| South Leicestershire | |
| Parliament: | uk |
| Year: | 2010 |
| Type: | County |
| Elects Howmany: | One |
| Year2: | 1832 |
| Abolished2: | 1885 |
| Elects Howmany2: | Two |
| Electorate: | 75,634 (2023)[1] |
| Region: | England |
| Towns: | Lutterworth, Whetstone, Narborough and Blaby |
South Leicestershire is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Alberto Costa, a member of the Conservative Party.
The current constituency has similar boundaries to the previous Blaby constituency. Historically the "Southern Division of Leicestershire", was a county constituency, less formally known as South Leicestershire. From 1832 to 1885 it elected two Members of Parliament (MPs) by the bloc vote system of election.
1832–1885: The Hundreds of Gartree (excluding the parishes of Baggrave, Burrough, Knossington, Marefield, Pickwell-cum-Leesthorpe, Ouston, and Newbold-Saucey), Sparkenhoe and Guthlaxton, and the Borough of Leicester and the Liberties thereof.[2]
Following its review of parliamentary representation in Leicestershire, the Boundary Commission for England recommended replacing the Blaby constituency with a new South Leicestershire seat, with some boundary changes. This change occurred for the 2010 general election.
The electoral wards used to create the new constituency were;
Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, which came into effect for the 2024 general election, the composition of the constituency was defined as follows (as they existed on 1 December 2020):
The Blaby District wards of Millfield, Ravenhurst and Fosse, and Winstanley (comprising the community of Braunstone Town) were transferred to the new constituency of Mid Leicestershire; the Harborough District wards of Bosworth and Fleckney were transferred in from Harborough.
Following a local government boundary review in Blaby which came into effect in May 2023,[5] [6] the constituency now comprises the following from the 2024 general election:
The current South Leicestershire is a slice of Leicestershire to the south west of Leicester, with most of the population in commuter towns and villages like Whetstone, Blaby and Narborough. Further south it is more rural, with the largest settlement the old market town of Lutterworth. Nearby is the former site of RAF Bitteswell, since redeveloped as Magna Park, one of the largest distribution centres in Europe.[8]
The constituency name of South Leicestershire was new for 2010, but the seat was not massively changed from the old seat of Blaby. Both this and its predecessor are safe Tory seats held by the party since Blaby's creation in 1974. The best known MP to represent the area is the former Chancellor Nigel Lawson.
The constituency was created by the Reform Act 1832 for the 1832 general election, when the two-seat Leicestershire constituency was replaced by the Northern and Southern divisions, each of which elected two MPs.
Both divisions of the county were abolished by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 for the 1885 general election, when they were replaced by four new single-seat constituencies: Bosworth, Harborough, Loughborough and Melton.
Prominent members in this period included Thomas Paget (Jnr) (1807–1892) who followed the footsteps of his father in this role (his father having represented Leicestershire) and as partner in Leicester Bank, and Albert Pell, a member of a group of MPs, which included Henry Chaplin, Sir Massey Lopes and Clare Sewell Read, who supported farming interests. He was also a member of the Council of the Royal Agricultural Society of England.
Leicestershire prior to 1832
| Election | 1st Member | 1st Party | 2nd Member | 2nd Party | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1832 | Edward Dawson | Whig[9] | Sir Henry Halford, Bt | Tory | ||||
| 1834 | Conservative | |||||||
| 1835 | Thomas Frewen Turner | Conservative | ||||||
| 1836 by-election | Charles Packe | Conservative | ||||||
| 1857 | Viscount Curzon | Conservative | ||||||
| 1867 by-election | Thomas Paget | Liberal Party | ||||||
| 1868 | Albert Pell | Conservative Party | ||||||
| 1870 by-election | William Unwin Heygate | Conservative | ||||||
| 1880 | Thomas Paget | Liberal Party | ||||||
| 1885 | Redistribution of Seats Act constituency abolished | |||||||
Blaby and Harborough prior to 2010
| Election | Member | Party | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Andrew Robathan | Conservative | ||
| 2015 | Alberto Costa | Conservative | ||
* Served as an MP in the 2005–2010 Parliament