Post by YL on Jan 7, 2024 9:40:16 GMT
Although another constituency has been created called Leeds Central & Headingley, it is the new Leeds South which is really the successor to the old Leeds Central constituency, including most of its territory but the name change being justified by the removal of most of the city centre. Having a Benn as an MP and Social Democratic Party councillors may suggest a 1980s throwback, though in both cases the politics are a bit different from those of the 1980s versions.
Most of the city centre has indeed gone to Leeds Central & Headingley, but an area on the southern edge, including Leeds railway station and the area around the River Aire, remains here, forming the northernmost part of Hunslet & Riverside ward and the north-eastern corner of Beeston & Holbeck ward. As with many city centres, these areas have a young, highly educated population mostly living in privately rented flats.
The remainder of those two wards covers Hunslet, Beeston (not be confused with the one near Nottingham), Beeston Hill and Holbeck. This is the core of inner city south Leeds, with an ethnically diverse working class population. 19th and early 20th century housing, sometimes back to back, remains in some of this area but in other parts it has been demolished and replaced with post-war council housing. Both Beeston & Holbeck and Hunslet & Riverside wards usually vote Labour, but in 2022 the Greens managed to take a seat in the latter; Labour held on in 2023, though.
Further south is the ward of Middleton Park, covering Middleton and Belle Isle. This is the Middleton which gives its name to the Middleton Railway, the world's oldest continuously working railway, originally built for coal transport and now a tourist attraction. Apart from the park to which it gives its name, most of the ward is covered by extensive council estates, of the cottage estate type, though there are a couple of enclaves of private housing, especially some modern developments on the southern edge. Except for those modern developments, this is another working class area; generally it is whiter than the inner city areas to the north, although there is a considerable black population in Belle Isle. The ward has mostly voted Labour; however it gave some very high shares to the BNP (who nearly took a seat in 2008) and later UKIP, and it has now become a stronghold of the party who have inherited the name of the Social Democratic Party, who have taken seats off Labour here in both 2022 and 2023.
The constituency also contains some areas east of Leeds city centre. Burmantofts & Richmond Hill ward covers the named areas together with East End Park and Osmondthorpe. This is another inner city working class area, containing some of the most deprived areas in Leeds. Again, there is a mixture of older housing, including some back to backs, and more modern council housing, including some tower blocks, in slum clearance areas. This ward has been strongly Labour for some time, though it had Liberal Democrat councillors before the Coalition.
Finally, and added in the boundary changes, are Halton and Halton Moor in Temple Newsam ward, the rest of which remains in Leeds East. Halton Moor is another cottage estate, while Halton contains private semi-detached housing. This would be the more Labour-inclined part of Temple Newsam ward, a ward which usually votes Labour though has occasionally voted Conservative, so the addition will not change the generally Labour tendencies of this constituency.
Overall this is a deprived and working class constituency, the most working class of the Leeds constituencies, the city centre parts being outliers within it. The proportion with no qualifications is high, the highest in the city, and that with degrees is mostly low, though for the constituency as a whole it is boosted by the city centre parts and is higher than for Leeds East and slightly higher than for Leeds South West & Morley. Both the proportions in socially rented and private rented housing are high, especially the former, and correspondingly the proportion of owner occupied housing is very low.
A Leeds South constituency existed from 1885 until 1983. From 1950 onwards it was quite similar to this constituency but did not include the areas to the east, and it consistently voted Labour, including being the constituency of Labour leader Hugh Gaitskell. In 1983 the southern parts, mostly the Middleton area, formed a new constituency with Morley, while Beeston and Holbeck became part of Leeds Central. Middleton joined Leeds Central in 2010, and the latest round of changes convert it back into Leeds South. All these constituencies have consistently voted Labour, and the new constituency should be safe for them, in spite of that SDP presence in Middleton. Hilary Benn, son of Tony but with more moderate politics, has been the MP for Leeds Central since winning a notoriously low turnout by-election in 1999, and at the time of writing is expected to inherit this constituency.
2019 notional result (Rallings & Thrasher):
Lab 25263 (58.4%)
Con 11377 (26.3%)
Brexit Party 2771 (6.4%)
Lib Dem 1922 (4.4%)
Green 1635 (3.8%)
Other 281 (0.6%)
Lab majority 13886 (32.1%)
Most of the city centre has indeed gone to Leeds Central & Headingley, but an area on the southern edge, including Leeds railway station and the area around the River Aire, remains here, forming the northernmost part of Hunslet & Riverside ward and the north-eastern corner of Beeston & Holbeck ward. As with many city centres, these areas have a young, highly educated population mostly living in privately rented flats.
The remainder of those two wards covers Hunslet, Beeston (not be confused with the one near Nottingham), Beeston Hill and Holbeck. This is the core of inner city south Leeds, with an ethnically diverse working class population. 19th and early 20th century housing, sometimes back to back, remains in some of this area but in other parts it has been demolished and replaced with post-war council housing. Both Beeston & Holbeck and Hunslet & Riverside wards usually vote Labour, but in 2022 the Greens managed to take a seat in the latter; Labour held on in 2023, though.
Further south is the ward of Middleton Park, covering Middleton and Belle Isle. This is the Middleton which gives its name to the Middleton Railway, the world's oldest continuously working railway, originally built for coal transport and now a tourist attraction. Apart from the park to which it gives its name, most of the ward is covered by extensive council estates, of the cottage estate type, though there are a couple of enclaves of private housing, especially some modern developments on the southern edge. Except for those modern developments, this is another working class area; generally it is whiter than the inner city areas to the north, although there is a considerable black population in Belle Isle. The ward has mostly voted Labour; however it gave some very high shares to the BNP (who nearly took a seat in 2008) and later UKIP, and it has now become a stronghold of the party who have inherited the name of the Social Democratic Party, who have taken seats off Labour here in both 2022 and 2023.
The constituency also contains some areas east of Leeds city centre. Burmantofts & Richmond Hill ward covers the named areas together with East End Park and Osmondthorpe. This is another inner city working class area, containing some of the most deprived areas in Leeds. Again, there is a mixture of older housing, including some back to backs, and more modern council housing, including some tower blocks, in slum clearance areas. This ward has been strongly Labour for some time, though it had Liberal Democrat councillors before the Coalition.
Finally, and added in the boundary changes, are Halton and Halton Moor in Temple Newsam ward, the rest of which remains in Leeds East. Halton Moor is another cottage estate, while Halton contains private semi-detached housing. This would be the more Labour-inclined part of Temple Newsam ward, a ward which usually votes Labour though has occasionally voted Conservative, so the addition will not change the generally Labour tendencies of this constituency.
Overall this is a deprived and working class constituency, the most working class of the Leeds constituencies, the city centre parts being outliers within it. The proportion with no qualifications is high, the highest in the city, and that with degrees is mostly low, though for the constituency as a whole it is boosted by the city centre parts and is higher than for Leeds East and slightly higher than for Leeds South West & Morley. Both the proportions in socially rented and private rented housing are high, especially the former, and correspondingly the proportion of owner occupied housing is very low.
A Leeds South constituency existed from 1885 until 1983. From 1950 onwards it was quite similar to this constituency but did not include the areas to the east, and it consistently voted Labour, including being the constituency of Labour leader Hugh Gaitskell. In 1983 the southern parts, mostly the Middleton area, formed a new constituency with Morley, while Beeston and Holbeck became part of Leeds Central. Middleton joined Leeds Central in 2010, and the latest round of changes convert it back into Leeds South. All these constituencies have consistently voted Labour, and the new constituency should be safe for them, in spite of that SDP presence in Middleton. Hilary Benn, son of Tony but with more moderate politics, has been the MP for Leeds Central since winning a notoriously low turnout by-election in 1999, and at the time of writing is expected to inherit this constituency.
2019 notional result (Rallings & Thrasher):
Lab 25263 (58.4%)
Con 11377 (26.3%)
Brexit Party 2771 (6.4%)
Lib Dem 1922 (4.4%)
Green 1635 (3.8%)
Other 281 (0.6%)
Lab majority 13886 (32.1%)
