Gerrymandering in Leeds

A postcode lottery

How this Works

• For each of the main three political parties we have assumed that the level of support they gained at the local election in May 2007 would remain the same for a general election.

• Leeds is served by 8 MPs, therefore we have always created 8 constituencies.

• There are 33 wards in total that we need to allocate between the 8 constituencies as evenly as possible. This means that there are always 7 constituencies containing 4 Wards each, and one constituency formed from 5 wards

Labour Dominate

Party Seats

Labour 7

Conservative 1

Liberal Democrat

0

Lib Dems gain a seat

Party Seats

Labour 6

Conservative 1

Liberal Democrat

1

Conservatives fight back

Party Seats

Labour 5

Conservative 3

Liberal Democrat

0

Liberals gain a seat from the Conservatives

Party Seats

Labour 5

Conservative 2

Liberal Democrat

1

Evenly Split

Party Seats

Labour 4

Conservative 4

Liberal Democrat

0

Band of gold

Party Seats

Labour 4

Conservative 2

Liberal Democrat

2

Liberals gain strength

Party Seats

Labour 4

Conservative 1

Liberal Democrat

3

Labour weakened

Party Seats

Labour 3

Conservative 2

Liberal Democrat

3

What just happened?

Although the voters don't move or change their minds about the party that they are going to vote for, the winners change as the constituency boundaries change.

Simply by redrawing the boundaries we can go from Labour having won 7 seats and the Conservatives 1, to the Liberal Democrats winning 3 seats, the Conservatives 2 and Labour only 3.

Why does this happen? Boundaries between constituencies can often

just manage to give a party a slim majority where a different arrangement would not.

People who vote for a party which narrowly loses will find that their vote is wasted.

This doesn't just happen as a result of deliberate tampering, but also occur when the boundaries are drawn up impartially.

What’s the solution?

The solution is to switch to a voting system with fewer wasted votes based on multi-member constituencies like the Single Transferable Vote (STV)

Appendix

Source Data from the 2007 Local Elections

Ward Map

A Guiseley & Rawdon R Gipton & Harehills

B Otley & Yeadon S Pudsey

C Adel & Wharfedale T Armley

D Alwoodley U Hyde Park & Woodhouse

E Harewood V City & Hunslet

F Wetherby W Burmantofts and Richmond Hill

G Horsforth X Temple Newsam

H Weetwood Y Garforth & Swillington

I Moortown Z Kippax & Methley

J Roundhay AA Farnley & Wortley

K Killingbeck & Seacroft AB Beeston & Holbeck

L Crossgates & Whinmoor AC Morley North

M Calverley & Farsley AD Middleton Park

N Bramley & Stanningley AE Rothwell

O Kirkstall AF Morley South

P Headingley AG Ardsley & Robin Hood

Q Chapel Allerton

2007 Local Election Results – Leeds City Council

  Lab Con Lib

Adel and Wharfedale 909 3897 2265

Alwoodley 1599 3873 1148

Ardsley and Robin Hood 1967 1181 567

Armley 2287 737 676

Beeston and Holbeck 2079 889 591

Bramley and Stanningley 2123 820 599

Burmantofts and Richmond Hill 1450 164 2331

Calverley and Farsley 1635 3775 778

Chapel Allerton 2967 774 833

City and Hunslet 1647 361 552

Crossgates and Whinmoor 2619 1984 779

Farnley and Wortley 1607 649 268

Garforth and Swillington 4196 2482 479

Gipton and Harehills 3432 222 2563

Guiseley and Rawdon 1943 3207 838

Harewood 891 4614 468

Headingley 577 238 1203

Horsforth 828 2599 2626

Hyde Park and Woodhouse 1037 200 1390

  Lab Con Lib

Killingbeck and Seacroft 2789 698 799

Kippax and Methley 3403 1422 515

Kirkstall 2236 374 1743

Middleton Park 2467 467 537

Moortown 2383 1600 3061

Morley North 1018 674 231

Morley South 1385 539 201

Otley and Yeadon 1833 1799 3464

Pudsey 2917 2257 471

Rothwell 2166 639 2453

Roundhay 2409 2976 931

Temple Newsam 2388 2294 707

Weetwood 808 1413 2784

Wetherby 1265 4011 678

Only the results of the main 3 parties are shown