Leeds North West
Leeds North West is a constituency in the City of Leeds which has been represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Katie White, of the Labour Party.
History
The constituency was created in 1950, as Leeds North-West; the name was changed by dropping the hyphen in 1955. Before the 1950 general election, Leeds was represented by the constituencies of: Leeds Central, Leeds North, Leeds South, Leeds West, ; Leeds North-East and Leeds South-East. There were also constituencies of Batley and Morley and Pudsey and Otley. Leeds North West was created before the 1950 election, and at the same time the Pudsey and Otley constituency was abolished, re-creating the Pudsey constituency and moving Otley into the Ripon constituency.The constituency was held for the Conservative Party by Donald Kaberry from its creation in 1950 until his retirement in 1983, and then by Keith Hampson, who had previously been MP for Ripon. It was taken for Labour in the 1997 general election by Harold Best, who was re-elected in the 2001 general election. Best retired at the 2005 general election. The seat was contested for Labour by Judith Blake, but it was taken for the Liberal Democrats by Greg Mulholland. Mulholland was re-elected in 2010 and 2015. Alex Sobel regained the seat for Labour in the 2017 general election, and was re-elected in 2019.
The [notional election results|notional 2019 United Kingdom general election|2019 result] for the reconfigured constituency was a Conservative win. Accordingly, Alex Sobel decided to stand in the 2024 general election for the new and much safer seat of Leeds Central and Headingley. The Leeds North West seat was won by Katie White for Labour, making it a notional gain from the Conservatives.
Constituency profile
Under its pre-2024 boundaries, this constituency had one of the biggest student populations in the country at over a quarter of the electorate; it comprises outer Leeds suburbs that are professional, middle-to-high income and residential.It was within the Yorkshire and the Humber European Parliament constituency, which from 2019 to 2020 when the UK left the EU was represented by three Brexit Party, one Labour, one Liberal Democrat and one Green Party MEPs.
Boundaries
1950–1951: The County Borough of Leeds wards of Far Headingley, Hyde Park, and Kirkstall.1951–1955: The County Borough of Leeds wards of Far Headingley, Hyde Park, Kirkstall, and Meanwood.
1955–1974: The County Borough of Leeds wards of Far Headingley, Hyde Park, Kirkstall, Meanwood, and Moortown.
1974–1983: The County Borough of Leeds wards of Cookridge, Headingley, Kirkstall, Moortown, and Weetwood.
1983–2010: The City of Leeds wards of Cookridge, Headingley, Otley and Wharfedale, and Weetwood.
The Leeds North West boundary was revised for the 1983 general election, bringing in Otley and the nearby villages of Bramhope, Pool-in-Wharfedale and Arthington from the abolished Ripon constituency. Moortown was transferred to Leeds North East, and Kirkstall to Leeds West.
2010–2024: The City of Leeds wards of Adel and Wharfedale, Headingley, [Otley and Yeadon, West Yorkshire|Yeadon (ward)|Otley and Yeadon], and Weetwood.
Minor changes to reflect changes to ward names and boundaries.
2024–present: The City of Leeds wards of Adel and Wharfedale, Guiseley and Rawdon, Horsforth, and Otley and Yeadon.
Following the 2023 review of Westminster constituencies, which came into effect for the 2024 general election, the constituency boundaries were substantially changed although its name was unchanged. Headingley and Weetwood in the south of the 2010 constituency were moved to the new constituency of Leeds Central and Headingley, while Guiseley, Rawdon and Horsforth were transferred in from Pudsey.
The old constituency was divided between the new constituency and Leeds Central and Headingley. The new constituency was made up predominantly of parts of the old constituency and Pudsey, with a small contribution from Leeds North East.
The constituency currently covers the northwestern part of the City of Leeds metropolitan borough, West Yorkshire. It stretches from Otley in the north to Horsforth in the south, with Guiseley and Yeadon in between them in terms of major settlements.