| Leicester East | |
|---|---|
| Borough constituency for theHouse of Commons | |
![]() Interactive map of boundaries since 2024 | |
Boundary within the East Midlands | |
| County | Leicestershire |
| Electorate | 76,465 (2023)[1] |
| Current constituency | |
| Created | 1974 (1974) |
| Member of Parliament | Shivani Raja (Conservative) |
| Seats | One |
| Created from | Leicester South East Leicester North East |
| 1918–1950 | |
| Seats | One |
| Created from | Leicester |
| Replaced by | Leicester South East Leicester North East |
Leicester East is aconstituency[n 1] represented in theHouse of Commons of theUK Parliament since July 2024 byShivani Raja of theConservative Party.
This is an urban constituency, much of which is densely developed as housing, retail or industry. The seat does not include central Leicester, skirting its ring road, but is served by buses and cycle routes intoLeicester 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. In 1981, 26% of the constiuency were non-White.[2] The constiuency had the highest concentration of East African born people (9.2% of the population), mostly being Asians, in 1981.[3] By the late 1980s, Leicester East was possibly just over 30% Asian.[4] Almost a third of the population is Hindu in 2011, 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.
Leicester East | |
|---|---|
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| Racial makeup (2021)[5] | |
| • Asian | 68.6% |
| • White | 20.3% |
| • Other | 4.1% |
| • Black | 4.1% |
| • Mixed | 2.9% |
The seat was created in 1918 and for the next four years was served by SirGordon HewartKC, who resigned to becomeLord Chief Justice of England and Wales. In 1950 the area was divided betweenLeicester North East andLeicester South East.
The constituency was re-created in 1974.
Leicester East has been won by theLabour Party's candidate in 12 of the 14 elections since it was re-created. Its MP from 1987 to 2019,Keith Vaz, won an absolute majority of votes from the1992 general election onward. It had been narrowly won byConservative Party candidatePeter Bruinvels (alay canon) at the height of his party's popularity in1983. The following election saw Vaz regain the seat for Labour; he held it at every election thereafter, from1997 onward always winning by margins of over 29% and 13,000 votes, until he stood down at the2019 general election. The result in2015 made the constituency the 37th-safest of Labour's 232 seats by percentage majority.[6] Vaz won his highest majority, 22,428 votes (42.8%), in2017. In 2019 Labour held the seat with a substantially reduced majority of 6,019, down from 22,428 – a swing of 15%.
The constituency was the sole gain by the Conservatives at the2024 general election, whenShivani Raja was elected with 31.1% of the vote.
The Conservative Party candidate has been runner-up in every election save for Bruinvels' win in 1983 and Raja's victory in 2024. The candidate ofUKIP 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 aLiberal Democrat to date, attracting just under a fifth of the vote.
Turnout in the recreated seat has ranged between 78.7% in 1992 and 62.1% in 2001.
1918–1950: TheCounty Borough of Leicester wards ofBelgrave,Latimer, Spinney Hill, and West Humberstone.
1974–1983: The County Borough of Leicester wards of Belgrave,Charnwood,Evington, Humberstone, and Latimer.
1983–2010: TheCity 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.
2024–present: The City of Leicester wards of Belgrave, Evington, Humberstone & Hamilton,North Evington, Rushey Mead, Thurncourt andTroon, with polling district EVF in Evington ward transferred out toLeicester South.[7]
Leicester prior to 1918
Leicester South East andLeicester North East prior to 1974
| Year | Member | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 1974 | Tom Bradley | Labour | |
| 1981 | SDP | ||
| 1983 | Peter Bruinvels | Conservative | |
| 1987 | Keith Vaz | Labour | |
| 2019 | Claudia Webbe | Labour | |
| 2020 | Independent | ||
| 2024 | Shivani Raja | Conservative | |

| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Shivani Raja | 14,526 | 31.1 | –7.4 | |
| Labour | Rajesh Agrawal | 10,100 | 21.6 | –29.3 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Zuffar Haq | 6,329 | 13.5 | +7.9 | |
| Independent[n 2] | Claudia Webbe[10] | 5,532 | 11.8 | N/A | |
| One Leicester | Keith Vaz[11] | 3,681 | 7.9 | N/A | |
| Reform UK | Raj Solanki | 2,611 | 5.6 | +3.1 | |
| Green | Mags Lewis | 2,143 | 4.6 | +2.8 | |
| Independent | Malihah Adam | 974 | 2.1 | N/A | |
| Independent | Nagarjun Agath | 703 | 1.5 | N/A | |
| Independent | Khandu Patel | 115 | 0.2 | N/A | |
| Majority | 4,426 | 9.5 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 46,714 | 61.0 | –2.1 | ||
| Registered electors | 76,560 | ||||
| Conservativegain fromLabour | Swing | +11.0 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Claudia Webbe | 25,090 | 50.8 | –16.2 | |
| Conservative | Bhupendra Dave | 19,071 | 38.6 | +14.4 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Nitesh Dave | 2,800 | 5.7 | +3.1 | |
| Brexit Party | Tara Baldwin | 1,243 | 2.5 | N/A | |
| Green | Melanie Wakley | 888 | 1.8 | −0.2 | |
| Independent | Sanjay Gogia | 329 | 0.7 | N/A | |
| Majority | 6,019 | 12.2 | –30.6 | ||
| Turnout | 49,421 | 63.0 | –4.4 | ||
| Labourhold | Swing | –15.3 | |||
In November 2021 Webbe was given a 10-week suspendedsentence 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.[13][14]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Keith Vaz | 35,116 | 67.0 | +5.9 | |
| Conservative | Edward Yi He | 12,688 | 24.2 | +1.2 | |
| Independent | Sujata Barot | 1,753 | 3.3 | N/A | |
| Liberal Democrats | Nitesh Dave | 1,343 | 2.6 | 0.0 | |
| Green | Melanie Wakley | 1,070 | 2.0 | –1.1 | |
| Independent | Ian Fox | 454 | 0.9 | N/A | |
| Majority | 22,428 | 42.8 | +4.6 | ||
| Turnout | 52,424 | 67.4 | +3.7 | ||
| Labourhold | Swing | +2.3 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Keith Vaz | 29,386 | 61.1 | +7.4 | |
| Conservative | Kishan Devani | 11,034 | 23.0 | –1.5 | |
| UKIP | Susanna Steptoe | 4,290 | 8.9 | +7.4 | |
| Green | Nimit Jethwa | 1,468 | 3.1 | +1.5 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Dave Raval | 1,233 | 2.6 | –11.6 | |
| TUSC | Michael Barker | 540 | 1.1 | N/A | |
| Independent | Tom Darwood | 117 | 0.2 | N/A | |
| Majority | 18,352 | 38.2 | +8.9 | ||
| Turnout | 48,068 | 63.7 | –2.1 | ||
| Labourhold | Swing | +4.5 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Keith Vaz | 25,804 | 53.8 | −5.0 | |
| Conservative | Jane Hunt | 11,722 | 24.4 | +4.6 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Ali Asghar | 6,817 | 14.2 | −2.3 | |
| BNP | Colin Gilmore[17] | 1,700 | 3.5 | N/A | |
| Green | Mo Taylor[18] | 733 | 1.5 | N/A | |
| UKIP | Felicity Ransome | 725 | 1.5 | N/A | |
| Unity For Peace And Socialism | Avtar Sadiq | 494 | 1.0 | N/A | |
| Majority | 14,082 | 29.3 | –9.6 | ||
| Turnout | 47,995 | 65.8 | +3.9 | ||
| Labourhold | Swing | −4.8 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Keith Vaz | 24,015 | 58.1 | +0.5 | |
| Conservative | Suella Fernandes | 8,139 | 19.7 | −4.8 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Susan Cooper | 7,052 | 17.1 | +4.8 | |
| Veritas | Colin Brown | 1,666 | 4.0 | N/A | |
| Socialist Labour | Valerie Smalley | 434 | 1.1 | −1.0 | |
| Majority | 15,876 | 38.4 | +5.3 | ||
| Turnout | 41,306 | 62.2 | +0.1 | ||
| Labourhold | Swing | +2.6 | |||
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.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Keith Vaz | 23,402 | 57.6 | −7.9 | |
| Conservative | John Mugglestone | 9,960 | 24.5 | +0.5 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Harpinder Athwal | 4,989 | 12.3 | +5.3 | |
| Socialist Labour | David Roberts | 837 | 2.1 | +1.1 | |
| BNP | Clive Potter | 772 | 1.9 | N/A | |
| Independent | Shirley Bennett | 701 | 1.7 | +1.5 | |
| Majority | 13,442 | 33.1 | –8.4 | ||
| Turnout | 40,661 | 62.1 | −7.0 | ||
| Labourhold | Swing | –4.2 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Keith Vaz | 29,083 | 65.5 | +9.2 | |
| Conservative | Simon Milton | 10,661 | 24.01 | –9.7 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Jay Matabudul | 3,105 | 6.99 | −1.1 | |
| Referendum | Philip Iwaniw | 1,015 | 2.29 | N/A | |
| Socialist Labour | Sohan Singh Sidhu | 436 | 0.98 | N/A | |
| Independent | Neil Slack | 102 | 0.23 | N/A | |
| Majority | 18,422 | 41.49 | +18.9 | ||
| Turnout | 44,402 | 69.11 | |||
| Labourhold | Swing | +9.4 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Keith Vaz | 28,123 | 56.3 | +10.1 | |
| Conservative | Jeffery C. Stevens | 16,807 | 33.7 | −8.8 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Sheila A. Mitchell | 4,043 | 8.1 | −3.3 | |
| Green | Murray R. Frankland | 453 | 0.9 | N/A | |
| Independent | Dennis J. Taylor | 308 | 0.6 | N/A | |
| Natural Law | ASK Mahaldar | 186 | 0.4 | N/A | |
| Majority | 11,316 | 22.6 | +18.9 | ||
| Turnout | 49,920 | 78.7 | +0.1 | ||
| Labourhold | Swing | +9.5 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Keith Vaz | 24,074 | 46.2 | +9.2 | |
| Conservative | Peter Bruinvels | 22,150 | 42.5 | +3.6 | |
| SDP | Aileen Ayres | 5,935 | 11.4 | –9.7 | |
| Majority | 1,924 | 3.7 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 52,159 | 78.59 | |||
| Labourgain fromConservative | Swing | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Peter Bruinvels | 19,117 | 38.9 | –2.3 | |
| Labour | Patricia Hewitt | 18,184 | 37.0 | –9.9 | |
| SDP | Tom Bradley | 10,362 | 21.1 | N/A | |
| Independent | RV Ganatra | 970 | 2.0 | N/A | |
| BNP | RL Sutton | 459 | 0.9 | N/A | |
| Majority | 933 | 1.9 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 49,092 | 73.2 | –2.4 | ||
| Conservativegain fromLabour | Swing | +3.8 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Tom Bradley | 23,844 | 46.9 | +2.1 | |
| Conservative | M Waterhouse | 20,988 | 41.3 | +4.8 | |
| Liberal | B Andrews | 4,623 | 9.1 | –3.2 | |
| National Front | BJ Calver | 1,385 | 2.7 | –3.7 | |
| Majority | 2,856 | 5.6 | –2.6 | ||
| Turnout | 50,840 | 75.6 | +3.3 | ||
| Labourhold | Swing | +1.4 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Tom Bradley | 20,688 | 44.8 | +0.1 | |
| Conservative | KG Reeves | 16,877 | 36.5 | –8.3 | |
| Liberal | W Capstick | 5,668 | 12.3 | N/A | |
| National Front | A Reed-Herbert | 2,967 | 6.4 | −1.1 | |
| Majority | 3,811 | 8.3 | +5.4 | ||
| Turnout | 46,200 | 72.3 | –5.5 | ||
| Labourhold | Swing | +4.2 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Tom Bradley | 23,474 | 47.7 | ||
| Conservative | K.G. Reeves | 22,061 | 44.8 | ||
| National Front | K. Sanders | 3,662 | 7.5 | ||
| Majority | 1,413 | 2.9 | |||
| Turnout | 49,199 | 77.8 | |||
| Labourwin (new seat) | |||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Terence Donovan | 28,414 | 56.9 | +14.6 | |
| Conservative | Abraham Lyons | 15,182 | 30.4 | –18.9 | |
| Liberal | David Goodwillie Galloway | 6,306 | 12.6 | +4.1 | |
| Majority | 13,232 | 26.52 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 49,902 | 76.0 | |||
| Labourgain fromConservative | Swing | +16.7 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Abraham Lyons | 20,442 | 49.3 | –19.4 | |
| Labour | Frederick Gould | 17,532 | 42.3 | +11.0 | |
| Liberal | Frederick Lawson | 3,509 | 8.5 | N/A | |
| Majority | 2,910 | 6.66 | |||
| Turnout | 41,483 | 70.18 | |||
| Conservativehold | Swing | –15.2 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Abraham Lyons | 30,265 | 68.7 | +37.6 | |
| Labour | Frank Wise | 13,811 | 31.3 | –19.5 | |
| Majority | 16,454 | 37.3 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 44,076 | 79.1 | −2.5 | ||
| Conservativegain fromLabour | Swing | +28.5 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Frank Wise | 22,533 | 50.8 | +1.5 | |
| Unionist | John Loder | 13,801 | 31.1 | −19.6 | |
| Liberal | Frederick Lawson | 8,054 | 18.1 | N/A | |
| Majority | 8,732 | 19.7 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 44,388 | 81.6 | +2.0 | ||
| Registered electors | 54,364 | ||||
| Labourgain fromUnionist | Swing | +1.6 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unionist | John Loder | 16,090 | 50.7 | +22.7 | |
| Labour | George Banton | 15,669 | 49.3 | +4.5 | |
| Majority | 421 | 1.4 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 31,759 | 79.6 | +3.5 | ||
| Registered electors | 39,906 | ||||
| Unionistgain fromLabour | Swing | +9.1 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | George Banton | 13,162 | 44.8 | −2.9 | |
| Unionist | Arthur Evans | 8,247 | 28.0 | N/A | |
| Liberal | James Henderson-Stewart | 7,998 | 27.2 | −25.1 | |
| Majority | 4,915 | 16.8 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 29,407 | 76.1 | −0.8 | ||
| Registered electors | 38,658 | ||||
| Labourgain fromNational Liberal | Swing | +11.1 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National Liberal | Arthur Evans | 15,164 | 52.3 | N/A | |
| Labour | George Banton | 13,850 | 47.7 | +20.6 | |
| Majority | 1,314 | 4.6 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 29,014 | 76.9 | +11.3 | ||
| Registered electors | 37,749 | ||||
| National Liberalgain fromLiberal | Swing | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | George Banton | 14,062 | 52.9 | +25.8 | |
| National Liberal | Albert E. Marlow | 8,710 | 32.7 | −40.2 | |
| Liberal | Ronald Wilberforce Allen | 3,825 | 14.4 | −58.5 | |
| Majority | 5,352 | 20.2 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 26,597 | 71.3 | +5.7 | ||
| Registered electors | 37,319 | ||||
| Labourgain fromNational Liberal | Swing | +33.0 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Liberal | Gordon Hewart | 18,024 | 72.9 | |
| Labour | George Banton | 6,697 | 27.1 | ||
| Majority | 11,327 | 45.8 | |||
| Turnout | 24,721 | 65.6 | |||
| Registered electors | 37,687 | ||||
| Liberalwin (new seat) | |||||
| Cindicatescandidate endorsed by the coalition government. | |||||