Leeds West (UK Parliament constituency)

Template:Short description Template:Use British English Template:Infobox UK constituency main Leeds West was a borough constituency covering the western part of the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire which was represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first-past-the-post system of election. With the exception of the Parliament of 1983–87, the seat was held by Labour from 1945 until its abolition.

The seat was abolished for the 2024 general election and replaced primarily by Leeds West and Pudsey.

Boundaries

Template:Maplink 1885–1918: The Municipal Borough of Leeds wards of Armley and Wortley, Holbeck, and New Wortley, and part of Bramley ward.

1918–1950: The County Borough of Leeds wards of Armley and Wortley, and Bramley, and part of New Wortley ward.

1950–1951: The County Borough of Leeds wards of Bramley, Farnley and Wortley, and Upper Armley.

1951–1955: The County Borough of Leeds wards of Armley, Bramley, Stanningley, and Wortley.

1955–1974: The County Borough of Leeds wards of Armley, Bramley, Stanningley, Wellington, and Wortley.

1974–1983: The County Borough wards of Armley and Castleton, Bramley, Stanningley, and Wortley.

1980–1983: The City of Leeds wards of Armley, Bramley, and Wortley.

1983–2010: The City of Leeds wards of Armley, Bramley, Kirkstall, and Wortley.

2010–2024: The City of Leeds wards of Armley, Bramley and Stanningley, Farnley and Wortley, and Kirkstall. Unusually for a Parliamentary seat, the boundaries did not correspond exactly to the wards' boundaries. The seat included small areas of the wards for Calverley and Farsley, and Morley North, but also excluded a very small area of Farnley and Wortley, which fell under Leeds Central.

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.

Abolition

Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat was abolished for the 2024 general election, with its contents distributed to three new constituencies:

• Armley, Bramley and Stanningley to Leeds West and Pudsey
• Farnley and Wortley to Leeds South West and Morley
• Kirkstall to Leeds Central and Headingley

Members of Parliament

Leeds prior to 1885

Year		Member	Party
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1885	Herbert Gladstone	Liberal
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1910	Edmund Harvey	Liberal
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1918	John Murray	Coalition Liberal
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1922		Liberal
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1923	Thomas Stamford	Labour
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1931	Vyvyan Adams	Conservative
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1945	Thomas Stamford	Labour
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1949	Charles Pannell	Labour
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1974	Joe Dean	Labour
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1983	Michael Meadowcroft	Liberal
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1987	John Battle	Labour
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	2010	Rachel Reeves	Labour
	2024	Constituency abolished

Election results 1885–2024

Elections in the 1880s

File:Herbert Gladstone.jpg

H. Gladstone

General election 1885: Leeds West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Herbert Gladstone	Template:Replace	61.7
		William Wheelhouse	3,804	38.3
Majority			2,326	23.4
Turnout			9,934	82.4
Registered electors			12,058
	win (new seat)

File:Sketch of Charles Frederick Williams.jpg

Charles Williams

General election 1886: Leeds West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Herbert Gladstone	Template:Replace	63.8
		Charles Williams	2,970	36.2
Majority			2,256	27.6
Turnout			8,196	68.0
Registered electors			12,058
	hold		Swing	+1.6

Elections in the 1890s

General election 1892: Leeds West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Herbert Gladstone	Template:Replace	51.5
		Arthur Greenwood	5,621	48.5
Majority			353	3.0
Turnout			11,595	85.8
Registered electors			13,510
	hold		Swing	-12.3

Template:Election box winning candidate unopposed with party link

By-election 16 Mar 1894: Leeds West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	hold

Gladstone is appointed First Commissioner of Works, requiring a by-election.

File:John Thomas North.jpeg

J.T. North

General election 1895: Leeds West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Herbert Gladstone	Template:Replace	50.4
		John Thomas North	6,218	49.6
Majority			96	0.8
Turnout			12,532	87.3
Registered electors			14,358
	hold		Swing	-1.1

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1900: Leeds West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Herbert Gladstone	Template:Replace	51.9
		Walter Harding	6,522	48.1
Majority			521	3.8
Turnout			13,565	80.4
Registered electors			16,867
	hold		Swing	+1.5

File:Herbert John Gladstone.jpg

H. Gladstone

General election 1906: Leeds West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Herbert Gladstone	Template:Replace	66.6
		Samuel Samuel	4,650	33.4
Majority			4,608	33.2
Turnout			13,908	75.1
Registered electors			18,518
	hold		Swing	+14.7

Elections in the 1910s

File:Edmund Harvey.jpg

Edmund Harvey

General election January 1910: Leeds West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Edmund Harvey	Template:Replace	60.0
		Samuel Samuel	6,654	40.0
Majority			3,315	20.0
Turnout			16,623	88.1
	hold		Swing	-6.6

General election December 1910: Leeds West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Edmund Harvey	Template:Replace	66.2
		George Jones	4,445	33.8
Majority			4,270	32.4
Turnout			13,160	69.7
	hold		Swing	+6.2

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 the July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

• Liberal: Edmund Harvey
• Unionist:

Template:Election box winning candidate with party link coalition 1918Template:Election box end 1918 * Chapman 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

General election 1918: Leeds West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		John Arnott	6,020	29.5
		Joseph Henry Chapman*	1,138	5.6
		David Thomas Barnes	619	3.0
Majority			6,622	32.4
Turnout			20,419	52.7
Registered electors			38,766
	hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1922: Leeds West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		John Murray	Template:Replace	51.7
		Thomas Stamford	12,487	48.3
Majority			904	3.4
Turnout			25,878	67.6
Registered electors			38,259
	hold		Swing	−14.5

General election 1923: Leeds West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Thomas Stamford	Template:Replace	40.7
		Alexander Frederick Gordon Renton	9,432	33.6
		John Murray	7,200	25.7
Majority			2,002	7.1
Turnout			28,066	71.6
Registered electors			39,175
	gain from		Swing	+9.2

General election 1924: Leeds West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Thomas Stamford	Template:Replace	42.5
		Alexander Frederick Gordon Renton	13,054	42.5
		Herbert Brown	4,597	15.0
Majority			3	0.0
Turnout			30,708	77.5
Registered electors			39,644
	hold		Swing	−3.6

General election 1929: Leeds West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Thomas Stamford	Template:Replace	47.2
		George William Martin	13,129	33.0
		Ralph Cleworth	7,894	19.8
Majority			5,636	14.2
Turnout			39,788	79.4
Registered electors			50,107
	hold		Swing	+7.1

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Leeds West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Vyvyan Adams	24,701	63.25
		Thomas Stamford	14,354	36.75
Majority			10,347	26.50
Turnout			39,055	76.72
	gain from		Swing

General election 1935: Leeds West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Vyvyan Adams	20,545	54.27
		Thomas Stamford	17,311	45.73
Majority			3,234	8.54
Turnout			37,856	70.46
	hold		Swing

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Leeds West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Thomas Stamford	Template:Replace	59.0
		Vyvyan Adams	12,457	27.7
		James Booth	6,008	13.3
Majority			14,136	31.3
Turnout			45,058	76.1
	gain from		Swing

Leeds West by-election 1949

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Charles Pannell	Template:Replace	55.2
		Bernard Mather	17,826	44.8
Majority			4,109	10.4
Turnout			39,761
	hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Leeds West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Charles Pannell	21,339	51.58
		Bertrand Mather	16,824	40.67
		Cecil Rhodes	3,209	7.76
Majority			4,515	10.91
Turnout			41,372	86.42
	hold		Swing

General election 1951: Leeds West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Charles Pannell	22,357	54.11
		Bertrand Mather	18,957	45.89
Majority			3,400	8.22
Turnout			41,314	85.92
	hold		Swing

General election 1955: Leeds West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Charles Pannell	24,576	52.75
		Joseph Hiley	18,312	39.31
		Harold Hudson	3,699	7.94
Majority			6,264	13.44
Turnout			46,587	77.38
	hold		Swing

General election 1959: Leeds West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Charles Pannell	25,878	54.87
		David Crouch	21,285	45.13
Majority			4,593	9.74
Turnout			47,163	78.25
	hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Leeds West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Charles Pannell	22,968	50.53
		Michael Glover	15,697	34.54
		Denis Pedder	6,787	14.93
Majority			7,271	15.99
Turnout			45,452	74.54
	hold		Swing

General election 1966: Leeds West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Charles Pannell	24,391	56.28
		Michael Glover	13,883	32.04
		Denis Pedder	5,062	11.68
Majority			10,508	24.24
Turnout			43,336	72.02
	hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Leeds West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Charles Pannell	21,618	51.83
		Alexander Leitch	14,749	35.36
		Patricia Armitage	5,341	12.81
Majority			6,869	16.47
Turnout			41,708	65.69
	hold		Swing

General election February 1974: Leeds West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Joseph Dean	19,436	42.13
		Michael Meadowcroft	15,451	33.49
		D. Hall	11,246	24.38
Majority			3,985	8.64
Turnout			46,133	77.03
	hold		Swing

General election October 1974: Leeds West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Joseph Dean	20,669	49.64
		Michael Meadowcroft	13,062	31.37
		D. Hall	7,907	18.99
Majority			7,607	18.27
Turnout			41,638	68.93
	hold		Swing

General election 1979: Leeds West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Joseph Dean	21,290	49.38
		H. Simmonds	11,626	26.96
		C. Greenfield	9,734	22.58
		J. Duckenfield	466	1.08
Majority			9,664	22.42
Turnout			43,116	73.33
	hold		Swing

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1983: Leeds West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Michael Meadowcroft	Template:Replace	38.4
		Joseph Dean	15,860	34.0
		Jocelyn Keeble	12,515	26.9
		A. Braithwaite	334	0.7
Majority			2,048	4.4
Turnout			46,617	69.0
	gain from		Swing

General election 1987: Leeds West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		John Battle	Template:Replace	43.2
		Michael Meadowcroft	16,340	33.6
		Philip Allott	11,276	23.2
Majority			4,692	9.6
Turnout			48,648	73.3
	gain from		Swing	+7.0

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1992: Leeds West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		John Battle	Template:Replace	55.1
		Paul Bartlett	12,482	26.2
		George Howard	4,252	8.9
		Michael Meadowcroft	3,980	8.3
		Alison M. Mander	569	1.2
		Robert I. Tenney	132	0.3
Majority			13,828	29.0
Turnout			47,725	71.2
	hold		Swing	+4.5

General election 1997: Leeds West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		John Battle	Template:Replace	66.7
		John Whelan	7,048	17.5
		Nigel Amor	3,622	9.0
		Bill Finley	1,210	3.0
		David Blackburn	896	2.2
		Noel Nowosielski	625	1.6
Majority			19,771	49.2
Turnout			40,220	62.9
	hold		Swing

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2001: Leeds West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		John Battle	Template:Replace	62.1
		Kris Hopkins	5,008	15.6
		Darren Finlay	3,350	10.4
		David Blackburn	2,573	8.0
		Bill Finley	758	2.4
		Noel Nowosielski	462	1.4
Majority			14,935	46.5
Turnout			32,094	50.0
	hold		Swing

General election 2005: Leeds West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		John Battle	Template:Replace	55.5
		Darren Finlay	5,894	17.5
		Tim Metcalfe	4,807	14.3
		David Blackburn	2,519	7.5
		Julie Day	1,166	3.5
		David Sewards	628	1.9
Majority			12,810	38.0
Turnout			33,719	53.6
	hold		Swing

Elections in the 2010s

File:Official portrait of Rachel Reeves crop 3.jpg

Rachel Reeves, Member of Parliament for Leeds West since 2010

General election 2010: Leeds West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Rachel Reeves	Template:Replace	42.3
		Ruth Coleman	9,373	24.2
		Joe Marjoram	7,641	19.7
		Joanna Beverley	2,377	6.1
		David Blackburn	1,832	4.7
		Jeff Miles	1,140	2.9
Majority			7,016	18.1
Turnout			38,752	57.5
	hold		Swing	−10.3

General election 2015: Leeds West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Rachel Reeves	Template:Replace	48.0
		Alex Pierre-Traves	7,729	20.1
		Anne Murgatroyd	7,104	18.5
		Andrew Pointon	3,217	8.4
		Laura Coyle	1,495	3.9
		Matthew West	217	0.6
		Ben Mayor	205	0.5
Majority			10,727	27.9
Turnout			38,423	59.2
	hold		Swing	+2.65

General election 2017: Leeds West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Rachel Reeves	Template:Replace	63.9
		Zoë Metcalfe	11,048	26.2
		Mark Thackray	1,815	4.3
		Andrew Pointon	1,023	2.4
		Alisdair McGregor	905	2.2
		Ed Jones	378	0.9
style="color:inherit;background-color:Template:Party color" |	Alliance for Green Socialism	Mike Davies	37	0.1
Majority			15,965	37.7
Turnout			42,301	62.1
	hold		Swing	+5.0

General election 2019: Leeds West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Rachel Reeves	Template:Replace	55.1
		Mark Dormer	11,622	28.9
		Philip Mars	2,685	6.7
		Dan Walker	1,787	4.4
		Victoria Smith	1,274	3.2
		Ian Cowling	650	1.6
		Daniel Whetstone	46	0.1
style="color:inherit;background-color:Template:Party color" |	Alliance for Green Socialism	Mike Davies	31	0.1
Majority			10,564	26.2
Turnout			40,281	59.5
	hold		Swing	-5.8

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in West Yorkshire

External links

• Leeds West UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at MapIt UK
• Leeds West UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at MapIt UK