This profile is partly freshly constructed and partly based on the sterling efforts on the previous sub-board of kvasir, who has kindly given his permission to reproduce.
The new constituency of Leeds West and Pudsey is an interesting hybrid. It contains just under half of each of two previous seats – yes: Leeds West, and Pudsey. It is therefore technically the successor to neither of these. However, although there is slightly more of the former Pudsey (49.7%) than of Leeds West (49.4%) – and Pudsey was the more populous seat, too - the rest of Pudsey, just over half of it, is in fact the core of the constituency named Leeds North West after the review. On the other hand, by far the largest chunk of the former Leeds West continues to be in the seat led by that name, as 26.2% of it goes into Leeds South West & Morley, and 24.4% into Leeds Central & Headingley. Therefore this profile will consider that Leeds West & Pudsey is more the successor to Leeds West.
Wards in the city of Leeds are very large, almost all of between 15,000 and 19,000 electors, though fortunately a combination of four of them usually met the quota for constituencies in the boundary review that reported in 2023; in the seven seats with Leeds in their name recommended by the Commission, only one ward, Temple Newsam, has been split (between Leeds East and Leeds South). The Leeds West section of this constituency includes the two wards of Armley and Bramley & Stanningley. The other half brings Calverley & Farsley as well as Pudsey.
In the most recent municipal elections in May 2023, Labour won the Armley and Bramley & Stanningley wards, as they have in the former case ever since 1988 and in the latter since the creation of the metropolitan borough of Leeds in 1973. The Bramley ward is still very safe: in 2023 Labour received 62% of the vote there, with the Tories runners up with a mere 16%. Armley, on the other hand, was a close run thing. Labour polled 44% but the Greens took 40% (this may have been assisted by their candidate being the incumbent councillor, Lou Cunningham, who had defected from Labour to the Green party in December 2022). In the Pudsey section, Labour held the marginal Calverley & Farsley (usually Conservative over the decades but with victories shared equally over the six contests leading up to 2023), but the Conservatives retained Pudsey on that occasion, despite its history being the reverse of Calverley’s – Labour won Pudsey ward continually between 1994 and 2016 but have usually lost it since. Overall across Leeds West & Pudsey, the figures in May 2023 add up to 51.7% Labour, 30.5% Conservative and in third place the Greens with 12.5%.
The demographic statistics of Leeds West & Pudsey (from the 2021 census) are, as may be expected, half way between those of Leeds West, which covered predominantly inner city type neighbourhoods, and Pudsey, which consists of small towns of a more independent nature which were not included in a Leeds authority before its bounds were substantially expanded in the 1970s. As a result the overall owner occupant rate is 57% - that of the former Leeds West had been 51% (also in 2021), Pudsey 73%. Similarly the professional and managerial occupation figure of the new seat is 31%. Pudsey was as high as 39%, Leeds West just 25%. Thus pattern is replicated in the MSOA level 2021 census results within the new seat: Calverley and Farsley North has a prof/man rate of 48.6%, Armley only 19%. As far as ‘no educational qualifications’ goes, in Calverley & Farsley North the figure is 12%, in Armley 27%. 38& of housing in Armley is social rented and 46% in Bramley Fall MSOA – but in most of Pudsey, Calverley and Farsley the owner occupation rate is over 70%. The exception in the bipartite division is ethnicity, because in the New Pudsey MSOA over 39% of residents are Asian, as this is the ward adjoining parts of Bradford such as Thornbury, which was 77% Asian in 2021. By the time we reach New Pudsey, we are much closer to the centre of Bradford than of Leeds; indeed the whole of the Pudsey section could be described as traditionally half way between the two cities. To that extent, the creation of the Leeds West & Pudsey constituency seems rather artificial.
Overall, Leeds West & Pudsey may be expected to be a safe Labour seat, and it comes as no surprise that Rachel Reeves, likely to be the next Labour party Chancellor of the Exchequer, has opted for selection for this constituency. The Pudsey division was a marginal win by Labour in the Blair years, by the Conservatives before and since (rather like the government of the nation as a whole). Leeds West may seem like a working class Labour stronghold, but in fact has an interesting history that may be worth recounting by
kvasir.
Leeds West was first created as a constituency name in 1885. The seat has almost always included the areas of Armley, Bramley, and Wortley. Farnley and Stanningley are often included. A significant change occurred when Kirkstall was moved into the constituency in 1983 despite the area normally being associated with Headingley. New ward boundaries were made in Leeds in 2004 and the new boundaries were fixed in 2010. New boundary changes in Leeds in 2018 did not substantively effect those in this constituency.
At first the seat was Liberal. As the Labour Party grew they decided to stand a candidate for the first time in post-war 1918 General Election going against the coalition backed Liberal John Murray. Labour selected the Leader of the Labour Group on the Council, John Arnott, a Scottish former blacksmith who would be heavily involved in Labour Politics in the city before finally winning a seat in Hull in the twenties. Arnott got 29.5% and Murray got 61.9%.
By the next election 1922 the Labour Party nominated a new candidate, Thomas Stamford. He was a bookbinder from Bradford and had served in Bradford City Council and then was president of the Bradford Trades and Labour Council. He achieved 48.3% to Murray's 51.7%, a dramatic improvement. By next years 1923 election the Tories decided to stand Alexander Renton as a Unionist and Labour stuck with Stamford. The Liberal incumbent Murray came third. Labour's Stamford lost support both in raw number and as a proportion but he came through the middle to take the seat. Stamford would face Renton again in 2024. With Murray moving back to Scotland to ultimately lose to the Labour incumbent, the Liberals select Herbert Brown. Stamford would win by only three votes.
Labour would hold the seat in the 1929 election with 47% on a turnout of 79%, an impressive result against two new candidates for the Liberals and the Unionists. The Liberal Party decided to not stand in 1931 and Stamford faced the Conservative Samuel Adams, known by his middle name Vyvyan. Stamford lost to Adams 37/63 which shouldn't be surprising for those who know their history since the '31 election was the government of national unity which saw the coalition receive 554 seats. Despite Labour gaining over a hundred seats in 1935, Leeds West was not one of them though Stamford stood again and narrowed the lead to 54/46. Vyvyan Adams was an interesting Tory. One of only two to vote against the Munich agreement with Hitler in 1938 and opposed the death penalty. He served as a Major in WWII. After the war in 1945 Adams lost to Stamford who had stood again, regaining his seat after 14 years turning a majority of 3,234 to a majority of 14,136, in part due to the brief return of a Liberal candidate James Booth. Stamford would remain an MP for a further four years before committing suicide. It isn't clear to me exactly why, but Stamford had been the standard bearer for Labour in Leeds West from 1922 to 1949.
This caused a by-election which was won by Charles Pannell, the Deputy Leader of the Labour group of Kent County Council. He would go on to hold the seat until his retirement in the February 1974 General Election. He would then become a Peer, Baron Pannell of the City of Leeds before dying in 1980. He was also briefly a minister for Public Buildings and works from '64 to '66. Pannell would win Leeds West by a series of convincing if not overwhelming majorities. In '51 his majority was cut to 3,400 (55/45). Labour never dropped below 50%, even when a Liberal stood in 1955, and then again from '64 onwards.
As mentioned, Pannell stood aside in Feb '74. Labour selected Joseph Dean (known as Joe). He was the leader of the Manchester Corporation. He had left school at 14 and became an engineering apprentice. During the first '74 election Michael Meadowcroft, a Liberal, managed to come second, overtaking the Conservatives. Joe Dean managed 42% of the total vote cast and had a majority of about 4,000. By the second '74 election Joe Dean managed 49.6% and increased his majority by 7,600 with Meadowcroft again coming second. Meadowcroft was dropped by '79 and Joe Dean managed a 49.4% and a majority of 9,700 with the Tories coming second, the new liberal candidate third, and the national front standing for the first time.
Then came '83. Meadowcroft stood again, he was a heavily involved in local council Liberal politics. He waged an impressive doorstep campaign. The result shocked Labour. Liberal's 17,908 to Labour's 15,860. Remember this also represented the inclusion of Kirkstall Ward in the seat for the first time. By the '87 election Labour selected John Battle. He had been a Labour Councillor in Leeds from 1980 and had stood for Labour in '83 in Leeds North West. Despite the difficulties nationally for Labour in '87, John Battle won the seat with 43% of the vote to Meadowcroft's 33%. By '92 John Battle increased his vote share to 55.1% with Meadowcroft standing for the old school Liberals coming fourth behind the Conservatives who came second and the Liberal Democrats who came third. The Greens came fifth (standing for the first time) and the National Front came sixth; the largest number of parties to have stood up to this point.
Labour get into government in '97 and John Battle increases his vote share to 26,819 votes or 66.7% of those cast. Second place went to the Conservatives with 7,048 with 17.5%. This was the largest majority Labour ever had for the seat, 19,771. In '45 Labour had managed 14,136. John Battle would defeat Kris Hopkins in 2001 (who would go on to become MP for Keighley in 2010) with ease. The 2005 election saw Labour's majority cut to 12,810 with the Liberal Democrats jumping to second with Darren Finlay. John Battle stood aside for the 2010 election which Labour are destined to lose. The Liberal Democrats try one last push, nominating Ruth Coleman who had been standing in the most Liberal friendly ward, Kirkstall, continuously for several rounds of elections. Whilst she did come second and increased the Lib Dem vote to 9,373, the Labour Party nominated Rachel Reeves who won 16,389 votes. Reeves got a PPE degree from Oxford, was a Bank of England economist and worked at the Washington D.C. embassy. Coleman's vote was not sufficient to win her the Kirkstall ward either, losing to Bernard Atha, a veteran councillor, 4,012 to 3,125. They will not come close again (as of the 2019 election).
Rachel Reeves was seen as a rising star, labelled by the media as part of the 'Nandos Five'. She would nominate and back Ed Miliband for the Labour Leadership. She ended up in the Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury. She has a reputation for being very right wing. The reality is far less extreme. She became spokesperson for some of the Labour policies which were considered at the time too left wing (remember 'Red Ed') and therefore to balance that they were often framed in more centrist language. So yeah, she's become somewhat of a bogeyman for the Left Wing Labour. She actually doesn't do much to challenge the hard right caricature some on the left have established of her. But it is true she was not a massive fan of the sharp turn the party took with Corbyn, retreating from the Shadow Cabinet to the backbenches and becoming Chair of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee. Rachel Reeves has won the seat every election since. In 2017 she won her largest majority of just shy of 16,000 votes. The most recent election in December 2019 she had a majority of about 10,500.
Rachel Reeves should win Leeds West & Pudsey in a 2024 general election, and certainly will if Labour is able to form a government, in which she is likely to hold high office. It would not be unprecedented for a major figure in the Labour party to represent a Leeds constituency: the former leader (1955-63) Hugh Gaitskell sat for Leeds South, and his successor there, Merlyn Rees, became Home Secretary (1976-79). The formidable Denis Healey, Chancellor of the Exchequer 1974-79 and Deputy Leader 1980-83, was MP for Leeds SE, then East. Some may continue to doubt whether Pudsey is really ‘Leeds’, but there is enough Leeds West in this seat to count, and indeed to keep Leeds W & Pudsey in the Labour column for the foreseeable future.
2021 Census, new boundariesAge 65+ 15.2% 438/575
Owner occupied 57.3% 436/575
Private rented 20.8% 185/575
Social rented 21.9% 114/575
White 84.6% 364/575
Black 3.4% 172/575
Asian 7.7% 203/575
Managerial & professional 31.3% 319/575
Routine & Semi-routine 26.7% 179/575
Degree level 30.9% 316/575
No qualifications 20.2% 182/575
Students 5.9% 248/575
General Election 2019: Leeds WestParty Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Rachel Reeves 22,186 55.1 -8.9Conservative Mark Dormer 11,622 28.9 +2.7
Brexit Party Philip Mars 2,685 6.7 N/A
Liberal Democrats Dan Walker 1,787 4.4 +2.3
Green Victoria Smith 1,274 3.2 +0.7
Yorkshire Ian Cowling 650 1.6 +0.7
SDP Daniel Whetstone 46 0.1 N/A
Alliance for Green Socialism Mike Davies 31 0.1 =
Lab Majority 10,564 26.2 -11.62019 electorate 67,727
Turnout 40,281 59.5 -2.6
Labour hold
Swing 5.8 Lab to C
Boundary ChangesLeeds West and Pudsey consists of
49.7% of Pudsey
49.4% of Leeds West
Mapboundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk/review2023/9bc0b2ea-7915-4997-9d4a-3e313c0ceb51/yorkshire-and-the-humber/Yorkshire%20and%20the%20Humber%20Region_519_Leeds%20West%20and%20Pudsey_Landscape.pdf2019 Notional Results on New Boundaries (Rallings and Thrasher)
| Lab | 23220 | 48.4% |
| Con | 20257 | 42.2% |
| LD | 1747 | 3.6% |
| Brexit | 1330 | 2.8% |
Green
| 687 | 1.4%
|
| YP | 650 | 1.4% |
| Oths | 77 | 0.2% |
| Lab Majority | 2963 | 6.2% |
