South Leicestershire is a

constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger State (polity), state (a country, administrative region, ...

represented in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

of the

UK Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative supremac ...

since

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

by Alberto Costa, a member of the Conservative Party. The current constituency has similar boundaries to the previous Blaby constituency. Historically the "Southern Division of

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

", was a

county constituency In the United Kingdom (UK), each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one member to the House of Commons. Within the United Kingdom there are five bodies with members elected by electoral districts called "constituenc ...

, less formally known as South Leicestershire. From 1832 to 1885 it elected two

Members of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MPs) by the bloc vote system of election.

Boundaries

1832–1885: The Hundreds of Gartree (excluding the parishes of Baggrave, Burrough, Knossington,

Marefield Marefield is a hamlet and civil parish in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 20. At the census 2011 the population remained less than 100 and is included in the civil paris ...

, Pickwell-cum-Leesthorpe, Ouston, and Newbold-Saucey), Sparkenhoe and Guthlaxton, and the Borough of Leicester and the Liberties thereof.

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 Harborough () is a local government district of Leicestershire, England, named after its main town, Market Harborough. Covering , the district is by far the largest of the eight district authorities in Leicestershire and covers almost a quarter o ...

'' *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''2010 post-revision map non-metropolitan areas and unitary authorities of England
/ref>

Constituency profile

The current South Leicestershire is a slice of

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 Braunstone is a civil parish and is the largest parish within the district of Blaby in Leicestershire, England, now known as the Town of Braunstone or more commonly, Braunstone Town. In 2007 the population was around 15,000. There are around ...

, 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 Lutterworth is a market town and civil parish in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England. The town is located in southern Leicestershire, close to the borders with Warwickshire and Northamptonshire. It is located north of Rugby, ...

. Nearby is the former site of

RAF Bitteswell Royal Air Force Bitteswell or more simply RAF Bitteswell is a former Royal Air Force satellite station located west of Lutterworth, Leicestershire and north of Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Construction of the grass airfield at RAF Bittesw ...

, since redeveloped as Magna Park, one of the largest distribution centres in Europe. The constituency name of South Leicestershire was new for

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, but the seat was not massively changed from the old seat of Blaby. Both this and 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 Nigel Lawson, Baron Lawson of Blaby, (born 11 March 1932) is a British Conservative Party politician and journalist. He was a Member of Parliament representing the constituency of Blaby from 1974 to 1992, and served in the cabinet of Margaret ...

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 The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 (48 & 49 Vict., c. 23) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was a piece of electoral reform legislation that redistributed the seats in the House of Commons, introducing the concept of equal ...

for the 1885 general election, when they were replaced by four new single-seat constituencies: Bosworth,

Harborough Market Harborough is a market town in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England, in the far southeast of the county, forming part of the border with Northamptonshire. Market Harborough's population was 25,143 in 2020. It is the ad ...

Loughborough Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England, the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and Loughborough University. At the 2011 census the town's built-up area had a population of 59,932 , the second larg ...

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 Albert Pell (12 March 1820 – 7 April 1907) was an English solicitor and Conservative Party politician. Early life Pell was born in 1820, the eldest son of Sir Albert Pell, a judge of the Bankruptcy Courts and Margaret Letitia Matilda St John, ...

, a member of a group of MPs, which included

Henry Chaplin Henry Chaplin, 1st Viscount Chaplin (22 December 1840 – 29 May 1923) was a British landowner, racehorse owner and Conservative Party politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1868 until 1916 when he was raised to the peerage. Backgrou ...

, Sir Massey Lopes and

Clare Sewell Read Clare Sewell Read (6 November 1826 – 21 August 1905) was a British agriculturist and Conservative politician. Early life He was born in 1826 in Ketteringham, Norfolk, and was the eldest son of George Read of Barton Bendish Hall, and his wif ...

, 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

MPs since 2010

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

:* ''Served as an MP in the 2005–2010 Parliament''

Elections in the 1880s

Elections in the 1870s

* Caused by Curzon-Howe succeeding to the peerage, becoming Earl Howe.

Elections in the 1860s

* Caused by Packe's death.

Elections in the 1850s

Elections in the 1840s

Elections in the 1830s

* Caused by Turner's resignation

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leicestershire South Parliamentary constituencies in Leicestershire Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1832 Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 1885 Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 2010