Leeds East - WikiHQ

Leeds East is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Richard Burgon of the Labour Party.

The constituency was represented by Denis Healey from 1955 to 1992. Healey served as Defence Secretary from 1964 to 1970, and Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1974 to 1979 and latterly as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party.

Constituency profile

Leeds East is a constituency in West Yorkshire. It covers the eastern neighbourhoods of the city of Leeds (including Harehills, Gipton, Seacroft, Whinmoor, Cross Gates and Colton), the outlying town of Garforth and village of Swillington. 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. Garforth and Swillington have a history of coal mining. Most of the Leeds neighbourhoods have high levels of deprivation and fall within the top 10% most-deprived areas in England; Seacroft is one of the largest council estates in the country. In comparison, Colton and Garforth are affluent and suburban. House prices across the constituency are similar to the rest of Yorkshire and lower than the national average.

In general, residents of Leeds East have low levels of education, income and homeownership. White people made up 74% of the population at the 2021 census. Asians, predominantly Pakistanis, were the largest ethnic minority group at 14% and Black people were 7%. The non-White population were concentrated in Harehills and Gipton where they made up more than half the population. Most of the constituency is represented by the Labour Party at the local city council with independent councillors elected in Garforth and Swillington. An estimated 60% of voters in Leeds East supported leaving the European Union in the 2016 referendum compared to the nationwide figure of 52%.

:To bring the electorate within the permitted range in accordance with the 2023 periodic review of Westminster constituencies, the Garforth & Swillington ward was added from the abolished constituency of Elmet and Rothwell. To partly compensate, parts of the Temple Newsam ward (polling districts TNA, TND, TNE, TNH, TNI, TNJ, TNK and TNL) were transferred out to the re-established Leeds South seat.

Members of Parliament

thumb|200px|[[Richard Burgon, Member of Parliament for Leeds East since 2015]]