The placeConstituency · Yorkshire and The Humber · Electorate 75,953 · 2023 boundaries

Leeds South.

Labour Party MP Hilary Benn holds the seat on 54.0% of the vote.

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Member of ParliamentHilary Benn · Labour Party
CouncilLeeds
Boundary set2023
ONS codeE14001323
Electorate · 2024
76.0k
Registered to vote
2024 GE — winner
54.0%
Labour Party · +35.6pp over Grn
Settlements
2
Largest: Leeds
Crime · per 1k pop · 3mo
44.7
data.police.uk · 12mo rolling
Dispatch
9 Jun 2026

Inner-city Leeds, safe Labour, Greens advancing

Leeds South is an inner-city seat, almost wholly urban, with the city of Leeds accounting for nearly all of its 124,649 residents and only a thin fringe of dispersed settlement beyond. It is a young constituency by national standards, with a median age of 32, and rather less degree-educated than the country as a whole at around 27.5 per cent. Roughly two-thirds of residents are recorded as White. Services across the seat are run by a single authority, Leeds City Council, a metropolitan borough that administers the four wards falling within these boundaries.

The recent ward picture is more contested than the parliamentary arithmetic alone would suggest. Across the four most-recent ward contests, held in May 2026, the Green Party took two -- Beeston & Holbeck and, more emphatically, Hunslet & Riverside -- while Labour held one and the Social Democratic Party took Middleton Park, a spread that points to a fragmenting opposition rather than a single challenger. At the General Election in 2024, the first fought on these boundaries, Labour won comfortably on 54 per cent, with the Greens a distant runner-up on 18.4 per cent. The sitting member, Hilary Benn, has represented the area since 1999 and has shown no whipped dissent in recent months.

On the figures available the seat looks safe at Westminster while turning livelier at ward level, where Green and smaller-party gains hint at churn beneath a settled Labour majority. Recent local coverage has had a markedly civic, administrative character, dominated by planning matters, regeneration funding and community initiatives rather than by national controversy. Several crime categories appear to run well above the constituency average, among them drugs offences and public order, a pattern consistent with a dense inner-city seat. The overall position is one of a secure Labour hold accompanied by visible movement on the council benches.

54.0%
Lab vote · 2024 GE
1
Council overlapping the seat
4
Wards · 4 councillors
§ 01The local picture — wards.4 wards · 4 councillors

Ward-level direction-of-travel: who controls what, who flipped recently, who holds the line.

WardLatest winnerVotesCouncilLast cycle
Beeston & Holbeck Matt Rogan1,978Leeds LabMay 2026
Burmantofts & Richmond Hill Luke Anthony Farley1,957Leeds LabMay 2026
Hunslet & Riverside Ed Carlisle3,202Leeds LabMay 2026
Middleton Park Wayne Alan Dixon2,203Leeds LabMay 2026

Source · Democracy Club · DCLEAPIL v1.0 (CC BY-SA 4.0)

§ 02Settlements.2 named places

The seat’s population is concentrated in Leeds (123,771), with Rural & dispersed (1,659) as the second pole. Total population across named built-up areas: 125,430.

city 123,771village 1,659

Source · ONS Built-Up Areas · Census 2021

SettlementPop.Class
Leeds123,771city
Rural & dispersed1,659village
§ 03Demographics.Census 2021 · vs national avg

Headline indicators.

IndicatorLocalNationalΔ
Employment rate57.0%57.1%0%
Owner-occupied37.2%63.1%-41%
Private rented29.9%20.0%+49%
Social rented32.5%16.8%+93%

Ethnicity.

White67.3%
Asian11.1%
Black14.3%
Mixed4.0%
Other3.2%

Source · Census 2021

Population by age & sexCensus 2021 · 18 bands · click to expand
Male 49.7% Female 50.3% Median seat
MaleAgeFemale
85+
80-84
75-79
70-74
65-69
60-64
55-59
50-54
45-49
40-44
35-39
30-34
25-29
20-24
16-19
10-15
5-9
0-4

Source · Census 2021 (ONS) · % of usual residents; tick marks the median seat per band

§ 04Local economy.Income · tax · businesses · schools
Median income
£24,900
HMRC SPI · 2024
Mean income
£29,000
HMRC SPI · 2024
Businesses
4,260
VAT/PAYE-registered
Schools
54
34 primary · 10 secondary
GCSE pass
56.6%
Attainment 8: 41.7

Income tax contribution.

Total income tax£177m
Taxpayers53,000
Median per taxpayer£2,220
Mean per taxpayer£3,350

Source · HMRC SPI · ±8% confidence

Where the money flows back in.

For council finance & suppliers

This constituency is served by Leeds. Each council’s service spend, peer rank and supplier list lives on its own page — open from the meta block above or the compass strip below.

For household tax breakdown

Move the income slider on My place to see income tax, NI, VAT and council tax against your earnings — the household lens.

§ 05Recorded crime.data.police.uk · 12-month rolling

Headline rate.

Per 1k pop · 3mo
44.7
+116% vs national
Monthly avg / 1k
14.9
12-month rolling
Top category
Violence & sexual offences
39% of recorded crime

By category.

Violence & sexual offences17.4
Anti-social behaviour3.7
Criminal damage & arson3.6
Public order3.3
Other theft3.0
Drugs2.6
Vehicle crime2.5

Source · data.police.uk · 3-month rate per 1,000 pop

Showing 7 of 15·All 15 categories — full monthly trend & settlement breakdown
§ 06Election history.1 contest · created on 2023 boundaries

2024 — full result.

CandidateVotes%
Hilary BennWONLab17,11754.0
Ed CarlisleGrn5,83818.4
Karen CooksleyCon4,17213.2
Daniel WhetstoneInd1,8745.9
George SykesLD1,3404.2
Muhammad AzeemInd7192.3
Janet BickerdikeInd3411.1
Niko OmilanaInd2770.9

Turnout 31,678

Prior contests.

Created on the 2023 boundary review. 2024 General Election was the first contest on these boundaries.

Sources, methods & last update
Method The dispatch paragraphs are AI-generated from the public sources listed below. Every figure links to its source. If we’re wrong, please tell us — corrections within 48 hours.
BoundariesONS Open Geography Portal
2023 boundary review
Wards & councilsLGBCE · Democracy Club
DCLEAPIL v1.0 (CC BY-SA 4.0)
SettlementsONS Built-Up Areas
Census 2021
DemographicsONS · Nomis · Census 2021
National avg over 575 seats
Income & taxHMRC SPI
±8% confidence
SchoolsDfE · attainment data
Crimedata.police.uk
LSOA-aggregated · rolling 12mo
ElectionsElectoral Commission