Shivani Raja · Conservative and Unionist Party
East Midlands, England
: 76,560
Con took this seat from Lab after 4 consecutive elections.
Shivani Raja
Conservative and Unionist PartyShivani Raja is the Conservative MP for Leicester East, and has been an MP continually since 4 July 2024.
MPs voted on whether to give the Tobacco and Vapes Bill its Second Reading, advancing legislation that would create a 'smoke-free generation' by progressively raising the legal age for buying tobacco so that anyone born after 2009 could never legally purchase cigarettes, while also cracking down on vaping among young people.
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Sign up freeCoverage of Leicester East has been mixed for Shivani across 34 recent articles.
Positive coverage
“Shivani Raja on Her Initial 18 Months Representing Leicester East in Parliament - Pukaar News” — Pukaar News
“Shivani Raja MP leads fight to save Leicester Diwali celebrations - EasternEye” — EasternEye
Critical coverage
“MP Claudia Webbe loses appeal against harassment conviction - BBC” — BBC
“Leicester MP allegedly engaged in campaign of harassment against woman | ITV News - ITVX” — ITVX
Represented by Con since 2024. Centred on Leicester. Population 127,282, notably young (median age 36 vs 41 nationally), a majority-minority constituency. Median income £22K (below average).
Changes bound for Leicester's libraries and community centres
Leicester Mercury · 4 Apr 2026
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Sign up freeMedian Income▼
£22,400
per year (HMRC 2022-23)
Mean Income▼
£26,800
per year (HMRC 2022-23)
Businesses▼
4,215
VAT/PAYE registered (ONS 2024)
Schools▼
48
29 primary, 6 secondary, 13 other
Total Income Tax▼
£121m
from 44,000 taxpayers
Median Tax▼
£1,770
per taxpayer / year
Mean Tax
£2,770
per taxpayer / year
Source: HMRC Survey of Personal Incomes, tax year 2022-23. Allocated by taxpayer residence. Covers income tax only — excludes NI, VAT, and capital gains. Sample-based estimate (~8% confidence interval).
Attainment 8▼
48.1
average score (DfE)
GCSE Pass Rate▼
68.1%
5+ GCSEs 9-4 (DfE)
1 city — 123,790 total population
Source: ONS Built-Up Areas (Census 2021) + data.police.uk — crime rates are per 1,000 population (last 3 months)
Source: data.police.uk — street-level crime data aggregated from LSOA to constituency
16 councillors across 6 wards · Last elections: May 2023
| Ward | Party | Councillor | Elected |
|---|---|---|---|
| Belgrave | Conservative and Unionist Party | Jaiantilal Gopal | May 2023 |
| Conservative and Unionist Party | Shital Adatia | May 2023 | |
| Conservative and Unionist Party | Yogesh Chauhan | May 2023 | |
| Humberstone Hamilton | Labour Party | Ashiedu Joel | May 2023 |
| Labour Party | Manjit Kaur Saini | May 2023 | |
| Labour Party | Stephen Robert Bonham | May 2023 | |
| North Evington | Conservative and Unionist Party | Dilip Joshi | May 2023 |
| Conservative and Unionist Party | Ravi Mahesh | May 2023 | |
| Conservative and Unionist Party | Sanjay Modhwadia | May 2023 | |
| Rushey Mead | Conservative and Unionist Party | Bhupen Dave | May 2023 |
| Conservative and Unionist Party | Devi Singh Patel | May 2023 | |
| Conservative and Unionist Party | Geeta Mahesh Karavadra | May 2023 | |
| Thurncourt | Conservative and Unionist Party | Abdul Osman | May 2023 |
| Labour Party | Teresa Aldred | May 2023 | |
| Troon | Labour Party | Diane Cank | May 2023 |
| Labour Party | Mohinder Singh Sangha | May 2023 |
Source: DCLEAPIL v1.0 by Jason Leman, LEAP (Andrew Teale) & Democracy Club. CC BY-SA 4.0. Data last refreshed: 1 Apr 2026.
| Candidate | Party | Votes | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Con | 14,526 | 31.1% | |
| Lab | 10,100 | 21.6% | |
| LD | 6,329 | 13.6% | |
Won 2019 GE | Ind | 5,532 | 11.8% |
Won 2017 GEWon 2015 GEWon 2010 GE | Ind | 3,681 | 7.9% |
| Ref | 2,611 | 5.6% | |
| Green | 2,143 | 4.6% | |
| Ind | 974 | 2.1% | |
| Ind | 703 | 1.5% | |
| Ind | 115 | 0.3% |
| Candidate | Party | Votes | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lab | 25,090 | 50.8% | |
| Con | 19,071 | 38.6% | |
| LD | 2,800 | 5.7% | |
| Ind | 1,243 | 2.5% | |
| Green | 888 | 1.8% | |
| Ind | 329 | 0.7% |
| Candidate | Party | Votes | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
✓ Won 2015 GEWon 2010 GE | Lab | 35,116 | 67.0% |
| Con | 12,688 | 24.2% | |
| Ind | 1,753 | 3.3% | |
| LD | 1,343 | 2.6% | |
| Green | 1,070 | 2.0% | |
| Ind | 454 | 0.9% |
| Candidate | Party | Votes | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
✓ Won 2017 GEWon 2010 GE | Lab | 29,386 | 61.1% |
| Con | 11,034 | 22.9% | |
| Ind | 4,290 | 8.9% | |
| Green | 1,468 | 3.0% | |
| LD | 1,233 | 2.6% | |
| Ind | 540 | 1.1% | |
| Ind | 117 | 0.2% |
| Candidate | Party | Votes | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
✓ Won 2017 GEWon 2015 GE | Lab | 25,804 | 53.8% |
Won 2019 GE | Con | 11,722 | 24.4% |
| LD | 6,817 | 14.2% | |
| Ind | 1,700 | 3.5% | |
| Green | 733 | 1.5% | |
| Ind | 725 | 1.5% | |
| Ind | 494 | 1.0% |
Shivani Raja has not appeared in national political news coverage tracked by our system. This is common for backbench MPs who focus on constituency-level work rather than national policy debates.
7 articles hidden as not sufficiently relevant to this constituency
A 24-year-old drug dealer has been jailed for life with a minimum 21-year-six-month term for the brutal murder of Nila Patel, 56, near Leicester Royal Infirmary. The attack occurred after his car crashed, and the judge found the victim was targeted based on her gender, build, and race.
Chukwuemeka Ahanonu, 24, was convicted of murdering Nila Patel, 56, a stranger who tried to help him after he crashed his car in Leicester city centre in June 2024. Ahanonu, who was under licence following a previous prison sentence, attacked Ms Patel unprovoked after driving erratically while under the influence of cannabis, causing her fatal brain injuries.
A 20-year-old student was fatally stabbed outside De Montfort University in Leicester East, prompting MP Shivani Raja to visit the scene and express concern about rising crime in the city. Raja called for action to address safety concerns while urging constituents to maintain trust in police and remain vigilant.
Manjula Sood, Leicester's first female Asian lord mayor and a long-serving Labour councillor for the Stoneygate ward, has died at age 80. The article celebrates her significant contributions to Leicester's community and includes a tribute from Leicester East MP Shivani Raja, who acknowledged their cross-party respect despite representing different parties.
Shivani Raja reflects on her first 18 months as Leicester East MP, highlighting her work helping over 8,000 constituents with housing, immigration, and business issues. She discusses key challenges including political disengagement, housing shortages, healthcare access, and struggling local businesses while balancing motherhood with parliamentary duties.
St Mary's birthing centre in Leicester is set to close due to high operational costs and staffing pressures, with hospital bosses citing that deliveries there cost almost twice as much as alternatives. This closure will significantly impact maternity services for constituents in Leicester East.
Leicester East MP Shivani Raja and fellow Leicestershire MP Neil O'Brien are campaigning to overturn Leicester City Council's decision to scale back the 2025 Diwali festival due to safety concerns. The scaled-back event will feature only lights and a wheel of light, removing fireworks, stage entertainment, and the Diwali Village, despite safety officials citing near-crush incidents and crowd control risks.
Shivani Raja MP has initiated a petition to prevent Leicester City Council from removing key elements from the Leicester Diwali celebrations scheduled for October 20. The article highlights her active advocacy to preserve this culturally significant event for her constituency.
Diwali celebrations in Leicester have been significantly scaled back due to budget constraints, safety concerns, and community tensions, with the popular switch-on ceremony cancelled in 2023. MP Shivani Raja is quoted speaking out about the situation, highlighting concerns about fairness in how different mass events are supported by authorities.
A major Air India flight from Ahmedabad to Gatwick crashed killing 242 people, including an estimated handful of Leicester East residents from the constituency's large British-Gujarati community. MP Shivani Raja has stated her intention to investigate the crash and demand answers from authorities regarding prior safety concerns on this flight route.
UK MP Shivani Raja for Leicester East met with an Indian all-party parliamentary delegation to discuss counter-terrorism cooperation and praised the India-UK Free Trade Agreement. The article highlights Raja's support for India's response to terrorism and her commitment to strengthening bilateral relations.
The article profiles Shivani Raja, the newly elected 29-year-old Conservative MP for Leicester East, highlighting her historic victory breaking 37 years of Labour dominance in the constituency. It covers her background as an Indian-origin businesswoman, her community engagement efforts, and her policy priorities including street improvements, community cohesion, and immigration enforcement.
Shivani Raja, the Conservative candidate, won Leicester East in the 2024 General Election with 14,526 votes, defeating Labour candidate Rajesh Agrawal by 4,426 votes in a dramatic shift from the constituency's previous Labour stronghold status. This represents a significant realignment, as the seat had been held by Labour for decades before Claudia Webbe's dramatically reduced 2019 majority of just 6,019 votes.
Shivani Raja won Leicester East for the Conservatives with 14,526 votes, the party's only seat gain in the 2024 general election, defeating Labour incumbent Claudia Webbe and former MP Keith Vaz whose candidacies split the opposition vote. The victory ended Labour's 37-year hold on the seat amid a broader Conservative collapse that saw them reduced to 121 MPs.
Former Labour MPs Keith Vaz and Claudia Webbe may stand as independent candidates in Leicester East at the next general election, potentially splitting the vote and allowing the Conservatives to gain the seat. Leicester's Labour mayor Sir Peter Soulsby has publicly warned of this risk, citing concerns about party discipline and candidate credibility following the suspension of the constituency Labour party.
Labour Party has suspended its entire Leicester East constituency branch due to concerns about its operation, with all officers relieved of duties and meetings halted. This follows a turbulent period including mass deselections before the 2023 local elections and significant electoral losses, and comes as the party prepares for future parliamentary candidate selection.
Leicester East has experienced significant communal violence between Hindu and Muslim groups, with warnings that it could spread nationwide without government and police intervention. The article focuses on MP Claudia Webbe's response, her warnings about extremist ideology and social media's role, and calls for urgent action to prevent further escalation.
Claudia Webbe, MP for Leicester East, lost her appeal against a harassment conviction and had her sentence reduced from 200 to 80 hours of community service. The article details her conviction for harassing a woman over 18 months and notes that Labour has called for her resignation, with her future as MP potentially subject to a recall petition if Parliament's Standards Committee takes action.
Claudia Webbe, former Labour MP for Leicester East, has been convicted of harassment and given a suspended sentence for making threatening calls to a woman over two years. The conviction could trigger a recall petition and potential by-election in Leicester East, though the process is complicated by a likely appeal.
Claudia Webbe, the former MP for Leicester East (now independent), has been convicted of harassment and threatening a woman and faces expulsion from the Labour Party. The conviction relates to harassing calls and threats made between 2018-2020, with sentencing due in November.
Claudia Webbe, Labour MP for Leicester East, faces potential removal from office following her conviction for harassment, which could trigger a byelection in a seat where Conservative support has surged from 24.2% to 38.6%. The article examines concerns about her successor, the influence of former MP Keith Vaz over candidate selection, and constituents' varying perspectives on the scandal and its implications for Labour's hold on the seat.
Claudia Webbe, the former MP for Leicester East (now sitting as an independent after Labour suspension), is on trial at Westminster Magistrates' Court accused of a year-long harassment campaign against a woman, including threatening to share intimate images and making abusive calls. The case directly impacts Leicester East as it concerns the conduct of the constituency's elected representative during her tenure as MP.
Labour MP Claudia Webbe, who represents Leicester East, has been charged with harassment of a woman. She has been suspended from the Labour Party and is due to appear in court on 11 November, maintaining her innocence. This article is significant as it directly concerns the MP for this constituency and raises serious questions about her conduct and fitness to serve.
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