Leeds West (UK Parliament constituency)

Leeds West
Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundary of Leeds West in West Yorkshire.
Location of West Yorkshire within England.
County	West Yorkshire (West Riding of Yorkshire until 1974)
Electorate	67,222 (December 2010)
Current constituency
Created	1885 (1885)
Member of Parliament	Rachel Reeves (Labour)
Number of members	One
Created from	Leeds
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	Yorkshire and the Humber

Leeds West is a borough constituency in the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire which is represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first-past-the-post system of election.

Boundaries

The constituency covers the western part of the city of Leeds in West Yorkshire.

Since the boundary changes which took effect at the 2010 General Election it has been made up of four Leeds City Council wards:

• Armley
• Bramley and Stanningley
• Farnley and Wortley
• Kirkstall.

History

The constituency was created in 1885 by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, and was first used in the general election of that year. Leeds had previously been represented by two MPs (1832–1868) and three MPs (1868–1885). From 1885 it was represented by five single-member constituencies: Leeds Central, Leeds East, Leeds North, Leeds South and Leeds West. The constituencies of Morley, Otley and Pudsey were also created in 1885. Leeds West has the distinction of being the only constituency in the Leeds area which has existed under an unchanged name continuously since 1885.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1885	Herbert Gladstone	Liberal
	Jan 1910	Thomas Edmund Harvey	Liberal
	1918	John Murray	Coalition Liberal
	1922		Liberal
	1923	Thomas William Stamford	Labour
	1931	Samuel Vyvyan Adams	Conservative
	1945	Tom Stamford	Labour
	1949 by-election	Charles Pannell	Labour
	Feb 1974	Joe Dean	Labour
	1983	Michael Meadowcroft	Liberal
	1987	John Battle	Labour
	2010	Rachel Reeves	Labour

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2010: Leeds West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Rachel Reeves	16,389	42.3	-13.9
	Liberal Democrat	Ruth Coleman	9,373	24.2	+6.8
	Conservative	Joe Marjoram	7,641	19.7	+5.6
	BNP	Joanna Beverley	2,377	6.1	+2.8
	Green	David Blackburn	1,832	4.7	-2.5
	UKIP	Jeff Miles	1,140	2.9	+1.1
Majority			7,016	18.1	-20.7
Turnout			38,752	57.5	+4.7
	Labour hold		Swing	-10.3

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Leeds West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Battle	18,704	55.5	−6.6
	Liberal Democrat	Darren Finlay	5,894	17.5	+7.1
	Conservative	Tim Metcalfe	4,807	14.3	−1.3
	Green	David Blackburn	2,519	7.5	−0.5
	BNP	Julie Day	1,166	3.5	N/A
	UKIP	David Sewards	628	1.9	−0.5
Majority			12,810	38.0
Turnout			33,719	53.6	+3.6
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 2001: Leeds West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Battle	19,943	62.1	−4.5
	Conservative	Kris Hopkins	5,008	15.6	−1.9
	Liberal Democrat	Darren Finlay	3,350	10.4	+1.4
	Green	David Blackburn	2,573	8.0	+5.8
	UKIP	Bill Finley	758	2.4	N/A
	Liberal	Noel Nowosielski	462	1.4	−0.1
Majority			14,935	46.5
Turnout			32,094	50.0	−12.7
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Leeds West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Battle	26,819	66.7	+11.6
	Conservative	John Whelan	7,048	17.5	−9.3
	Liberal Democrat	Nigel Amor	3,622	9.0	+0.1
	Green	David Blackburn	896	2.2	+1.0
	Liberal	Noel Nowosielski	625	1.6	−6.7
Majority			19,771
Turnout				62.9	−8,2
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1992: Leeds West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Battle	26,310	55.1	+11.9
	Conservative	Paul Bartlett	12,482	26.2	+3.0
	Liberal Democrat	Viscount Morpeth (GWB Howard)	4,252	8.9	−24.7
	Liberal	Michael Meadowcroft	3,980	8.3	−25.2
	Green	Miss Alison M. Mander	569	1.2	N/A
	National Front	Robert I. Tenney	132	0.3	N/A
Majority			13,828	29.0	+19.3
Turnout			47,725	71.2	−2.2
	Labour hold		Swing	+4.5

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Leeds West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Battle	21,032	43.23
	SDP–Liberal Alliance	Michael Meadowcroft	16,340	33.59
	Conservative	P Allott	11,276	23.18
Majority			4,692	9.64
Turnout				73.33
	Labour gain from Liberal		Swing

General Election 1983: Leeds West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Michael Meadowcroft	17,908	38.42
	Labour	J Dean	15,860	34.02
	Conservative	J Keeble	12,515	26.85
	BNP	A Braithwaite	334	0.72
Majority			2,048	4.39
Turnout				69.02
	Liberal gain from Labour		Swing

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in West Yorkshire