Leicester East

Leicester East
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Leicester East in Leicestershire.
Location of Leicestershire within England.
County	Leicestershire
Electorate	74,377 (December 2010)
Current constituency
Created	1974 (1974)
Member of parliament	pending election
Number of members	One
Created from	Leicester South East Leicester North East
1918–1950
Number of members	One
Replaced by	Leicester South East Leicester North East
Created from	Leicester
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	East Midlands

Leicester East is a constituency.

1918-1950: The County Borough of Leicester wards of Belgrave, Latimer, Spinney Hill, and West Humberstone.

1974-1983: The County Borough of Leicester wards of Belgrave, Charnwood, Evington, Humberstone, and Latimer.

1983-2010: The City of Leicester wards of Belgrave, Charnwood, Coleman, Evington, Humberstone, Latimer, Rushey Mead, Thurncourt, and West Humberstone.

2010–2015: The City of Leicester wards of Belgrave, Charnwood, Coleman, Evington, Humberstone & Hamilton, Latimer, Rushey Mead, and Thurncourt.

This is an urban seat in the commercial and engineering centre of Leicester. The seat excludes the heart of the city centre, skirting its tightly planned ring road, a golf course is within the south-east and a large municipal garden, the north-west, of the boundaries.

Leicester East has a relatively high Asian population. In the 2011 census two-thirds of the population were non-white and 48.5% of people described themselves as Asian. Almost a third of the population are Hindu and the majority of others of Asian ethnicity are of Muslim or Sikh faiths. Those of mixed ethnicities are gradually increasing — to 3.1% of the population in 2011.

The bulk of the eastern outskirts are relatively compact and much of the remainder of the county by the 21st century has become transformed economically into a retirement and commuter belt for the city and its railway links. The division's south-west quarter is within normal walking distance of all parts of Leicester City Centre and the seat is served by buses and cycle routes into the city centre.

The seat was created in 1918 and for the next four years was served by Sir Gordon Hewart KC, resigning to become Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales. In 1950 the area was divided between Leicester North East and Leicester South East, which also covered part of the present Charnwood seat and Rutland and Melton.