Leicester South West (UK Parliament constituency)

Leicester South West
Former Borough constituency for the House of Commons
1950–February 1974
Number of members	one
Replaced by	Leicester South, Leicester West

Leicester South West was a borough constituency in the city of Leicester. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

The constituency was created for the 1950 general election, and abolished for the February 1974 general election.

Boundaries

The County Borough of Leicester wards of Aylestone, Castle, De Montfort, and North Braunstone.

The constituency included Leicester city centre, which since this seat's abolition in 1974 has been in Leicester South.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party	Notes
	1950	Herbert Bowden	Labour	Resigned 1967 to become Chairman of the Independent Television Authority
	1967 by-election	Tom Boardman	Conservative
	Feb 1974	constituency abolished

Election results

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1950: Leicester South West[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Herbert William Bowden	23,399	54.61
	Conservative	Mrs. Dorothy Russell	14,727	34.37
	Liberal	Thomas Alan Pratt	4,720	11.02
Majority			8,672	20.24
Turnout
	Labour win

General Election 1951: Leicester South West[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Herbert William Bowden	24,340	58.39
	Conservative	Edward Harold Wall	17,347	41.61
Majority			6,993	16.78
Turnout				82.54
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1955: Leicester South West[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Herbert William Bowden	21,487	55.83
	Conservative	Mrs. Dorothy Russell	16,998	44.17
Majority			4,489	11.66
Turnout				76.05
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1959: Leicester South West [4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Herbert William Bowden	17,395	46.41
	Conservative	Alan David Walder	14,652	39.09
	Liberal	John W Ward	5,438	14.51
Majority			2,743	7.32
Turnout				78.48
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1964: Leicester South West[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Herbert William Bowden	16,957	49.38
	Conservative	Thomas Gray Boardman	12,851	37.42
	Liberal	Thomas Alan Pratt	4,533	13.20
Majority			4,106	11.96
Turnout
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1966: Leicester South West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Herbert William Bowden	18,822	58.65
	Conservative	Thomas Gray Boardman	13,268	41.35
Majority			5,554	17.31	-
	Labour hold		Swing

Leicester South West by-election, 1967
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Thomas Gray Boardman	12,897	51.63	+10.3
	Labour	Neville Devonshire Sandelson	8,958	35.86	−22.8
	Liberal	Colin J. Beech	3,125	12.51	N/A
Majority			3,939	15.77
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1970: Leicester South West[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Thomas Gray Boardman	14,611	45.7	+4.3
	Labour	Colin Grundy	14,505	45.3	−13.4
	Liberal	Joseph T. Roper	2,124	6.6	N/A
	National Front	John Kyneston	749	2.3	N/A
Majority			106	0.3
Turnout
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

References

1. British parliamentary election results, 1950-1973 by FWS Craig
2. British parliamentary election results, 1950-1973 by FWS Craig
3. British parliamentary election results, 1950-1973 by FWS Craig
4. F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1950-1973; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1973
5. F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1950-1973; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1973
6. British parliamentary election results, 1950-1973 by FWS Craig

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "L" (part 2)