For 37 years, between 1955 and 1992, Leeds East was the domain of Denis Healey, erstwhile Chancellor, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party and latterly guru on foreign affairs. When George Mudie became the new Labour MP in 1992, he immediately increased his party's majority to 12,000, and then boosted it again to 17,000 in 1997.
Leeds is the largest city in West Yorkshire, and its wards are correspondingly large, with each constituency consisting of just four or five in total. The four that comprise Leeds East are all different in character, but collectively add up to a potent brew for Labour. Seacroft has the highest proportion of council housing of any seat in the city, and Harehills has the highest proportion of Asians and blacks, (30% of the population were non-white at the time of the last census). Although Halton consists of middle-class residential areas and is almost totally white in population, and Burmantofts has returned Liberal Democrat Councillors in the past, the overall equation has in the past added up to an easy win for Labour.