885
Number of members	Two
Replaced by	Bosworth, Harborough
Created from	Leicestershire
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	East Midlands

South Leicestershire is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since its 2010 recreation by Andrew Robathan, a member of the Conservative Party.

The current constituency has similar boundaries to the previous Blaby constituency. Historically the "Southern Division of Leicestershire", was a county constituency, less formally known as South Leicestershire. From 1832 to 1885 it elected two Members of Parliament (MPs) by the bloc vote system of election.

Boundaries

Boundaries from the 2010 general election

Following its review of parliamentary representation in Leicestershire, the Boundary Commission for England recommended replacing the Blaby constituency with a new South Leicestershire seat, with some boundary changes. This change occurred for the 2010 general election.

The electoral wards used to create the new constituency are;

• Broughton Astley-Astley, Broughton Astley-Broughton, Broughton Astley-Primethorpe, Broughton Astley-Sutton, Dunton, Lutterworth Brookfield, Lutterworth Orchard, Lutterworth Springs, Lutterworth Swift, Misterton, Peatling, and Ullesthorpe in the Harborough District
• Blaby South, Cosby with South Whetstone, Countesthorpe, Croft Hill, Enderby and St John's, Millfield, Narborough and Littlethorpe, Normanton, North Whetstone, Pastures, Ravenhurst and Fosse, Saxondale, Stanton and Flamville, and Winstanley in the Blaby District

Constituency profile

The current South Leicestershire is a slice of Leicestershire to the south west of Leicester, with most of the population in commuter towns and villages clustered close to Leicester itself, both in the suburb of Braunstone Town, including the large modern development of Thorpe Astley, and commuter villages like Whetstone, Blaby and Narborough. Further south it is more rural, with the largest settlement the old market town of Lutterworth. Nearby is the former site of RAF Bitteswell, since redeveloped as Magna Park, one of the largest distribution centres in Europe.

The constituency name of South Leicestershire was new for 2010, but the seat was not massively changed from the old seat of Blaby. Both this as its predecessor are safe Tory seats held by the party since Blaby's creation in 1974. The best known MP to represent the area is the former Chancellor Nigel Lawson.

History

1832-1885

The constituency was created by the Reform Act 1832 for the 1832 general election, when the two-seat Leicestershire constituency was replaced by the Northern and Southern divisions, each of which elected two MPs.

Both divisions of the county were abolished by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 for the 1885 general election, when they were replaced by four new single-seat constituencies: Bosworth, Harborough, Loughborough and Melton.

Prominent members in this period included Thomas Paget (Jnr) (1807–1892) who followed the footsteps of his father in this role (his father having represented Leicestershire) and as partner in Leicester Bank, and Albert Pell, a member of a group of MPs, which included Henry Chaplin, Sir Massey Lopes and Clare Sewell Read, who supported farming interests. He was also a member of the Council of the Royal Agricultural Society of England.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1832–1885

Election	1st Member		1st Party	2nd Member		2nd Party
1832		Edward Dawson	Liberal		Sir Henry Halford, Bt	Tory
1834						Conservative
1835		Thomas Frewen Turner	Conservative
1836 by-election		Charles William Packe	Conservative
1857					Viscount Curzon	Conservative
1867 by-election		Thomas Paget	Liberal Party
1868		Albert Pell	Conservative Party
1870 by-election					William Unwin Heygate	Conservative
1880					Thomas Paget	Liberal Party
1885		Redistribution of Seats Act: constituency abolished

MPs since 2010

Election		Member	Party
	2010	Andrew Robathan	Conservative
	2015	Alberto Costa	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2015: South Leicestershire

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alberto Costa	28,700	53.2	+3.7
	Labour	Amanda Hack	11,876	22.0	+1.1
	UKIP	Barry Mahoney	9,363	17.4	+13.7
	Liberal Democrat	Geoffrey Welsh	3,987	7.4	-13.6
Majority			16,824	31.2
Turnout			53,926
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 2010: South Leicestershire

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Andrew Robathan*	27,000	49.5	+4.1
	Liberal Democrat	Aladdin Ayesh	11,476	21.0	+2.0
	Labour	Sally Gimson	11,392	20.9	-8.8
	BNP	Peter Preston	2,721	5.0	+1.5
	UKIP	Dr John Williams	1,988	3.6	+1.2
Majority			15,524	28.4
Turnout			54,577	71.2	+6.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

* Served as an MP in the 2005–2010 Parliament

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Leicestershire and Rutland

Notes and references

Notes

References