1. Gerrymandering in Leeds A postcode lottery

2. 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

3. Labour Dominate PartySeats Labour7 Conservative1 Liberal Democrat 0

4. Lib Dems gain a seat PartySeats Labour6 Conservative1 Liberal Democrat 1

5. Conservatives fight back PartySeats Labour5 Conservative3 Liberal Democrat 0

6. Liberals gain a seat from the Conservatives PartySeats Labour5 Conservative2 Liberal Democrat 1

7. Evenly Split PartySeats Labour4 Conservative4 Liberal Democrat 0

8. Band of gold PartySeats Labour4 Conservative2 Liberal Democrat 2

9. Liberals gain strength PartySeats Labour4 Conservative1 Liberal Democrat 3

10. Labour weakened PartySeats Labour3 Conservative2 Liberal Democrat 3

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. 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)

14. Appendix Source Data from the 2007 Local Elections

15. Ward Map AGuiseley & RawdonRGipton & Harehills BOtley & YeadonSPudsey CAdel & WharfedaleTArmley DAlwoodleyUHyde Park & Woodhouse EHarewoodVCity & Hunslet FWetherbyWBurmantofts and Richmond Hill GHorsforthXTemple Newsam HWeetwoodYGarforth & Swillington IMoortownZKippax & Methley JRoundhayAAFarnley & Wortley KKillingbeck & SeacroftABBeeston & Holbeck LCrossgates & WhinmoorACMorley North MCalverley & FarsleyADMiddleton Park NBramley & StanningleyAERothwell OKirkstallAFMorley South PHeadingleyAGArdsley & Robin Hood QChapel Allerton

16. 2007 Local Election Results – Leeds City Council LabConLib Adel and Wharfedale90938972265 Alwoodley159938731148 Ardsley and Robin Hood19671181567 Armley2287737676 Beeston and Holbeck2079889591 Bramley and Stanningley2123820599 Burmantofts and Richmond Hill14501642331 Calverley and Farsley16353775778 Chapel Allerton2967774833 City and Hunslet1647361552 Crossgates and Whinmoor26191984779 Farnley and Wortley1607649268 Garforth and Swillington41962482479 Gipton and Harehills34322222563 Guiseley and Rawdon19433207838 Harewood8914614468 Headingley5772381203 Horsforth82825992626 Hyde Park and Woodhouse10372001390 LabConLib Killingbeck and Seacroft2789698799 Kippax and Methley34031422515 Kirkstall22363741743 Middleton Park2467467537 Moortown238316003061 Morley North1018674231 Morley South1385539201 Otley and Yeadon183317993464 Pudsey29172257471 Rothwell21666392453 Roundhay24092976931 Temple Newsam23882294707 Weetwood80814132784 Wetherby12654011678 Only the results of the main 3 parties are shown