Leeds South is a parliamentary constituency in the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, which returns one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The constituency existed from 1885 to 1983 and was recreated in 2024 following the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies.
In the 2024 general election, the seat was won by Hilary Benn of the Labour Party, who serves as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in the government of Keir Starmer. Benn had represented Leeds Central, the main predecessor of Leeds South, since 1999.
Leeds South was the seat of the former Leader of the Labour Party, the late Hugh Gaitskell, and the former Home Secretary Merlyn Rees.
Constituency profile Leeds South is a constituency in West Yorkshire, covering the areas of Leeds south and east of the city centre. This includes the neighbourhoods of Halton, Osmondthorpe, Burmantofts, Hunslet, Holbeck, Beeston, Belle Isle and Middleton. Leeds is one of the United Kingdom's largest cities and grew rapidly during the Industrial Revolution as a centre for textile manufacturing, especially wool. Today the city has a diverse economy and is the largest legal and financial centre in England outside of London. The southern parts of the constituency have a history of coal mining and much of the area consists of 20th-century low-income flats and council estates. Leeds South is one of the country's most deprived constituencies, with much of it falling within the top 10% most-deprived areas of England. House prices are lower than the rest of Yorkshire and less than half the national average.
On average, residents of the constituency are young and have low levels of education and homeownership. They are unlikely to work in professional occupations and household income is low. White people made up 68% of the population at the 2021 census. Black people were the largest ethnic minority group at 14% (mainly concentrated in Burmantofts) and Asians were 11% (mostly in Beeston). Most of the constituency elected Labour Party councillors at the local city council. Middleton is represented by the Social Democratic Party, the party's only local government representation in the country. An estimated 59% of voters in Leeds South supported leaving the European Union in the 2016 referendum, higher than the nationwide figure of 52%.
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.
The constituency was abolished for the 1983 general election. It was then split between the re-established constituency of Leeds Central, which included just over half of the seat's boundaries, and the new constituency of Morley and Leeds South, which took slightly under half of the seat's boundaries. After the 1983 general election Leeds was represented by the constituencies of Leeds Central, Leeds East, Leeds North East, Leeds North West, Leeds West and Morley and Leeds South. There were also constituencies of Elmet (created 1983) and Pudsey.
Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat was re-established for the 2024 general election, formed primarily from the (abolished) constituency of Leeds Central, but excluding the city centre, and including a small part of Leeds East and a very small part of Morley and Outwood. The notional 2019 result for the new seat was Labour.
Boundaries 1885–1983 1885–1918: The Municipal Borough of Leeds wards of East Hunslet, South, and West Hunslet, and part of Bramley ward.
1918–1950: The County Borough of Leeds wards of Holbeck and West Hunslet, and part of New Wortley ward.
1950–1951: The County Borough of Leeds wards of Beeston, Holbeck South, Hunslet Carr and Middleton, and West Hunslet.
1951–1955: The County Borough of Leeds wards of Beeston, Holbeck, Hunslet Carr, and Middleton.
1955–1974: The County Borough of Leeds wards of Beeston, Holbeck, Hunslet Carr, and Middleton.
1974–1983: The County Borough of Leeds wards of Beeston, East Hunslet, Holbeck, Middleton, and West Hunslet.
2024–present The City of Leeds wards of Beeston & Holbeck, Burmantofts & Richmond Hill, Hunslet & Riverside, Middleton Park, and Temple Newsam (part).
The part ward of Temple Newsam was transferred from Leeds East, with the bulk of the remainder comprising approximately 72% of the electorate of the abolished Leeds Central seat.
Leeds South saw one of the lowest turnouts of any constituency at the 2024 election, with just 42% of eligible voters casting a ballot.
Members of Parliament MPs 1885–1983
Leeds prior to 1885
ElectionMemberPartyNotes 1885 Lyon Playfair Liberal Member for Edinburgh and St Andrews Universities (1868–1885)Elevated to the peerage as Baron Playfair in September 1892 1892 by-election John Lawson Walton Liberal Attorney General for England and Wales (1905–1908), Died January 1908 1908 by-election William Middlebrook Liberal 1916 Coalition Liberal Jan 1922 National Liberal Nov 1922 Henry Charleton Labour 1931 Noel Whiteside Conservative 1935 Henry Charleton Labour 1945 Hugh Gaitskell Labour Minister of Fuel and Power (1947–1950)Secretary of State for Economic Affairs (1950)Chancellor of the Exchequer (1950–1951)Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer (1951–1955)Leader of the Labour Party (1955–1963), Died January 1963 1963 by-election Merlyn Rees Labour Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1972–1974)Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1974–1979)Home Secretary (1976–1979)Contested Morley & Leeds South following redistribution1983 Constituency abolished
MPs since 2024 Leeds Central prior to 2024
ElectionMemberParty 2024 Hilary Benn Labour
Elections Elections in the 2020s
Elections in the 2010s
2019 notional result Party Vote % Labour 25,263 58.4 Conservative 11,377 26.3 Brexit Party 2,771 6.4 Liberal Democrats 1,922 4.4 Green 1,635 3.8 Others 281 0.6Turnout43,24957.9Electorate74,726
Election results 1885–1983 Elections in the 1880s
Playfair was appointed Vice-President of the Committee of the Council on Education, requiring a by-election.
Elections in the 1890s
Caused by Playfair's elevation to the peerage.
Elections in the 1900s
Elections in the 1910s
General Election 1914–15:
Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by July 1914, the following candidates had been selected; Liberal: William Middlebrook Unionist: Labour:
* Brook was supported by the three local branches of National Association of Discharged Sailors and Soldiers, National Federation of Discharged and Demobilized Sailors and Soldiers and Comrades of the Great War.
Elections in the 1920s
Elections in the 1930s
General Election 1939–40:
Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1940. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by the Autumn of 1939, the following candidates had been selected; Labour: Hugh GaitskellYorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer 31 March 1939 Conservative: Donald Kaberry Liberal: J. Alun WilliamsYorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer 6 June 1939 British Union: John Angus Macnab
Elections in the 1940s
Elections in the 1950s
Elections in the 1960s
Elections in the 1970s
1970 notional result Party Vote % Labour 22,300 61.6 Conservative 9,800 27.1 Liberal 4,100 11.3Turnout36,20065.4Electorate55,334
See also List of parliamentary constituencies in West Yorkshire List of parliamentary constituencies in the Yorkshire and the Humber (region)
Notes
References
External links
Leeds South UK Parliament constituency (boundaries from June 2024) at MapIt UK