Leicester South
Borough constituency for theHouse of Commons
Interactive map of boundaries since 2024
Boundary within the East Midlands
County	Leicestershire
Electorate	71,007 (2023)[1]
Major settlements	Leicester
Current constituency
Created	1974 (1974)
Member of Parliament	Shockat Adam (Independent Alliance)
Seats	One
Created from	Leicester South East andLeicester South West
1918–1950
Seats	One
Type of constituency	Borough constituency
Created from	Leicester
Replaced by	Leicester South East,Leicester South West andLeicester North East

Leicester South is aconstituency^{[n 1]}, recreated in 1974, represented in theHouse of Commons of theUK Parliament from 2024 byShockat Adam.

It had been held from2011 byJonathan Ashworth of theLabour Co-op Party (which denotes he is a member of theLabour Party andCo-operative Party, one of 38 such current Labour MPs, and requires members to contribute practically to acooperative business).^{[n 2]} A previous version of the seat existed between 1918 and 1950. Except for a 2004 by-election when it was won by theLiberal Democrats, Leicester South was held by the Labour Party from 1987 to 2024, when it was taken with a narrow majority by Shockat Adam standing as an independent.

Leicester South has a population of 120,090 in an area of 19.2 km², making it the 51st smallest parliamentary constituency by area. Mainly built-up (92%), its land also has 6% green areas or leisure facilities and just 1% agricultural.^[2]

By broad ethnic group, most people are Asian (43.5%) or White (39.0%), with 9.2% Black, African or Caribbean in 2021.^[2] In 1971, 14.8% were non-White.^[3] In 1981, 26% of the constiuency were non-White.^[4]

The rate of child poverty in Leicester South is high. At 43.4% in 2022–3, it is more than twice the overall UK rate of 20.1%. The claimant rate for unemployment benefit is 15.9%, higher than the UK average of 11.3%.^[2]

In 2020, the most affluent part of the constituency, Knighton, reports estimated average household incomes after housing costs of £35,900, with Clarendon Park & Stoneygate South averaging £29,600. By contrast, households in neighbouring Saffron Lane average just £18,600.^[5]

The seat was held byDerek Spencer for theConservative Party between the general elections of1983 and1987. Its electorate demonstrated increased Labour support thereafter in local and national elections. A2004 by-election caused by the death of Labour MPJim Marshall was fought under the shadow of theIraq War, and was won byParmjit Singh Gill who became at the time the onlyLiberal Democrat MP from an ethnic minority. He held the seat for a year before being defeated by Labour candidate SirPeter Soulsby at the2005 general election. Soulsby subsequently resigned in order to seek election asMayor of Leicester in 2011, giving Leicester South itssecond by-election in the space of seven years; this time the seat was safely held by Labour.^[6]

The expansion of the city's suburbs and commuter belt has altered the incomes and other demographic measures of the constituency. The seatsaw close contests between Conservative and Labour candidates in the 1980s, with Jim Marshall losing the seat by 7 votes to the Conservatives in the 1983 general election, but regaining it in 1987.

Marshall died in 2004, and the resulting by-election was fiercely contested. As in aby-election in Birmingham Hodge Hill held on the same day, the Liberal Democrat candidates hoped—despite having additional competition for the anti-Iraq War vote fromRespect—to build on their previousby-election gain at Brent East. The seat was won by the Liberal Democrat Parmjit Singh Gill, with a majority of 1,654.

Sir Peter Soulsby won the seat at the 2005 election, and was re-elected in 2010. Sir Peter resigned to seek election for the new position of Mayor of Leicester in 2011, triggering a by-election on 5 May 2011, that coincided with thereferendum on the voting system.^[7]Jonathan Ashworth was elected as his successor, holding the seat for the Labour Party; he was re-elected in2015 and2017.

Despite being the only seat in Leicester served by three major parties in the past 35 years, Leicester South became regarded as the safest of the Labour seats in the city, with a majority in 2017 of 26,261 votes (52.0%), falling to 22,675 (45.2%) in 2019.

However, the historic volatility continued, with Ashworth suffering a surprise defeat in theJuly 2024 General Election. The seat was won byShockat Adam standing as an independent, with a narrow majority of 979 votes (2.3%).

1918–1950: The county borough of Leicester wards ofAylestone, Castle, Charnwood, De Montfort,Knighton, Martin's, and Wycliffe.^[8]

The initial report of the Boundary Commission for England dated October 1947 and published in December 1947 recommended that Leicester retain three seats, including a revised Leicester South constituency consisting of the wards of Aylestone, De Montfort, Knighton, North Braunstone and Spinney Hill, giving an electorate of 67,574 as of the review date of 15 October 1946.^[9] When theRepresentation of the People Bill enacting the commission's recommendations was debated in theHouse of Commons, the Government brought forward amendments at Committee stage on 24 March 1948 to allow 17 more constituencies in England. Home SecretaryJames Chuter Ede announced that the Boundary Commission would be invited to consider an additional constituency to each of nine cities, including Leicester.^[10] The Government issued awhite paper proposing the new boundaries which created new borough constituencies ofLeicester South East andLeicester South West in place of Leicester South. The Boundary Commission recommended no alteration to the proposals,^[11] and the revised constituencies were therefore enacted.

In 1969, the Second Periodical Report of the Parliamentary Boundary Commission for England reduced Leicester from four seats to three, and recreated Leicester South as a borough constituency.

1974–1983: The county borough of Leicester wards of Aylestone, De Montfort, Knighton, Spinney Hill, The Castle, and Wycliffe wards of Leicester.^[12][13]

1983–2010: The City of Leicester wards of Aylestone, Castle,Crown Hills, East Knighton,Eyres Monsell, Saffron, Spinney Hill,Stoneygate, West Knighton and Wycliffe.^[14][15]

Minor boundary changes were made as a result of the Third Periodical Report of the Boundary Commission in 1983. The new constituency took in about 3,000 voters who were previously in other Leicester seats.^[16] No changes were made in the Fourth Periodical Report of the Boundary Commission in 1995.^[17]

2010–2024: The City of Leicester wards of Aylestone, Castle, Eyres Monsell, Freemen, Knighton, Spinney Hills, and Stoneygate.^[18]

In the Fifth Periodical Report of the Boundary Commission in 2007, the constituency had only minor changes with 73 voters being added fromLeicester West.^[19]

Further to a local government boundary review which became effective in May 2015,^[20] the Freemen ward was replaced by the Saffron ward and the additional Wycliffe ward was created, largely split off from the Spinney Hills ward.

2024-: The City of Leicester wards of Castle, Evington (part), Eyres Monsell, Knighton, Saffron, Spinney Hills, Stoneygate, and Wycliffe.

Size of the constituency was reduced with the transfer ofAylestone ward toLeicester West. To partly compensate, polling district EVF inEvington ward was added fromLeicester East.^[21]

Leicester prior to 1918

Leicester South East andLeicester South West prior to 1974

The Conservatives' 7 vote majority made Leicester South their most marginal constituency after the 1983 election and was the closest result in any constituency in the United Kingdom in the election.^[39]

• List of parliamentary constituencies in Leicestershire and Rutland

• Leicester South UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) atMapIt UK
• Leicester South UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) atMapIt UK
• Leicester South UK Parliament constituency (boundaries from June 2024) atMapIt UK

52°36′N1°08′W / 52.60°N 1.14°W /52.60; -1.14

• Parliamentary constituencies in Leicestershire
• Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1918
• Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 1950
• Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1974
• Politics of Leicester

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