The Thoresby Society

2015 - 7 May

Central
H. Benn (Labour) 24,758
N. Wilson (Conservative) 7,791
L. Senior (United Kingdom Independence) 7,082
M. Hayton (Green) 3,558
E. Sprigg (Liberal Democrat) 1,529
L.Kitchen (Trade Unionist & Socialist Coalition) 330

East
R. Burgon (Labour) 20,530
R. Stephenson (Conservative) 7,997
M. Manniat (United Kingdom Independence) 7,256
E. Sanderson (Liberal Democrat) 1,296
K. Bisson (Green) 1,117

Morley & Outwood
A. Jenkyns (Conservative) 18,776
E. Balls (Labour & Co-op) 18,354
D. Dews (United Kingdom Independence) 7,951
R. Taylor (Liberal Democrat) 1,426
M. Hemingway (Green) 1,264
A. Craven (Yorkshire First) 479

North East
F. Hamilton (Labour) 23,137
S. Wilson (Conservative) 15,887
W. Hendon (United Kingdom Independence) 3,706
A. Choudhry (Liberal Democrat) 2,569
E. Carter (Green) 2,541
C. E. Foote (Alliance for Green Socialism) 451

North West
G. T. Mulholland (Liberal Democrat) 15,948
A. Sobel (Labour) 13,041
A. Story (Conservative) 8,083
T. Goodall (Green) 3,042
J. Metcalfe (United Kingdom Independence) 2,997
B. Buxton (Yorkshire First) 143
M. Davies (Alliance for Green Socialism) 79
M. Flanagan (The Above and Beyond) 24 *
[ Equals the largest number of candidates to contest a Leeds Parliamentary election.
* Equals the lowest number of votes cast in a Parliamentary election in Leeds. ]

Pudsey
S. Andrew (Conservative) 23,637
J. Hanley (Labour) 19,136
R. Tattersall (United Kingdom Independence) 4,689
R. Downs (Liberal Democrat) 1,926
C. Allen (Green) 1,539

West
R. Reeves (Labour) 18,456
A. Pierre-Traves (Conservative) 7,729
A. Murgatroyd (United Kingdom Independence) 7,104
A. Pointon (Green) 3,217
L. Coyle (Liberal Democrat) 1,495
M. West (Cannabis) 217
B. Major (Trade Unionist & Socialist Coalition) 205

Elmet & Rothwell
A. Shelbrooke (Conservative) 27,978
V. King (Labour) 19,488
P. Spivey (United Kingdom Independence) 6,430
S. Golton (Liberal Democrat) 2,640
D. Brooks (Green) 1,261

Despite the pollsters forecasting a hung parliament, David Cameron’s Conservatives, winning 330 seats to Labour’s 232, found themselves with a working majority of 12. The Liberals were humiliated losing 49 seats and winning only 8. The Scottish National Party became the third party winning 56. The economy was one of the important issues with Labour still not trusted on that whilst Cameron had promised that should the Conservatives win he would call an in/out referendum on remaining in the European Union. A series of leaders’ TV debates were broadcast with a Question Time Special being held in Leeds Town Hall. A Guardian/ICM poll declared that Cameron had ‘won the debate’. Many argued that the Conservatives fortunes changed that night in Leeds and some claimed that Miliband’s assertion that Labour did not overspend when in power did lasting damage to Labour’s credibility.

According to the Yorkshire Evening Post Leeds Central turned out to be the most visited constituency in the country. Only one seat in Leeds changed hands when Andrea Jenkyns won Morley and Outwood for the Conservatives defeating Ed Balls. Jenkyns thus became the first ever Conservative woman to represent Leeds as an MP. For the first time the First Direct Arena was used instead of the Town Hall to count the 800 ballot boxes.