Leeds North West (UK Parliament constituency)
Leeds North West is a constituency in the City of Leeds which has been represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2017 by Alex Sobel, of the Labour and Co-operative Party.
The seat has been relative to others a marginal seat since 2010 as its winner's majority has not exceeded 9.1% of the vote since the 20.1% majority won in that year. The seat has changed hands once since that year.Boundaries
1950–1955: The County Borough of Leeds wards of Far Headingley, Hyde Park, and Kirkstall.
1955–1974: The County Borough of Leeds wards of Far Headingley, Hyde Park, Kirkstall, Meanwood, and Moortown.
1974–1983: The County Borough of Leeds wards of Cookridge, Headingley, Kirkstall, Moortown, and Weetwood.
1983–2010: The City of Leeds wards of Cookridge, Headingley, Otley and Wharfedale, and Weetwood.
2010–present: The City of Leeds wards of Adel and Wharfedale, Headingley, Otley and Yeadon, and Weetwood.
The constituency covers the north western part of the metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire. It stretches from Yeadon in the north west and Otley in the north east to Headingley in the south in terms of major settlements.History
The constituency was created in 1950, as Leeds North-West; the name was changed by dropping the hyphen in 1955. Before the 1950 general election, Leeds was represented by the constituencies of: Leeds Central, Leeds North, Leeds South, Leeds West, ; Leeds North-East and Leeds South-East. There were also constituencies of Batley and Morley and Pudsey and Otley. Leeds North West was created before the 1950 election, and at the same time the Pudsey and Otley constituency was abolished, re-creating the Pudsey constituency and moving Otley into the Ripon constituency. The Leeds North West boundary was revised prior to the 1983 general election, bringing in Otley and the nearby villages of Bramhope, Pool-in-Wharfedale and Arthington from the abolition of the Ripon constituency.
The constituency was held for the Conservative Party by Donald Kaberry from its creation in 1950 until his retirement in 1983, and then by Keith Hampson, who had previously been MP for Ripon. It was taken for Labour in the 1997 general election by Harold Best, who was re-elected in the 2001 general election. Best retired at the 2005 general election. The seat was contested for Labour by Judith Blake, but it was taken for the Liberal Democrats by Greg Mulholland. Mulholland was re-elected in 2010 and 2015. Alex Sobel regained the seat for Labour in the 2017 general election.Constituency profile
This constituency has one of the biggest student populations in the country at over a quarter of the electorate; it comprises outer Leeds suburbs that are professional, middle-to-high income and residential.
It is within the Yorkshire and the Humber European Parliament constituency, which is represented by three Brexit Party, one Labour, one Liberal Democrat and one Green Party MEPs.Members of Parliament
Elections
Elections in the 2000s
Elections in the 1980s
Elections in the 1970s
Elections in the 1960s
Elections in the 1950s
