View source for Leicester

{{about|the city in England}}
{{protection padlock|small=yes}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2022}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name                    = Leicester
| settlement_type         = [[City status in the United Kingdom|City]] and [[Unitary authorities of England|unitary authority]]
| image_skyline           = 
{{multiple images | border=infobox | perrow =  1/2/2 | total_width=270px | align = center
| image1 = Leicester Clock Tower wide view.jpg
|caption1= [[Haymarket Memorial Clock Tower|Clock Tower]]
| image2 = National Space Centre, Leicester.jpg
| caption2 = [[National Space Centre (England)|National Space Centre]]
| image3 = Leicester Cathedral panorama (small crop).jpg
| caption3 = [[Leicester Cathedral|Cathedral]]
| image4 = Roman bath house 009.jpg
| caption4 = [[Jewry Wall]]
| image5 = Curve Leicester full panorama.jpg
| caption5 = [[Curve (theatre)|Curve Theatre]]
| image6 = The Town Hall and Horsefair Street beyond, from Town Hall Square, Leicester - geograph.org.uk - 7597124.jpg
| caption6 = [[Leicester Town Hall|Town Hall]]
| image7 = Leicester - Magazine Gateway - geograph.org.uk - 7678551.jpg
| caption7 = [[Magazine Gateway]]
}}
| imagesize               = 
| image_alt               = 
| image_caption           =
| image_flag              = 
| flag_alt                = 
| image_seal              = 
| seal_alt                = 
| image_shield            = Coat of Arms of Leicester City Council.svg
| shield_size             = 
| shield_alt              = 
| shield_link             = Leicester City Council#Coat of arms
| etymology               = 
| nickname                = 
| motto                   = {{langx|la|Semper Eadem|translation=Always the Same}}
| image_map               = Leicester UK locator map.svg
| mapsize                 = 
| map_alt                 = 
| map_caption             = Shown within [[Leicestershire]]
| pushpin_map             = 
| pushpin_map_alt         = 
| pushpin_map_caption     = 
| pushpin_mapsize         = 
| pushpin_label_position  = 
| coordinates             = {{WikidataCoord|Q83065|type:adm2nd_region:GB|display=inline,title}}
| coor_pinpoint           = 
| coordinates_footnotes   = <ref name="OS coord">{{Cite web |url=https://getoutside.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/local/leicester-city-of-leicester |title=Leicester, City of Leicester |access-date=2 March 2024 |website=[[Ordnance Survey]] |archive-date=2 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240302114234/https://getoutside.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/local/leicester-city-of-leicester |url-status=live }}</ref>
| grid_name               = [[Ordnance Survey National Grid|OS grid reference]]
| grid_position           = {{Ordnance Survey coordinates |SK 5874 0433_type:adm2nd_region:GB |SK 5874 0433}}<ref name="OS coord"/>
| subdivision_type        = [[Sovereign state]]
| subdivision_name        = United Kingdom
| subdivision_type1       = [[Countries of the United Kingdom|Country]]
| subdivision_name1       = England
| subdivision_type2       = [[Regions of England|Region]]
| subdivision_name2       = [[East Midlands]]
| subdivision_type3       = [[Ceremonial counties of England|Ceremonial county]]
| subdivision_name3       = [[Leicestershire]]
| subdivision_type4       = 
| subdivision_name4       = 
| subdivision_type5       = 
| subdivision_name5       = 
| established_title       = Founded
| established_date        = {{circa}}47 AD as [[Ratae Corieltauvorum]]
| established_title1      = [[City status in the United Kingdom|City status]] restored
| established_date1       = 1919
| established_title2      = Unitary authority
| established_date2       = 1997
| founder                 = 
| named_for               = 
| seat_type               = Administrative HQ
| seat                    = [[City Hall, Leicester|City Hall]]
| seat1_type              = Civic suite
| seat1                   = [[Leicester Town Hall]]
| government_footnotes    = <ref name="Councillors and Leadership">{{cite web |url=https://www.leicester.gov.uk/your-council/ |title=Your council |website=Leicester City Council |access-date=2 March 2024 |archive-date=2 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240302114236/https://www.leicester.gov.uk/your-council/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
| government_type         = [[Unitary authorities of England|Unitary authority]] with [[Executive arrangements#Elected mayor and cabinet|mayor and cabinet]]
| governing_body          = [[Leicester City Council]]
| leader_title            = [[Political make-up of local councils in the United Kingdom|Control]]
| leader_name             = {{English district control|GSS=E06000016}}
| leader_title1           = [[Mayor of Leicester|Elected mayor]]
| leader_name1            = [[Peter Soulsby]] ([[Labour Party (UK)|L]])
| leader_title2           = [[List of lord mayors of Leicester|Lord Mayor]]
| leader_name2            = Teresa Aldred
| leader_title3           = Chief Executive
| leader_name3            = Alison Greenhill
| leader_title4           = [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]]
| leader_name4            = {{Collapsible list
 | title = 3 MPs
 | [[Shockat Adam]] ([[Independent politician|Ind]])
 | [[Liz Kendall]] ([[Labour Party (UK)|L]])
 | [[Shivani Raja]] ([[Conservative and Unionist Party|C]])
 }}
| parts_type              = Areas of the city<br /><small>(2011 census BUASD)</small>
| p1                      = [[Abbey]]
| p2                      = [[Aylestone]]
| p3                      = [[Aylestone|Aylestone Park]]
| p4                      = [[Beaumont Leys]]
| p5                      = [[Birstall, Leicestershire|Birstall]] (Village) (part)
| p6                      = [[Braunstone Town]] (Village) (part)
| p7                      = [[Leicester City Centre|City Centre]]
| p8                      = [[Clarendon Park, Leicester|Clarendon Park]]
| p9                      = [[Dane Hills]]
| p10                     = [[Evington]]
| p11                     = [[Frog Island, Leicester|Frog Island]]
| p12                     = [[Glenfield, Leicestershire|Glenfield]] (Village) (part)
| p13                     = [[Glen Parva]] (Village) (part)
| p14                     = [[Hamilton, Leicester|Hamilton]]
| p15                     = [[Humberstone, Leicester|Humberstone]]
| p16                     = [[Kirby Muxloe]] (Village) (part)
| p17                     = [[Knighton, Leicestershire|Knighton]] (Village) (part)
| p18                     = New Humberstone
| p19                     = [[New Parks]]
| p20                     = [[North Evington]]
| p21                     = [[Oadby]] (Town) (part)
| p22                     = [[Rowlatts Hill]]
| p23                     = Rowley Fields
| p24                     = [[South Wigston]] (Village) (part)
| p25                     = [[Stoneygate]]
| p26                     = [[Thurncourt]]
| p27                     = [[Westcotes]]
| p28                     = [[Wigston]] (Town) (part)
| p29                     = Wolsey Island
| total_type              = 
| unit_pref               = Metric
| area_footnotes          = <ref>{{United Kingdom district population citation|area}}</ref>
| area_urban_footnotes    = 
| area_rural_footnotes    = 
| area_metro_footnotes    = 
| area_note               = 
| area_water_percent      = 
| area_rank               = [[List of English districts by area|{{English district area rank|GSS=E06000016}}]]
| area_blank1_title       = 
| area_blank2_title       = 
| area_total_km2          = {{English district area|GSS=E06000016}}
| area_land_km2           = 
| area_water_km2          = 
| area_urban_km2          = 
| area_rural_km2          = 
| area_metro_km2          = 
| area_blank1_km2         = 
| area_blank2_km2         = 
| length_km               = 
| width_km                = 
| dimensions_footnotes    = 
| elevation_footnotes     = 
| elevation_m             = 
| population_footnotes    = <ref name="popstats">{{United Kingdom district population citation}}</ref>
| population_as_of        = {{English statistics year}}
| population_total        = {{English district population|GSS=E06000016}}
| population_rank         = [[List of English districts by population|{{English district population rank|GSS=E06000016}}]]
| population_density_km2  = {{English district density|GSS=E06000016}}
| population_density_rank = 
| population_est          = 
| pop_est_as_of           = 
| pop_est_footnotes       = 
| population_urban        = 
| population_density_urban_km2 = 
| population_metro        = 
| population_density_metro_km2 = 
| population_note         = 
| population_demonym      = Leicestrian
| demographics_type1      = Ethnicity <span style="font-weight:normal;">([[2021 United Kingdom census|2021]])</span>
| demographics1_footnotes = <ref name="2021 Nomis">{{NOMIS2021|id=E06000016|title=Leicester Local Authority|access-date=2 March 2024}}</ref>
| demographics1_title1    = [[Ethnic groups in the United Kingdom|Ethnic groups]]
| demographics1_info1     = {{Collapsible list
 | 43.4% [[British Asians|Asian]]
 | 40.9% [[White people in the United Kingdom|White]]
 | 7.8% [[Black British people|Black]]
 | 3.8% [[Mixed (United Kingdom ethnicity category)|Mixed]]
 | 4.1% [[Ethnic groups in the United Kingdom|other]]
 }}
| demographics_type2      = Religion <span style="font-weight:normal;">(2021)</span>
| demographics2_footnotes = <ref name="2021 Nomis"/>
| demographics2_title1    = [[Religion in England|Religion]]
| demographics2_info1     = {{Collapsible list
 | 24.7% [[Religion in England#Christianity|Christianity]]
 | 23.5% [[Islam in England|Islam]]
 | 23.0% [[Irreligion in the United Kingdom|no religion]]
 | 17.9% [[Hinduism in England|Hinduism]]
 | 4.5% [[Sikhism in England|Sikhism]]
 | 0.3% [[Buddhism in England|Buddhism]]
 | 0.1% [[History of the Jews in England|Judaism]]
 | 0.6% [[Religion in England|other]]
 | 5.6% not stated
 }}
| timezone1               = [[Greenwich Mean Time|GMT]]
| utc_offset1             = +0
| timezone1_DST           = [[British Summer Time|BST]]
| utc_offset1_DST         = +1
| postal_code_type        = [[Postcodes in the United Kingdom|Postcode area]]
| postal_code             = [[LE postcode area|LE]]
| area_code_type          = [[Telephone numbers in the United Kingdom|Dialling code]]
| area_code               = 0116
| area_codes              = 
| iso_code                = [[ISO 3166-2:GB|GB-LCE]]
| code1_name              = [[GSS coding system|GSS code]]
| code1_info              = E06000016
| code2_name              = [[International Territorial Level|ITL code]]
| code2_info              = TLF21
| blank_name_sec1         = [[Gross value added|GVA]]
| blank_info_sec1         = 2021 estimate<ref name="ONS GVA and GDP">{{cite web |url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/grossdomesticproductgdp/datasets/regionalgrossdomesticproductlocalauthorities |title=Regional gross domestic product: local authorities |last=Fenton |first=Trevor |date=25 April 2023 |website=Office for National Statistics |access-date=2 March 2024 |archive-date=28 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230828212620/https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/grossdomesticproductgdp/datasets/regionalgrossdomesticproductlocalauthorities |url-status=live }}</ref>
| blank1_name_sec1        = {{•}}Total
| blank1_info_sec1        = [[Pound sterling|£]]9.2 billion
| blank2_name_sec1        = {{•}}Per capita
| blank2_info_sec1        = £25,124
| blank_name_sec2         = GDP (nominal)
| blank_info_sec2         = 2021 estimate<ref name="ONS GVA and GDP"/>
| blank1_name_sec2        = {{•}}Total
| blank1_info_sec2        = £10.2 billion
| blank2_name_sec2        = {{•}}Per capita
| blank2_info_sec2        = £27,848
| website                 = {{URL|leicester.gov.uk}}
}}
'''Leicester''' ({{IPAc-en|audio=Leicester.ogg|ˈ|l|ɛ|s|t|ər}} {{respell|LES|tər}})<ref>"[http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/leicester Leicester]. {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150919054700/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/leicester |date=19 September 2015 }}". ''Merriam-Webster Dictionary''. Retrieved 28 August 2015.</ref> is a [[city status in the United Kingdom|city]], [[Unitary authorities of England|unitary authority]] area, and the [[county town]] of [[Leicestershire]] in the [[East Midlands]] of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a population of {{English district population|GSS=E06000016}} in {{English statistics year}}.<ref name="popstats"/> The greater [[Leicester urban area]] had a population of 559,017 in 2021, making it the 11th most populous in England,<ref>{{cite web |title=UNITED KINGDOM: Urban Areas in England |url=https://www.citypopulation.de/en/uk/cities/englandua/ |publisher=City Population |access-date=26 April 2023 |archive-date=8 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180408141615/https://www.citypopulation.de/UK-EnglandUA.html?cityid=10795 |url-status=live }}</ref> and the [[List of urban areas in the United Kingdom|13th most populous in the United Kingdom]]. For three years running, the annual Good Growth for Cities Index has ranked Leicester as the best place to live and work in the [[East Midlands]]. The latest study, which is based on a range of economic factors, rated Leicester as the best performing city in the [[East Midlands]] in 2024 and 20th overall out of 52 other UK cities.<ref name="dmu.ac.uk">{{cite web | title=Leicester ranked as best city in the East Midlands to live and work | url=https://www.dmu.ac.uk/about-dmu/news/2024/september/leicester-ranked-as-best-city-in-the-east-midlands-to-live-and-work.aspx }}</ref>

The city lies on the [[River Soar]] and is approximately {{convert|90|miles}} north-northwest of London, {{convert|33|miles}} east-northeast of [[Birmingham]] and {{convert|21|miles}} northeast of [[Coventry]]. [[Nottingham]] and [[Derby]] lie around {{convert|21|miles}} to the north and northwest respectively, whilst [[Peterborough]] is located {{convert|37|miles}} to the east. Leicester is close to the eastern end of the [[National Forest, England|National Forest]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.nationalforest.org/forest/whatis/where.php |title=The National forest |website=The National forest |access-date=2 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161228000002/http://www.nationalforest.org/forest/whatis/where.php |archive-date=28 December 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Leicester has a long history extending into ancient times. The site of an Iron Age [[oppidum]], it developed into the [[Roman Britain|Roman]] town of [[Ratae Corieltauvorum]] following the [[Roman conquest of Britain|conquest]]. The ruins of Ratae were later settled by the [[Anglo-Saxon]]s, and then captured by the [[Vikings]] who made it one of the [[Five Boroughs of the Danelaw]]. After the [[Norman Conquest]] the town came under the authority of the [[House of Beaumont|Beaumont]] and [[House of Montfort|De Montfort]] [[Earls of Leicester|Earls]], most notably the famous rebel [[Simon de Montfort]]. After his death in 1265 the town passed to the [[House of Lancaster]] and [[Leicester Castle]] became one of their strongholds, a royal residence when the family came to the throne in 1399. Leicester therefore became an important town in the wider nation, the meeting place of the parliaments of 1318, [[Fire and Faggot Parliament|1414]], and [[Parliament of Bats|1450]], and a place frequently visited by the King and his court. Most famously [[Richard III of England|King Richard III]] spent his last days in the town before his death at the [[Battle of Bosworth]] and was buried there in August 1485. In the [[Early Modern era]] [[Puritans|Puritanism]] flourished in Leicester and the town was a supporter of the [[Roundhead|Parliamentarian]] cause in the [[English Civil War|Civil War]]. In the [[Victorian era|Victorian age]] the town became known for its [[hosiery]] and shoe manufacturing industries. It also rapidly expanded in population and size eventually gaining [[City status in the United Kingdom|city status]] in 1919. Since the mid-20th century, immigration from countries of the [[British Commonwealth]] has seen Leicester become an ethnically diverse city, and one of the largest urban centres of the [[Midlands]].

Leicester is at the intersection of two railway lines: the [[Midland Main Line]] and the [[Birmingham]] to [[London Stansted Airport]] line. It is also at the confluence of the [[M1 motorway|M1]]/[[M69 motorway]]s and the [[A6 road (England)|A6]]/[[A46 road (England)|A46]] trunk routes. [[Leicester Cathedral]] is home to the new [[Leicester Cathedral#Tomb of Richard III|tomb]] of Richard III who was reburied in the cathedral in 2015 after [[exhumation and reburial of Richard III of England|being discovered]] nearby in the foundations of the lost [[Greyfriars, Leicester|Greyfriars]] chapel, more than 500 years after his death. In sporting terms, the city of Leicester is home to [[Association football|football]] club [[Leicester City F.C.|Leicester City]], [[Rugby Union|rugby]] club [[Leicester Tigers]], [[basketball]] team [[Leicester Riders]], the [[Leicester City Hockey Club]], and the [[Leicestershire County Cricket Club]]. In 1996, a statue was erected in the city centre to commemorate the success of the city's sporting teams in this year. In 2016, Leicester was named as the UK's Greatest Sporting City, and in 2008, it was named as a European City of Sport.<ref>{{cite web | title=Leicester named UK's sporting capital | url=https://www.leicestertigers.com/news/leicester-named-uks-sporting-capital-2016-08-23 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=European Cities of Sport - ACES | date=September 2017 | url=https://aceseurope.eu/european-cities-of-sport/ }}</ref>

==Name==
The name of Leicester comes from [[Old English]]. It is first recorded in Latinised form in the early ninth century as ''Legorensis civitatis'' and in Old English itself in an ''[[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]]'' entry for 924 as ''{{lang|ang|Ligera ceastre}}'' (and, in various spellings, frequently thereafter). In the ''[[Domesday Book]]'' of 1086, it is recorded as ''{{lang|ang|Ledecestre}}''.<ref name="dictionary">''The Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names Based on the Collections of the English Place-Name Society'', ed. by Victor Watts (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004), s.v. ''LEICESTER'', ''LEIRE''.</ref>

The first element of the name is the name of a people, the ''Ligore'' (whose name appears in ''Ligera ceastre'' in the [[Genitive case|genitive]] plural form); their name came in turn from the river Ligor (now the [[River Soar]]), the origin of whose name is uncertain but thought to be from [[Brittonic languages|Brittonic]] (possibly cognate with the name of the [[Loire]]).<ref name="dictionary" /><ref name="Stevenson1918">{{cite journal |last=Stevenson |first=W. H. |date=1918 |title=A note on the derivation of the name 'Leicester' |journal=The Archaeological Journal |publisher=Royal Archaeological Institute (London) |volume=75 |pages=30&nbsp;f}} {{cite magazine |last=Dudley |first=John |date=1848 |title=Etymology of the Name of Leicester |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qvwRAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA580 |magazine=The Gentleman's Magazine |volume=184 |pages=580–582}} citing Wilford, ''Asiatick Researches'' vol. ii. No. 2 (1812), [https://books.google.com/books?id=1N5YAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA45 p. 45]:
"The learned Somner says that the river which runs by it [Leicester] was formerly called Leir by the same contraction [from Legora], and it is probably the river Liar of the anonymous geographer. Mr. Somner, if I be not mistaken, places the original own of ''Ligora'' near the source of the Lear, now the Soar".</ref><ref>
Gelling et al. (eds.), ''The names of towns and cities in Britain'', B. T. Batsford, 1970, p. 122.</ref><ref name="tommyB">Thompson (1849), [https://books.google.com/books?id=xBYVAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA448 Appendix&nbsp;B: Leograceaster—The Saxon Name of Leicester, pp.&nbsp;448&nbsp;f.] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150519033745/https://books.google.com/books?id=xBYVAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA448|date=19 May 2015}}; Thompson (1849), [https://books.google.com/books?id=xBYVAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA7 pp.&nbsp;7&nbsp;f] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150517173320/https://books.google.com/books?id=xBYVAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA7|date=17 May 2015}}.</ref>

The second element of the name is the Old English word ''ceaster'' ("(Roman) fort, fortification, town", itself borrowed from Latin ''[[castrum]]'').<ref name="dictionary" />

A list of British cities in the ninth-century ''[[Historia Brittonum|History of the Britons]]'' includes one ''{{nowrap|Cair Lerion}}''; Leicester has been proposed as the place to which this refers (and the [[Welsh placenames|Welsh]] name for Leicester is ''{{lang|cy|Caerlŷr}}''). But this identification is not certain.<ref>Andrew Breeze, '[http://digitalcommons.brockport.edu/jlo/vol5/iss1/1 ''Historia Brittonum''<nowiki/>' and Britain’s Twenty-Eight Cities] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191028121043/https://digitalcommons.brockport.edu/jlo/vol5/iss1/1/ |date=28 October 2019 }}', ''Journal of Literary Onomastics'', 5.1 (2016), 1–16 (p. 9).</ref>

Based on the Welsh name (given as ''Kaerleir''), [[Geoffrey of Monmouth]] proposed a king [[Leir of Britain]] as an [[eponymous founder]] in his ''[[Historia Regum Britanniae]]'' (12th century).<ref name="Geoffrey2:11">[[Geoffrey of Monmouth|Geoffrey]], [[s:History of the Kings of Britain/Book 2#11|Vol.&nbsp;II, Ch.&nbsp;11]].</ref>{{efn|"After this unhappy fate of [[Bladud]], Leir, his son was advanced to the throne, and nobly governed his country sixty years. He built, upon the river Sore a city, called in the British tongue Kaerleir, in the Saxon, Leircestre."}}

==History==
{{For timeline}}
{{See also|History of Leicestershire}}
{{OSM Location map
| lat =52.6332
| lon =-1.138
| zoom =14
| width = 300       <!-- width and height of the frame. numeric input - do not add px -->
| height = 300

|caption=Map of key historic sites of Leicester Old Town. The Roman and medieval walls are marked by the dotted line. The one surviving Roman ruin is marked in purple. The secular sites are in blue. The towns five surviving ancient churches are in red. The [[Dissolution of the Monasteries|dissolved]] [[mendicant orders|mendicant]] and [[chantry]] foundations are in black. The key site of [[Leicester Abbey]] over the river is beyond the borders of the map to the north east.

| mark = Leicester Town Walls map overlay.svg
| mark-coord = {{coord|52.6324 |-1.1380}}   <!-- lat and lon location for the overlay -->
| mark-size = 250,312     <!--height of the overlay image, in a tracing matches the frame-->
| mark-dim = 0.8        <!--dimension (scale factor) for if the image is not square, deprecated. Using a second size value is generally easier-->
| mark-title=none       <!--no marker within the linked full screen-->

| mark-coord1 = {{coord| 52.640414  |-1.13625}}
| mark1=Red pog.svg
| mark-size1=11
| label1 = [[St Margaret's Church, Leicester|St Margaret's]]
|label-pos1=bottom
| mark-title1 = St Margaret's Church 
| mark-image1 = St Margaret's church, Leicester.jpg <!-- | used within the full screen linked page -->
| mark-description1 = St Margaret's Church

| mark-coord2 = {{coord| 52.635333 | -1.140576}}
| mark2=Red pog.svg
| mark-size2=11
| label2 = [[St Nicholas Church, Leicester|St Nicholas]]
|label-pos2=top
| mark-title2 = St Nicholas Church 
| mark-image2 =Jewry Wall and St Nicholas.jpg<!-- | used within the full screen linked page -->
| mark-description2 = St Nicholas Church

| mark-coord3= {{coord|52.632348 |-1.140229}}
| mark3=Red pog.svg
| mark-size3=11
| label3 = [[Church of St Mary de Castro, Leicester|St Mary de Castro]]
|label-pos3=right
| mark-title3 = St Mary de Castro 
| mark-image3 = The Collegiate Parish Church of St. Mary de Castro, Leicester - geograph.org.uk - 5104462.jpg<!-- | used within the full screen linked page -->
| mark-description3 = St Mary de Castro

| mark-coord4= {{coord| 52.634635 |-1.136782}}
| mark4=Red pog.svg
| mark-size4=11
| label4 = [[Leicester Cathedral|Cathedral]]
|label-pos4=top
| mark-title4 = Leicester Cathedral 
| mark-image4 = Leicester Cathedral south facade.jpg<!-- | used within the full screen linked page -->
| mark-description4 = Leicester Cathedral

| mark-coord5= {{coord| 52.638731 | -1.139107}}
| mark5=Red pog.svg
| mark-size5=11
| label5 = [[All Saints Church, Leicester|All Saints]]
|label-pos5 =right
| mark-title5 = All Saints 
| mark-image5 = All Saints Church - widok od południowej strony.jpg<!-- | used within the full screen linked page -->
| mark-description5 = All Saints Church, Leicester

| mark-coord6 = {{coord| 52.631906 |-1.140778}}
| mark6=Blue pog.svg
| mark-size6=11
| label6 = [[Leicester Castle|Castle]]
|label-pos6=left
| mark-title6= Leicester Castle
| mark-image6 = The Great Hall Leicester Castle.jpg  <!-- | used within the full screen linked page -->
| mark-description 6 = The Great Hall, now with a Queen Anne frontage, is the main standing remains of Leicester's medieval castle.

| mark-coord7 = {{coord| 52.634007|-1.136431}}
| mark7=Black pog.svg
| mark-size7=11
| label7 = [[Greyfriars, Leicester|Greyfriars]]
|label-pos7=right
| mark-title7= Leicester Greyfriars 
| mark-image7 = <!-- | used within the full screen linked page -->
| mark-description 7 = The Franciscan monastery of medieval Leicester.

| mark-coord8 = {{coord| 52.637159 | -1.142791}}
| mark8=Black pog.svg
| mark-size8=11
| label8 = [[Blackfriars, Leicester|Blackfriars]]
|label-pos8=top
| mark-title8= Leicester Blackfriars
| mark-image8= <!-- | used within the full screen linked page -->
| mark-description 8 = The Franciscan monastery of medieval Leicester.

| mark-coord9 = {{coord| 52.637159 | -1.142791}}
| mark9=Black pog.svg
| mark-size9=11
| label9 = [[Blackfriars, Leicester|Blackfriars]]
|label-pos9=top
| mark-title9= Leicester Blackfriars
| mark-image9= <!-- | used within the full screen linked page -->
| mark-description 9 = The Dominican monastery of medieval Leicester.

| mark-coord10 = {{coord| 52.634054  | -1.143242}}
| mark10=Black pog.svg
| mark-size10=11
| label10 = [[Leicester Austin Friars|Austin Friars]]
|label-pos10=bottom
| mark-title10= Leicester Austin Friars
| mark-image10= <!-- | used within the full screen linked page -->
| mark-description 10 = The Augustinian mendicant monastery of medieval Leicester.

| mark-coord11 = {{coord| 52.634607 |-1.13747}}
| mark11=Blue pog.svg
| mark-size11=11
| label11 = [[Leicester Guildhall|Guildhall]]
|label-pos11=left
| mark-title11= Leicester Guildhall 
| mark-image11= <!-- | used within the full screen linked page -->
| mark-description 11= The only surviving guildhall of medieval Leicester.

| mark-coord12 = {{coord| 52.63175 |-1.137886}}
| mark12=Blue pog.svg
| mark-size12=11
| label12 = [[Magazine Gateway]]
|label-pos12=right
| mark-title12 = Magazine Gateway
| mark-image12 = Leicester Magazine Gateway west.jpg<!-- | used within the full screen linked page -->
| mark-description12 = A fifteenth century gateway into the 'high status' area of the Newarke and Castle precincts.

| mark-coord13 = {{coord|  52.630593 | -1.140781}}
| mark13=Black pog.svg
| mark-size13=11
| label13 = [[Church of the Annunciation of Our Lady of the Newarke|Newarke Church]]
|label-pos13=left
| mark-title13 = Church of the Annunciation of Our Lady of the Newarke
| mark-image13 = <!-- | used within the full screen linked page -->
| mark-description13= The church of the college of canons who ran the Newarke.

| mark-coord14= {{coord| 52.635229 | -1.141175}}
| mark14=Purple pog.svg
| mark-size14=11
| label14 = [[Jewry Wall]]
|label-pos14=left
| mark-title14 = Jewry Wall
| mark-image14 = <!-- | used within the full screen linked page -->
| mark-description14= The Roman Jewry Wall, a surviving piece of masonry from the main public thermae complex of Ratae Corieltauvorum.

| mark-coord15= {{coord| 52.634776 | -1.133107}}
| mark15=Blue pog.svg
| mark-size15=11
| label15 = [[Leicester Market|Market]]
|label-pos15=right
| mark-title15 = Leicester Market
| mark-image15 = <!-- | used within the full screen linked page -->
| mark-description15 = Ancient market of the city of Leicester.

| mark-coord16= {{coord| 52.631359 | -1.139176}}
| mark16=Blue pog.svg
| mark-size16=11
| label16 = [[Newarke Houses Museum|Newarke Museum]]
|label-pos16=left
| mark-title16= Newarke Houses Museum
| mark-image16 = <!-- | used within the full screen linked page -->
| mark-description16 = Newarke Houses Museum
}}

===Prehistory===
Leicester is one of the oldest cities in England, with a history going back at least two millennia.<ref>W. G. Hoskins, "Leicester" ''History Today'' (Sep 1951) 1#9 pp 48–56.</ref> The [[Britons (Celtic people)|native]] [[British Iron Age|Iron Age]] settlement encountered by the [[Ancient Romans|Romans]] at the site seems to have developed in the 2nd or 1st centuries [[Anno Domini|BC]], around a century or so before the arrival of the Romans.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archsearch/record.jsf?titleId=1919223 |title=Archaeology Data Service |website=Archaeologydataservice.ac.uk |access-date=27 June 2022}}</ref> Little is known about this settlement or the condition of the [[River Soar]] at this time, although [[Roundhouse (dwelling)|roundhouses]] from this era have been excavated and seem to have clustered along roughly {{convert|8|ha}} of the east bank of the Soar. This area of the Soar was split into two channels: a main stream to the east and a narrower channel on the west, with a presumably marshy island between. The settlement seems to have controlled a ford across the larger channel. The [[Ratae Corieltauvorum#Name|later Roman name]] was a [[Latinization of names|latinate]] form of the [[Common Brittonic|Brittonic]] word for "ramparts" (cf. [[Irish Gaelic|Gaelic]] ''[[Ringfort|rath]]'' and the nearby villages of [[Ratby]] and [[Ratcliffe-upon-Soar|Ratcliffe]]<ref name=tommyA/>), suggesting the site was an [[oppidum]]. The plural form of the name suggests it was initially composed of several villages.<ref name=tommyA>Thompson (1849), [https://books.google.com/books?id=xBYVAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA443 Appendix&nbsp;A: Ratæ—Roman Leicester, pp.&nbsp;443&nbsp;ff] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150519190739/https://books.google.com/books?id=xBYVAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA443 |date=19 May 2015 }}.</ref> The [[list of Celtic tribes|Celtic tribe]] holding the area was later recorded as the "[[Coritani]]ans" but an inscription recovered in 1983 showed this to have been a corruption of the original "[[Corieltauvi]]ans".<ref name="TLAHS">{{cite journal |last=Tomlin |first=R S O |year=1983 |title=Roman Leicester, a Corrigendum: For Coritani should we read Corieltauvi? |journal=Transactions of the Leicester Archaeological and Historical Society |volume=48}}</ref><ref name="AJ">{{cite journal |last=Tomlin |first=R S O |year=1983 |title=Non Coritani sed Corieltauvi |journal=[[The Antiquaries Journal]] |volume=63 |issue=2 |pages=353–355 |doi=10.1017/s0003581500066579 |s2cid=161713854}}</ref> The Corieltauvians are believed to have ruled over roughly the area of the [[East Midlands]].

===Roman===
{{Main|Ratae Corieltauvorum}}
[[File:Jewry Wall ruins Apr10.jpg|thumb|[[St Nicholas' Church, Leicester|St&nbsp;Nicholas's Church]] and the [[Jewry Wall]]]]
It is believed that the [[Ancient Rome|Romans]] arrived in the Leicester area around [[Anno Domini|AD]] 47, during their [[Roman conquest of Britain|conquest]] of [[Roman Britain|southern Britain]].<ref name="Richard3part2">{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-22404032 |title=Richard III team makes second Leicester car park find |work=BBC News Leicester |date=4 May 2013 |access-date=4 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130507010020/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-22404032 |archive-date=7 May 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> The Corieltauvian settlement lay near a bridge on the [[Fosse Way]], a [[Roman road]] between the legionary camps at [[Isca Dumnoniorum|Isca]] ([[Exeter]]) and [[Lindum Colonia|Lindum]] ([[Lincoln, England|Lincoln]]). It remains unclear whether the Romans fortified and garrisoned the location, but it slowly developed from around the year 50 onwards as the [[civitas|tribal capital]] of the Corieltauvians under the name [[Ratae Corieltauvorum]]. In the 2nd century, it received a [[forum (Roman)|forum]] and [[thermae|bathhouse]]. In 2013, the discovery of a Roman cemetery found just outside the old city walls and dating back to AD&nbsp;300 was announced.<ref name="Richard3part2"/> The remains of the [[thermae|baths]] of Roman Leicester can be seen at the [[Jewry Wall]]; recovered artifacts are displayed at the [[Jewry Wall Museum|adjacent museum]].

===Medieval===
{{main|Exhumation and reburial of Richard III of England}}
[[File:Stukeley Leicester Map 1722.jpg|thumb|Map of Leicester Old Town]]
Knowledge of the town following the [[Roman withdrawal from Britain]] is limited. It seems to have been continually occupied after Roman protection ceased through the 5th and 6th centuries, although with a significantly reduced population. Its memory was preserved as the ''{{nowrap|Cair Lerion}}''<ref name=mommy>[[Nennius]] ({{abbr|attrib.|Traditional attribution}}).

[[Theodor Mommsen]] ({{abbr|ed.|Editor}}). [[s:la:Historia Brittonum#VI. CIVITATES BRITANNIAE|''Historia Brittonum'', VI.]] Composed after AD&nbsp;830. {{in lang|la}} Hosted at [[s:la:Main Page|Latin Wikisource]].</ref> of the ''[[Historia Brittonum|History of the Britons]]''.<ref name=nashford>Ford, David Nash. "[http://www.britannia.com/history/ebk/articles/nenniuscities.html The 28 Cities of Britain] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160415120312/http://www.britannia.com/history/ebk/articles/nenniuscities.html |date=15 April 2016 }}" at Britannia. 2000.</ref> Following the [[Saxon invasion of Britain]], Leicester was occupied by the [[Middle Angles]] and subsequently administered by the kingdom of [[Mercia]]. It was elevated to a [[Bishop of Leicester|bishopric]] in either 679 or 680; this see survived until the 9th century, when Leicester was captured by [[Danes (Germanic people)|Danish]] [[Viking invasions of Britain|Vikings]]. Their settlement became one of the [[Five Burghs]] of the [[Danelaw]], although this position was short-lived. The Saxon bishop, meanwhile, fled to [[Dorchester-on-Thames]] and Leicester did not become a bishopric again until the parish church of {{nowrap|St Martin}} became [[Leicester Cathedral]] in 1927. The settlement was recorded under the name ''Ligeraceaster'' in the early 10th century.<ref>{{Cite book |title=A Dictionary of English Place-Names |last=Mills |first=A.D. |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1991 |isbn=0-19-869156-4 |location=Oxford |pages=208}}</ref>

Following the [[Norman Conquest|Norman conquest]], Leicester was recorded by [[William I of England|William]]'s [[Domesday Book]] as ''Ledecestre''. It was noted as a city (''civitas'') but lost this status in the 11th century owing to power struggles between the [[Catholic Church in England|Church]] and the [[aristocracy]]{{citation needed|date=December 2014}} and did not become a legal city again until 1919.

[[File:The five medieval parish churches of Leicester.jpg|thumb|The five surviving medieval parish churches of Leicester: [[St Nicholas Church, Leicester|St Nicholas]] (top left), [[St Margaret's Church, Leicester|St Margaret's]] (top right), [[Leicester Cathedral]] (bottom right), [[All Saints Church, Leicester|All Saints]] (bottom left), and [[Church of St Mary de Castro, Leicester|St Mary de Castro]] (centre).]]
[[Geoffrey of Monmouth]] composed his ''[[Historia Regum Britanniae|History of the Kings of Britain]]'' around the year 1136, naming a [[Leir of Britain|King Leir]] as an [[eponymous founder]] figure.<ref name=laleir>Galfridus Monemutensis <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[Geoffrey of Monmouth]]<nowiki>]</nowiki>. ''[[:s:la:Historia Regum Britanniae|Historia Regum Britanniæ]]''. {{circa|lk=no|1136}}. {{in lang|la}} J.A. Giles &&nbsp;al. (trans.) as [[:s:History of the Kings of Britain/Book 2#11|''History of the Kings of Britain'', Vol.&nbsp;II, Ch.&nbsp;11]] in ''Six Old English Chronicles''. 1842. Hosted at [[:s:Main page|Wikisource]].</ref> According to Geoffrey's narrative, [[Queen Cordelia|Cordelia]] had buried her father beneath the river in a chamber dedicated to [[Janus]] and his feast day was an annual celebration.<ref>Geoffrey of Monmouth. Lewis Thorpe (trans.) as ''The History of the Kings of Britain'', pp.&nbsp;81 & 86. Harmondsworth, 1966. [[William Shakespeare]] took the name of his ''[[King Lear]]'' from Geoffrey; there is now{{year needed|date=September 2015}} a statue of the final scene of Shakespeare's Lear in [[Watermead Country Park]].<!--the statue predates 2002, otherwise we have no information on it, so I doubt this really belongs under the "Medieval" section in "history of Leicester".-->Paul A. Biggs, Sandra Biggs, ''Leicestershire & Rutland Walks with Children'', Sigma Leisure, 2002, p. 44.<!--mentions "King Lear's Lake" and the statue.--></ref>

When [[Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester|Simon de Montfort]] became [[Earl of Leicester]] in 1231, he gave the borough a grant to expel the Jewish population<ref>Mundill (2002), p265</ref> "in my time or in the time of any of my heirs to the end of the world". He justified his action as being "for the good of my soul, and for the souls of my ancestors and successors".<ref>Maddicott 1996, p.15.</ref><ref name="harris128_33">Harris 2008, pp. 128–133.</ref> Leicester's Jews were allowed to move to the eastern suburbs, which were controlled by de Montfort's great-aunt and rival, Margaret, Countess of Winchester, after she took advice from the scholar and cleric [[Robert Grosseteste]], at that time [[Archdeacon of Leicester]].<ref>Levy 1902, pp. 38–39.</ref> It would appear, however, that the expulsion was largely effective, and there is no evidence of any Jews remaining in Leicester.<ref name="harris128_33"/> De Montfort's acts of anti-Jewish persecution in Leicester and elsewhere were part of a [[History of the Jews in England (1066–1290)#Increasing persecution, 13th century|wider pattern]] that led to the [[Edict of Expulsion|expulsion of the Jewish population]] from England in 1290.<ref>See Mundill (2002).</ref>

[[File:Leicester Guildhall.jpg|thumb|right|[[Leicester Guildhall]], dating from the 14th century]]
During the 14th century, the earls of Leicester and Lancaster enhanced the prestige of the town. [[Henry, 3rd Earl of Lancaster]] and of Leicester founded a hospital for the poor and infirm in the area to the south of the castle now known as The Newarke (the "new work"). Henry's son, the great [[Henry of Grosmont]], 4th Earl of Lancaster and of Leicester, who was made first Duke of Lancaster, enlarged and enhanced his father's foundation, and built the collegiate Church of the Annunciation of Our Lady of The Newarke.<ref>Charles James Billson, ''Mediaeval Leicester'' (Leicester, 1920)</ref> This church (a little of which survives in the basement of the Hawthorn Building of De Montfort University) was destroyed during the reign of King Edward VI. It became an important pilgrimage site because it housed a thorn said to be from the Crown of Thorns, given to the Duke by the King of France. The church (described by Leland in the C16th as "not large but exceeding fair") also became, effectively, a Lancastrian mausoleum. Duke Henry's daughter [[Blanche of Lancaster]] married [[John of Gaunt]] and their son Henry Bolingbroke became [[Henry IV of England|King Henry IV]] when he deposed King Richard II. The Church of the Annunciation was the burial place of Duke Henry, who had earlier had his father re-interred here. Later it became the burial place of [[Constance of Castile, Duchess of Lancaster]] (second wife of John of Gaunt) and of [[Mary de Bohun]], first wife of Henry Bolingbroke (Henry IV) and mother of King Henry V (she did not become queen because she died before Bolingbroke became king). John of Gaunt died at Leicester Castle in 1399. When his son became king, the Earldom of Leicester and the Duchy of Lancaster became royal titles (and the latter remains so).

[[File:The Magazine Gateway, Leicester.jpg|thumb|left|The Newarke Gateway or Magazine Gateway]]
At the end of the [[War of the Roses]], [[list of English kings|King]] [[Richard III of England|Richard III]] was buried in Leicester's [[Greyfriars, Leicester|Greyfriars Church]] a Franciscan Friary and Church which was demolished after its dissolution in 1538. The site of that church is now covered by [[King Richard III Visitor Centre]] (until 2012 by more modern buildings and a car park). There was a legend his corpse had been cast into the [[River Soar|river]], while some historians<ref>{{cite book |last1=e.g., Williamson |first1=David |title=The National Portrait Gallery History of the Kings and Queens of England |url=https://archive.org/details/nationalportrait0000will_i4a1 |url-access=registration |date=1998 |publisher=National Portrait Gallery Publications |page=[https://archive.org/details/nationalportrait0000will_i4a1/page/81 81] |isbn=9781855142282}}</ref> argued his tomb and remains were destroyed during the [[Dissolution of the Monasteries|dissolution of the monasteries]] under [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]]. However, in September 2012, an archaeological investigation of the car park revealed a skeleton<ref>{{cite news |title=Richard III dig: Have they found their man in Leicester? |work=BBC News |date=12 September 2012 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-19575558 |access-date=20 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180731083750/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-19575558 |archive-date=31 July 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> which [[DNA testing]] helped verify to be related to two descendants of Richard III's sister.<ref>{{cite news |last=Lawless |first=Jill |title=Richard III team confirms skeleton found under parking lot is remains of England's king |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2013/02/04/richard_iii_team_confirms_skeleton_found_under_parking_lot_is_remains_of_englands_king.html |newspaper=The Star |date=4 February 2013 |access-date=2 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170628165109/https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2013/02/04/richard_iii_team_confirms_skeleton_found_under_parking_lot_is_remains_of_englands_king.html |archive-date=28 June 2017 |url-status=live}}j</ref> It was concluded that the skeleton was that of Richard III because of the DNA evidence and the shape of the spine. In 2015 Richard III was reburied in pride of place near the high altar in [[Leicester Cathedral]].

===Modern===
====Tudor====
[[File:Leicester Abbey nave and cloister.jpg|thumb|[[Leicester Abbey]] ruins, now part of [[Abbey Park, Leicester|Abbey Park]]]]
On 4 November 1530, [[Cardinal Thomas Wolsey]] was arrested on charges of treason and taken from Yorkshire. On his way south to face dubious justice at the [[Tower of London]], he fell ill. The group escorting him was concerned enough to stop at Leicester to rest at Leicester Abbey. There, Wolsey's condition quickly worsened. He died on 29 November 1530 and was buried at [[Leicester Abbey]], now [[Abbey Park, Leicestershire|Abbey Park]].

[[Lady Jane Grey]], who claimed the English throne for nine days in June 1553, was born at [[Bradgate Park]] near Leicester around 1536.<ref name="royweb">{{cite web |url=http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page44.asp |title=Official Website of the British Monarchy – Jane |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150501194655/http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page44.asp |archive-date=1 May 2015}}</ref>

Queen [[Elizabeth I]]'s intimate and former suitor, [[Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester|Robert Dudley]], was given the [[Earldom of Leicester]].

====Stuart====
After the [[Union of the Crowns]], [[Anne of Denmark]], [[Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales|Prince Henry]], and [[Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia|Princess Elizabeth]] travelled to Leicester on 24 June 1603, after the courtier and usher Thomas Conway was assured that the town was free from infection or plague.<ref>William Kelly, ''Royal Progresses to Leicester'' (Leicester, 1855), pp. 8–9.</ref> [[Charles I of England|Prince Charles, later King Charles I]], travelled to London with his guardian [[Alexander Seton, 1st Earl of Dunfermline|Alexander Seton]]. The royal party stayed at Leicester for three days in August 1604 at the townhouse of [[William Skipwith (died 1610)|William Skipwith]].<ref>Walter Seton, 'Early Years of Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales, and Charles, Duke of Albany', ''Scottish Historical Review'', 13:52 (July 1916), pp. 373-4.</ref>

The Corporation of Leicester opposed the efforts of Charles I to disafforest the nearby [[Leicester Forest]], believing them to be likely to throw many of its residents into poverty and need of relief. [[Miles Fleetwood|Sir Miles Fleetwood]] was sent to commission the disafforestation and division of lands being used in common.<ref>{{Citation |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=0-520-03681-6 |location=Berkeley |title=In contempt of all authority |author=Buchanan Sharp |date=1980 |id=0520036816 |ol=4742314M}}p70-71</ref> Riots destroyed enclosures in spring 1627 and 1628, following a pattern of [[Western Rising and disafforestation riots|anti-enclosure disturbances]] found elsewhere including the Western Rising.<ref>Sharp, p58-59</ref>

Petitions challenging the enclosures were presented by the Corporation of Leicester and borough residents to the King and [[Privy Council]]. They were unsuccessful so petitioned the [[House of Lords]] in June 1628 who however supported Fleetwood but asked for proceedings made by the Crown against the rioters to be dropped. Compensation made to the legal residents of the forest was reasonably generous by comparison with other forests. The Corporation of Leicester received {{cvt|40|acres|0|abbr=on}} for relief of the poor.<ref>Sharp, p88</ref>

====Civil War====
Leicester was a Parliamentarian (colloquially called [[Roundhead]]) stronghold during the [[English Civil War]]. In 1645, King [[Charles I of England]] and [[Prince Rupert]] decided to attack the (then) town to draw the [[New Model Army]] away from the Royalist (colloquially called [[Cavaliers]]) headquarters of [[Oxford]]. [[Royalist]] guns were set up on [[Raw Dykes]] and, after an unsatisfactory response to a demand for surrender, the assault began at 3pm on 30 May 1645 by a Royalist battery opposite the Newarke. The town – which only had approximately 2,000 defenders opposed to the Royalist Army of approximately 10,000 combatants – was sacked on 31 May 1645, and hundreds of people were killed by Rupert's cavalry. It was reported that 120 houses had been destroyed and that 140 wagons of plunder were sent to the Royalist stronghold of [[Newark-on-Trent|Newark]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.british-civil-wars.co.uk/military/1645-leicester-naseby.htm |title=1645:The Storming of Leicester and the Battle of Naseby |access-date=25 March 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509100109/http://www.british-civil-wars.co.uk/military/1645-leicester-naseby.htm |archive-date=9 May 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Following the Parliamentarian victory over the Royalist Army at the [[Battle of Naseby]] on 14 June 1645, Leicester was recovered by Parliament on 18 June 1645.

====Industrial era====
[[File:Butler Leicester Seamstress front.jpg|thumb|upright|''The Leicester Seamstress'' by [[James Butler (artist)|James Walter Butler]] (1990)<br />Leicester, Hotel Street]]
The construction of the [[Grand Union Canal]] in the 1790s linked Leicester to London and [[Birmingham]]. The first railway station in Leicester opened in 1832, in the form of the [[Leicester and Swannington Railway]] which provided a supply of coal to the town from nearby collieries.{{sfn|Butt|1995|p=141}}<ref>{{Cite book |title=Victorian Leicester |last=Elliott |first=Malcolm |publisher=Phillimore |year=1979 |isbn=0-85033-327-X |location=London and Chichester |pages=26}}</ref> The [[Midland Counties Railway]] (running from [[Derby railway station|Derby]] to [[Rugby railway station|Rugby]]) linked the town to the national network by 1840. A direct link to [[St Pancras railway station|London St Pancras]] was established by the [[Midland Railway]] in the 1860s. These developments encouraged and accompanied a [[Industrial Revolution in the United Kingdom|process of industrialisation]] which intensified throughout the reign of [[Queen Victoria]]. Factories began to appear, particularly along the canal and river, and districts such as [[Frog Island, Leicester|Frog Island]] and [[Woodgate, Leicestershire|Woodgate]] were the locations of numerous large mills. Between 1861 and 1901, Leicester's population increased from {{nowrap|68,100}} to {{nowrap|211,600}} {{citation needed|date=October 2015}}and the proportion employed in trade, commerce, building, and the city's new factories and workshops rose steadily. [[Hosiery]], textiles, and footwear became the major industrial employers: manufacturers such as [[N. Corah & Sons]] and the Cooperative Boot and Shoe Company were opening some of the largest manufacturing premises in Europe. They were joined, in the latter part of the century, by engineering firms such as Kent Street's Taylor and Hubbard (crane makers and founders{{clarify|date=December 2014}}), Vulcan Road's [[Gimson and Company|William Gimson & Company]] (steam boilers and founders), Martin Street's Richards & Company (steel works and founders), and [[British United Shoe Machinery]] Co (manufacturer of [[footwear]] machinery and materials).

The politics of Victorian Leicester were lively and very often bitter. Years of consistent economic growth meant living standards generally increased, but Leicester was a stronghold of [[Radicals (UK)|Radicalism]]. [[Thomas Cooper (poet)|Thomas Cooper]], the [[Chartism|Chartist]], kept a shop in Church Gate. There were serious Chartist riots in the town in 1842 and again six years later.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.historyhome.co.uk/peel/chartism/leicchar.htm |website=A Web of English History |publisher=Dr Marjie Bloy |title=Chartism in Leicestershire |access-date=23 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140826115108/http://www.historyhome.co.uk/peel/chartism/leicchar.htm |archive-date=26 August 2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The [[Leicester Secular Society]] was founded in 1851 but [[secularism|secularist]] speakers such as [[George Holyoake]] were often denied the use of speaking halls. It was not until 1881 that [[Leicester Secular Hall]] was opened. The second half of the 19th century also witnessed the creation of many other institutions, including the town council, [[Leicester Royal Infirmary|the Royal Infirmary]], and the Leicester Constabulary. It also benefited from general acceptance (and the Public Health Acts ){{citation needed|date=February 2016}} that municipal organisations had a responsibility to provide for the town's water supply, drainage, and sanitation. In 1853, backed with a guarantee of dividends by the Corporation of Leicester the Leicester Waterworks Company built a reservoir at Thornton for the supply of water to the town. This guarantee was made possible by the Public Health Act 1847 and an amending local Act of Parliament of 1851. In 1866 another amending Act enabled the Corporation of Leicester to take shares in the company to enable the construction of another reservoir at Cropston, completed in 1870. The Corporation of Leicester was later able to buy the waterworks and build another reservoir at Swithland, completed in the 1890s.<ref>Elliott, Malcolm.op cit pages 62 -64 and 124–135</ref>

Leicester became a [[county borough]] in 1889, although it was abolished in 1974 as part of the [[Local Government Act 1972|Local Government Act]], and was reformed as a non-metropolitan district and city. The city regained its unitary status, being administered separately from Leicestershire, in 1997. The borough had been expanding throughout the 19th century, but grew most notably when it annexed [[Belgrave, Leicestershire|Belgrave]], [[Aylestone]], [[North Evington]], [[Knighton, Leicestershire|Knighton]], and [[Stoneygate]] in 1892.

====Early 20th century====
[[File:Clock Tower and Eastgates c1910.jpg|thumb|Edwardian city centre]]
In 1900, the [[Great Central Railway]] provided another link to London, but the rapid population growth of the previous decades had already begun to slow by the time of Queen Victoria's death in 1901.
[[World War I]] and the subsequent epidemics had further impacts. Nonetheless, Leicester was finally recognised as a legal city once more in 1919 in recognition of its contribution to the British war effort. Recruitment to the armed forces was lower in Leicester than in other English cities, partly because of the low level of unemployment and the need for many of its industries, such as clothing and footwear manufacturing, to supply the army. As the war progressed, many of Leicester's factories were given over to arms production; Leicester produced the first batch of Howitzer shells by a British company which was not making ammunition before the war. After the war, the city received a royal visit; the king and queen received a march-past in [[Victoria Park, Leicester|Victoria Park]] of thousands of serving and demobilised soldiers. Following the end of the war, a memorial arch—the [[Arch of Remembrance]]—was built in Victoria Park and unveiled in 1925. The arch, one of the largest First World War memorials in the UK, was designed by [[Sir Edwin Lutyens]], who also designed [[The Cenotaph, Whitehall|the Cenotaph]] in London and is a grade I [[listed building]]. A set of gates and lodges, again by Lutyens, were added in the 1930s, leading to the memorial from the University Road and London Road entrances to Victoria Park.<ref>Richardson, p. 63.</ref><ref>Beazley, pp. 174–175.</ref><ref>{{NHLE|num=1074786|desc=The Arch of Remembrance|access-date=28 May 2018}}</ref>
[[File:Leicester Arch of Remembrance (front, 07) cropped.jpg|thumb|The [[Arch of Remembrance]] in [[Victoria Park, Leicester|Victoria Park]]]]
In 1927, Leicester again became a cathedral city on the consecration of {{nowrap|St Martin's}} Church as the cathedral. A second major extension to the boundaries following the changes in 1892 took place in 1935, with the annexation of the remainder of [[Evington]], [[Humberstone, Leicestershire|Humberstone]], [[Beaumont Leys]], and part of [[Braunstone Park & Rowley Fields|Braunstone]]. A third major revision of the boundaries took place in 1966, with the net addition to the city of just over {{cvt|450|acres|0|abbr=on}}. The boundary has remained unchanged since that time.

Leicester's diversified economic base and lack of dependence on primary industries meant it was much better placed than many other cities to weather the tariff wars of the 1920s and [[Great Depression]] of the 1930s. The Bureau of Statistics of the newly formed [[League of Nations]] identified Leicester in 1936 as the second-richest city in Europe<ref>{{cite book |last1=William |first1=David |title=UK Cities: A Look at Life and Major Cities in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland |date=13 October 2010 |publisher=New Africa Press |isbn=978-9987160211 |page=127}}</ref> and it became an attractive destination for refugees fleeing persecution and political turmoil in [[continental Europe]]. Firms such as Corah and Liberty Shoes used their reputation for producing high-quality products to expand their businesses. These years witnessed the growth in the city of [[trade unionism]] and particularly the [[co-operative movement]]. The Co-op became an important employer and landowner; when Leicester played host to the [[Jarrow March]] on its way to London in 1936, the Co-op provided the marchers with a change of boots. In 1938, Leicester was selected as the base for Squadron 1F, the first A.D.C.C (Air Defence Cadet Corp), the predecessor of the [[Air Training Corps]].

====World War II====
Leicester was bombed on 19 November 1940. Although only three bombs hit the city, 108 people were killed in Highfields.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.storyofleicester.info/a-place-to-live/the-blitz-in-highfields/ |title=The Blitz in Highfields |work=Story of Leicester |access-date=16 October 2022 |archive-date=16 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221016141004/https://www.storyofleicester.info/a-place-to-live/the-blitz-in-highfields/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Contemporary===
The years after [[World War II]], particularly from the 1960s onwards, brought many social and economic challenges.

====Urban expansion; central rapprochement====
[[File:Aerial-Leicester 2.017.jpg|thumb|upright 1.5|Central Leicester (looking WNW)]]
Mass housebuilding continued across Leicester for some 30 years after 1945. Existing housing estates such as Braunstone were expanded, while several completely new estates – of both private and council tenure – were built.{{Citation needed|date=September 2011}} The last major development of this era was Beaumont Leys in the north of the city, which was developed in the 1970s as a mix of private and council housing.{{Citation needed|date=September 2011}}

There was a steady decline in Leicester's traditional manufacturing industries and, in the city centre, working factories and light industrial premises have now been almost entirely replaced. Many former factories, including some on [[Frog Island, Leicester|Frog Island]] and at [[River Soar#Donisthorpe Mill|Donisthorpe Mill]], have been badly damaged by fire. Rail and barge were finally eclipsed by automotive transport in the 1960s and 1970s: the Great Central and the Leicester and Swannington both closed and the northward extension of the [[M1 motorway]] linked Leicester into England's growing motorway network. With the loss of much of the city's industry during the 1970s and 1980s, some of the old industrial jobs were replaced by new jobs in the service sector, particularly in retail. The opening of the Haymarket Shopping Centre in 1971 was followed by a number of new shopping centres in the city, including St Martin's Shopping Centre in 1984 and the Shire Shopping Centre in 1992.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.localhistories.org/leicester.html |title=A History of Leicester |access-date=29 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150704145750/http://www.localhistories.org/leicester.html |archive-date=4 July 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The Shires was subsequently expanded in September 2008 and rebranded as Highcross.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.highcrossleicester.com/website/tm_highcross.aspx |title=Highcross - Highcross |access-date=8 January 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120117114435/http://www.highcrossleicester.com/website/tm_highcross.aspx |archive-date=17 January 2012}}</ref> By the 1990s, as well, Leicester's central position and good transport links had established it as a distribution centre; the southwestern area of the city has also attracted new service and manufacturing businesses.

====Immigration====
[[File:Leicester city council advert on Ugandan Argus.jpg|thumb|left|upright|1972 advertisement in the ''[[New Vision|Uganda Argus]]'' newspaper to discourage Ugandan Asians from settling in Leicester]]
Since World War II Leicester has experienced large scale immigration from across the world. Many Polish servicemen were prevented from returning to their homeland after the war by the communist regime,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/982.html |title=Poles |website=Encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org |access-date=9 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180210034745/http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/982.html |archive-date=10 February 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> and they established a small community in Leicester. Economic migrants from the [[Republic of Ireland|Irish Republic]] continued to arrive throughout the post war period. Immigrants from the [[Indian sub-continent]] began to arrive in the 1960s, their numbers boosted by [[South Asia|Asians]] arriving from Kenya and Uganda in the early 1970s.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/leicester/around_leicester/2002/09/ugandan_asians_leicester_changes.shtml Leicester's Ugandan Asian success story.] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120401011706/http://www.bbc.co.uk/leicester/around_leicester/2002/09/ugandan_asians_leicester_changes.shtml |date=1 April 2012 }} Retrieved 28 November 2010.</ref><ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/leicester/content/articles/2005/10/10/al_leicester_backgrounder_feature.shtml A history of Leicester.] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111108054953/http://www.bbc.co.uk/leicester/content/articles/2005/10/10/al_leicester_backgrounder_feature.shtml |date=8 November 2011 }} Retrieved 28 November 2010.</ref>

In 1972, [[Idi Amin]] announced that the entire [[Ugandan Asians|Asian community in Uganda]] had 90 days to leave the country.<ref name=uganda4>{{cite web |title=From Kampala to Leicester |url=http://www.leicester.gov.uk/ugandanasianstory/ |publisher=Leicester City Council |access-date=7 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120919184349/http://www.leicester.gov.uk/ugandanasianstory/ |archive-date=19 September 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Shortly thereafter, Leicester City Council launched a campaign aimed at dissuading Ugandan Asians from migrating to the city.<ref name=uganda1>{{cite news |last=Lowther |first=Ed |title=Government warned not to repeat 'folly' of Uganda anti-immigration adverts |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-21259047 |access-date=7 April 2013 |newspaper=BBC |date=30 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130320225345/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-21259047 |archive-date=20 March 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> The adverts did not have their intended effect, [[Streisand effect|instead making more migrants aware]] of the possibility of settling in Leicester.<ref name=Uganda2>{{cite news |title=Leicester City Council to thank Indian immigrants |url=http://www.immigrationmatters.co.uk/leicester-city-council-to-thank-indian-immigrants.html |access-date=7 April 2013 |work=Immigration Matters |date=10 September 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121101045949/http://www.immigrationmatters.co.uk/leicester-city-council-to-thank-indian-immigrants.html |archive-date=1 November 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Nearly a quarter of initial Ugandan refugees (around 5000 to 6000) settled in Leicester, and by the end of the 1970s around another quarter of the initially dispersed refugees had made their way to Leicester.<ref>{{cite book |last=Huttman |first=Elizabeth D. |title=Urban housing segregation of minorities in Western Europe and the United States |year=1991 |publisher=Duke University Press |location=Durham |isbn=978-0822310600 |editor1=Blauw, Wim |editor2=Juliet Saltman}}</ref> Officially, the adverts were taken out for fear that immigrants to Leicester would place pressure on city services and at least one person who was a city councillor at the time says he believes they were placed for racist reasons.<ref name=uganda3/> The initial advertisement was widely condemned, and taken as a marker of anti-Asian sentiment throughout Britain as a whole, although the attitudes that resulted in the initial advertisement were changed significantly in subsequent decades,<ref>{{cite book |last=Marett |first=Valerie |title=Immigrants settling in the city |year=1989 |publisher=Leicester University Press |location=Leicester |isbn=978-0718512835}}</ref> not least because the immigrants included the owners of many of "Uganda's most successful businesses."<ref>[http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/years-ago-today-tyrant-s-whim-boosted-city-s/story-16647839-detail/story.html] {{dead link|date=December 2017|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref>

Forty years later, Leicester's mayor Sir [[Peter Soulsby]] expressed his regret for the behaviour of the council at the time.<ref name=uganda3>{{cite news |title=Ugandan Asians advert 'foolish', says Leicester councillor |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-19165216 |access-date=7 April 2013 |work=BBC News |date=8 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121124050308/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-19165216 |archive-date=24 November 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref>

In the 1990s, a group of Dutch citizens of [[Somali people|Somali]] origin settled in the city. Since the 2004 [[enlargement of the European Union]] a significant number of [[East European]] migrants have settled in the city. While some wards in the northeast of the city are more than 70% South Asian, wards in the west and south are all over 70% white. The [[Commission for Racial Equality]] (CRE) had estimated that by 2011 Leicester would have approximately a 50% ethnic minority population, making it the first city in Britain not to have a [[white British]] majority.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web |url=http://www.cre.gov.uk/Default.aspx.LocID-0hgnew0cq.RefLocID-0hg00900c008.Lang-EN.htm |title=Scoring goals for integration in Leicester: CRE helps kids and coaches use football to bring communities together |date=30 September 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930020356/http://www.cre.gov.uk/Default.aspx.LocID-0hgnew0cq.RefLocID-0hg00900c008.Lang-EN.htm |access-date=27 June 2022 |archive-date=30 September 2007}}</ref> This prediction was based on the growth of the ethnic minority populations between 1991 (Census 1991 28% ethnic minority) and 2001 (Census 2001 – 36% ethnic minority). However, Professor Ludi Simpson at the [[University of Manchester]] School of Social Sciences said in September 2007 that the CRE had "made unsubstantiated claims and ignored government statistics" and that Leicester's immigrant and minority communities disperse to other places.<ref>[http://www.staffnet.manchester.ac.uk/news/unilife/1007/research/#d.en.124216] {{dead link|date=July 2017|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ccsr.ac.uk/research/mrpd/events/documents/BSPS07SimpsonFinneyMinorityWhiteCities.doc |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071129182053/http://www.ccsr.ac.uk/research/mrpd/events/documents/BSPS07SimpsonFinneyMinorityWhiteCities.doc |url-status=dead |title=Research2 |archive-date=29 November 2007}}</ref><ref name="auto"/>

The Leicester Multicultural Advisory Group<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.media4diversity.eu/ |title=Media4diversity |access-date=30 November 2020 |archive-date=3 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201203004835/https://www.media4diversity.eu/ |url-status=dead}}</ref> is a forum, set up in 2001 by the editor of the ''[[Leicester Mercury]]'', to co-ordinate community relations with members representing the council, police, schools, community and faith groups, and the media.

====Coronavirus====
The [[COVID-19 pandemic]] has brought many social and economic challenges across the country and across the world. Leicester has been particularly badly affected in the United Kingdom; from July 2020 during the imposition of the first local lockdown which saw all non-essential retail closed again and businesses such as public houses, restaurants and hairdressers unable to reopen. Businesses such as these in areas such as Glenfield and that part of Braunstone Town which outside of the formal city council area, have since been allowed to reopen following a more tightly defined lockdown area from 18 July 2020.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-53447863 |title=Leicester lockdown: 'I needn't have cancelled our holiday' |work=BBC News |date=18 July 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2020/754/contents/made |title=The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (Leicester) (Amendment) Regulations 2020 |website=Legislation.gov.uk |access-date=27 June 2022 |archive-date=9 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220709023008/https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2020/754/contents/made |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Geography==
{{See also|List of settlements in Leicestershire by population}}
{{Adjacent communities
|title = '''Destinations from Leicester'''
|Northwest = '''[[Derby]]'''<br />[[Burton upon Trent]], [[Ashby-de-la-Zouch]], [[Coalville]]
|North     = '''[[Nottingham]]''',<br />[[Loughborough]]
|Northeast = [[Syston]], [[Melton Mowbray]], [[Grantham]]
|West      = [[Tamworth, Staffordshire|Tamworth]], [[Market Bosworth]], [[Braunstone Town]]
|Centre    = Leicester
|East      = '''[[Oakham]]''', [[Stamford, Lincolnshire|Stamford]], '''[[Peterborough]]'''
|Southwest = [[Nuneaton]], [[Hinckley]], [[Earl Shilton]], [[Narborough, Leicestershire|Narborough]]<br />'''[[Birmingham]]''', '''[[Coventry]]''' 
|South     = [[Wigston]]<br />[[Lutterworth]]<br />[[Rugby, Warwickshire|Rugby]]
|Southeast = [[Oadby]], [[Market Harborough]], [[Corby]]<br />'''[[Northampton]]'''
}}
The [[Office for National Statistics]] has defined a [[Leicester Urban Area]] (LUA); broadly the immediate Leicester [[conurbation]], although without administrative status. The LUA contains the unitary authority area and several towns, villages and suburbs outside the city's administrative boundaries.

=== Areas and suburbs ===
{{See also|Leicester Urban Area}}
{{OSM Location map
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| float=left
| zoom = 12
| width = 620 <!-- width and height of the frame. numeric input - do not add px -->
| height = 550
| caption = Map of Leicester showing some of the localities and suburbs
| minimap = file
| mini-file=Leicestershire UK district map (blank).svg
| mini-width=170
| mini-height=138
| minipog-gx=53
| minipog-gy=56
| minimap-boxwidth=17
| scalemark =172
| map-data-inverse=Q21683242 <!-- wikidata link to add city boundary-->
| map-data-light=Q21272890 <!-- wikidata link to add county border-->
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| label1 = Abbey Rise
| label-size1=10,background,outline
| label-pos1 = center
| mark-size1=0
| mark-title1 = [[Abbey Rise]]
| mark-image = 
| mark-description = 
| mark-coord2 = {{coord|52.6841|-1.1511}}
|      label2 = Ashton Green
| mark-title2 = [[Ashton Green, Leicester]]

| mark-coord3 = {{coord|52.6029|-1.1497}}
|      label3 = '''[[Aylestone]]'''
| mark-title3 = [[Aylestone]]

| mark-coord4 = {{coord|52.6614|-1.1615}}
|      label4 = [[Beaumont Leys]]
| mark-title4 = [[Beaumont Leys]]

| mark-coord5 = {{coord|52.6288|-1.1452}}
|      label5 = [[Bede Island]]
| mark-title5 = [[Bede Island]]

| mark-coord6 = {{coord|52.6521|-1.1219}}
|      label6 = '''[[Belgrave, Leicester|Belgrave]]'''
| mark-title6 = [[Belgrave, Leicester]]

| mark-coord7 = {{coord|52.63745|-1.144386}}
|      label7 = [[Black Friars, Leicester|Blackfriars]]
| mark-title7 = [[Black Friars, Leicester]]

| mark-coord8 = {{coord|52.6228|-1.1646}}
|      label8 = [[Braunstone Park & Rowley Fields|Braunstone]]
| mark-title8 = [[Braunstone Park & Rowley Fields|Braunstone]]

| mark-coord9 = {{coord|52.6325|-1.1310}}
|      label9 = [[Leicester City Centre|City Centre]]
| mark-title9 = [[Leicester City Centre]]

| mark-coord10 = {{coord|52.6152|-1.1172}}
|      label10 = [[Clarendon Park, Leicester|Clarendon Park]]
| mark-title10 = [[Clarendon Park, Leicester]]

| mark-coord11 = {{coord|52.6317|-1.0971}}
|      label11 = [[Crown Hills]]
| mark-title11 = [[Crown Hills]]

| mark-coord12 = {{coord|52.6369|-1.1647}}
|      label12 = [[Dane Hills]]
| mark-title12 = [[Dane Hills]]

| mark-coord13 = {{coord|52.6222|-1.0713}}
|      label13 = '''[[Evington]]'''
| mark-title13 = [[Evington]]

| mark-coord14 = {{coord|52.6230|-1.102343}}
|      label14 = [[Evington Valley]]
| mark-title14 = [[Evington Valley]]

| mark-coord15 = {{coord|52.58989|-1.14734}}
|      label15 = [[Eyres Monsell]]
| mark-title15 = [[Eyres Monsell]]

| mark-coord16 = {{coord|52.642|-1.143}}
|      label16 = [[Frog Island, Leicester|Frog Island]]
| ldx16=-9| ldy16=-2
| mark-title16 = [[Frog Island, Leicester]]

| mark-coord17 = {{coord|52.62993|-1.07449}}
|      label17 = [[Goodwood, Leicestershire|Goodwood]]
| mark-title17 = [[Goodwood, Leicestershire|Goodwood, Evington]]

| mark-coord18 = {{coord|52.6573|-1.0690}}
|      label18 = [[Hamilton, Leicester|Hamilton]]
| mark-title18 = [[Hamilton, Leicester]]

| mark-coord19 = {{coord|52.6303|-1.1179}}
|      label19 = [[Highfields, Leicester|Highfields]]
| mark-title19 = [[Highfields, Leicester]]

| mark-coord20 = {{coord|52.6207|-1.0940}}
|      label20 = Horston Hill
| mark-title20 = Horston Hill

| mark-coord21 = {{coord|52.6461|-1.0802}}
|      label21 = '''[[Humberstone, Leicestershire|Humberstone]]'''
| mark-title21 = [[Humberstone, Leicestershire]]

| mark-coord22 = {{coord|52.6500|-1.0629}}
|      label22 = [[Humberstone Garden Suburb]]
| mark-title22 = [[Humberstone Garden Suburb]]

| mark-coord23 = {{coord|52.6365|-1.1960}}
|      label23 = Kirby Frith
| mark-title23 = [[Kirby Frith]]

| mark-coord24 = {{coord|52.6093|-1.1145}}
|      label24 = '''[[Knighton, Leicester|Knighton]]'''
| mark-title24 = [[Knighton, Leicester]]

| mark-coord25 = {{coord|52.6685|-1.1443}}
|      label25 = Mowmacre Hill
| mark-title25 = [[Mowmacre Hill]]

| mark-coord26 = {{coord|52.6469|-1.0556}}
|      label26 = [[Netherhall]]
| mark-title26 = [[Netherhall]]

| mark-coord27 = {{coord|52.6396|-1.1565}}
|      label27 = [[Newfoundpool]]
| mark-title27 = [[Newfoundpool]]

| mark-coord28 = {{coord|52.6472|-1.1800}}
|      label28 = [[New Parks]]
| mark-title28 = [[New Parks]]

| mark-coord29 = {{coord|52.6403|-1.0940}}
|      label29 = [[North Evington]]
| mark-title29 = [[North Evington]]

| mark-coord30 = {{coord|52.6486|-1.1007}}
|      label30 = [[Northfields, Leicester|Northfields]]
| mark-title30 = [[Northfields, Leicester]]

| mark-coord31 = {{coord|52.6149|-1.1563}}
|      label31 = [[Braunstone Park & Rowley Fields|Rowley Fields]]
| mark-title31 = [[Braunstone Park & Rowley Fields|Rowley Fields]]

| mark-coord32 = {{coord|52.6265|-1.0845}}
|      label32 = [[Rowlatts Hill]]
| mark-title32 = [[Rowlatts Hill]]

| mark-coord33 = {{coord|52.6648|-1.1047}}
|      label33 = [[Rushey Mead]]
| mark-title33 = [[Rushey Mead]]

| mark-coord34 = {{coord|52.6019|-1.1350}}
|      label34 = Saffron
| mark-title34 = [[Saffron, Leicester]] ('The Saff')

| mark-coord35 = {{coord|52.5957|-1.1341}}
|      label35 = [[Southfields, Leicester|Southfields]]
| mark-title35 = [[Southfields, Leicester]]

| mark-coord36 = {{coord|52.6053|-1.1043}}
|      label36 = South Knighton
| mark-title36 = [[South Knighton, Leicestershire]]

| mark-coord37 = {{coord|52.6379|-1.1100}}
|      label37 = [[Spinney Hills]]
| mark-title37 = [[Spinney Hills]]

| mark-coord38 = {{coord|52.6585|-1.1479}}
|      label38 = Stocking Farm
| mark-title38 = [[Stocking Farm]]

| mark-coord39 = {{coord|52.6186|-1.1064}}
|      label39 = [[Stoneygate]]
| mark-title39 = [[Stoneygate]]

| mark-coord40 = {{coord|52.6416|-1.1241}}
|      label40 = [[St Matthew's, Leicester|St. Matthew's]]
| ldx40=11| ldy40= -8
| mark-title40 =[[St Matthew's, Leicester]]

| mark-coord41 = {{coord|52.6417|-1.1312}}
|      label41 = St. Mark's
| ldy41=7
| mark-title41 = [[St. Marks, Leicester]]

| mark-coord42 = {{coord|52.6290|-1.1125}}
|      label42 = St. Peters
| ldy42=4
| mark-title42 = [[St Peters, Leicester]]

| mark-coord43 = {{coord|52.6395|-1.0564}}
|      label43 = [[Thurnby Lodge]]
| mark-title43 = [[Thurnby Lodge]]

| mark-coord44 = {{coord|52.6319|-1.1524}}
|      label44 = [[West End, Leicester|West End]]
| mark-title44 = [[West End, Leicester]]

| mark-coord45 = {{coord|52.607|-1.126}}
|      label45 = [[West Knighton, Leicester|West Knighton]]
| mark-title45 = [[West Knighton, Leicester]]

| mark-coord46 = {{coord|52.6316|-1.1699}}
|      label46 = [[Western Park, Leicester|Western Park]]
| mark-title46 = [[Western Park, Leicester]]

| mark-coord47 = {{coord|52.6445|-1.148}}
|      label47 = [[Woodgate, Leicester|Woodgate]]
| mark-title47 = [[Woodgate, Leicester]]

| mark-coord48 = {{coord|52.6596|-1.1771}}
|      label48 = Bradgate Heights
| mark-title48 = [[Bradgate Heights, Leicester]]

| mark-coord49 = {{coord|52.6334|-1.1928}}
|      label49 = Braunstone Frith
| mark-title49 = [[Braunstone Frith, Leicester]]

| mark-coord50 = {{coord|52.5905|-1.2284}}
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| mark-title50=none

| mark-coord51 = {{coord|52.6138|-1.2018}}
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| label-color51=white| label-angle51=68| label51=M1
| mark-title51=none
}}
{{clear}}
Suburbs and districts of Leicester (ancient villages now incorporated into the city are shown in bold)
{{columns-list|colwidth=14em|
* [[Abbey Rise]]
* [[Ashton Green, Leicester|Ashton Green]]
* '''[[Aylestone]]'''
* [[Beaumont Leys]]
* [[Bede Island]]
* '''[[Belgrave, Leicester|Belgrave]]'''
* [[Black Friars, Leicester|Blackfriars]]
* [[Braunstone Park & Rowley Fields|Braunstone]]
* [[Braunstone Frith, Leicester|Braunstone Frith]]
* [[Bradgate Heights, Leicester|Bradgate Heights]]
* [[Leicester City Centre|City Centre]]
* [[Clarendon Park, Leicester|Clarendon Park]]
* [[Crown Hills]]
* [[Dane Hills]]
* '''[[Evington]]'''
* [[Evington Valley]]
* [[Eyres Monsell]]
* [[Frog Island, Leicester|Frog Island]]
* [[Goodwood, Leicestershire|Goodwood]]
* [[Hamilton, Leicester|Hamilton]]
* [[Highfields, Leicester|Highfields]]
* [[Horston Hill]]
* '''[[Humberstone, Leicestershire|Humberstone]]'''
* [[Humberstone Garden Suburb|Humberstone Garden]]
* [[Kirby Frith]]
* '''[[Knighton, Leicester|Knighton]]'''
* [[Mowmacre Hill]]
* [[Netherhall]]
* [[Newfoundpool]]
* [[New Parks]]
* [[North Evington]]
* [[Northfields, Leicester|Northfields]]
* [[Rowlatts Hill]]
* [[Braunstone Park & Rowley Fields|Rowley Fields]]
* [[Rushey Mead]]
* [[Saffron, Leicester|Saffron]]
* [[Southfields, Leicester|Southfields]]
* [[South Knighton, Leicestershire|South Knighton]]
* [[Spinney Hills]]
* [[Stocking Farm]]
* [[Stoneygate]]
* [[St Matthew's, Leicester|St. Matthew's]]
* [[St. Marks, Leicester|St. Mark's]]
* [[St Peters, Leicester|St. Peters]]
* [[Thurnby Lodge]]
* [[West End, Leicester|West End]]
* [[West Knighton, Leicester|West Knighton]]
* [[Western Park, Leicester|Western Park]]
* [[Woodgate, Leicester|Woodgate]]
}}

===Climate===
[[File:Spinney Hills Park, Leicester.jpg|thumb|upright|Snow in Spinney Hill Park, 2007]]
Leicester experiences a [[maritime climate]] with mild to warm summers and cool winters, rain spread throughout the year, and low sunshine levels. The nearest official Weather Station was Newtown Linford, about {{convert|5|mi|km}} northwest of Leicester city centre and just outside the edge of the urban area. However, observations stopped there in 2003.{{Citation needed|date=December 2015}} The current nearest weather station is Market Bosworth, about {{convert|10|mi|km}} west of the city centre. {{Citation needed|date=February 2016}}

The highest temperature recorded at Newtown Linford was {{cvt|34.5|°C|°F|abbr=on}} during August 1990,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://eca.knmi.nl/utils/monitordetail.php?seasonid=14&year=1990&indexid=TXx&stationid=1852 |title=August 1990 Maximum |access-date=26 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111128090024/http://eca.knmi.nl/utils/monitordetail.php?seasonid=14&year=1990&indexid=TXx&stationid=1852 |archive-date=28 November 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> although a temperature of {{convert|35.1|C|F}} was achieved at Leicester University during August 2003.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/interesting/aug03maxtemps.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030819214645/http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/interesting/aug03maxtemps.html |archive-date=19 August 2003 |title=August 2003 Maximum |access-date=23 February 2012}}</ref> However, the highest temperature since records began in Leicester is {{convert|36.7|C|F}} on 15 July 1868.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/leicester-news/leicestershire-experiences-hottest-july-day-3135713 |title=Leicestershire experiences hottest July day in more than 150 years - Leicestershire Live |access-date=26 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190726111702/https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/leicester-news/leicestershire-experiences-hottest-july-day-3135713 |archive-date=26 July 2019 |url-status=dead}}</ref> More typically the highest temperature would reach {{cvt|28.7|°C|°F|abbr=on}} – the average annual maximum.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://eca.knmi.nl/utils/calcdetail.php?seasonid=0&periodid=1971-2000&indexid=TXx&stationid=1852 |title=1971-00 Average annual maximum |access-date=26 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111128085411/http://eca.knmi.nl/utils/calcdetail.php?seasonid=0&periodid=1971-2000&indexid=TXx&stationid=1852 |archive-date=28 November 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> 11.3 days of the year should attain a temperature of {{cvt|25.1|°C|°F|abbr=on}} or above.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://eca.knmi.nl/utils/calcdetail.php?seasonid=0&periodid=1971-2000&indexid=SU&stationid=1852 |title=Max > 25&nbsp;°C days |access-date=26 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111128164130/http://eca.knmi.nl/utils/calcdetail.php?seasonid=0&periodid=1971-2000&indexid=SU&stationid=1852 |archive-date=28 November 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

The lowest temperature recorded at Newtown Linford was {{cvt|-16.1|°C|°F|abbr=on}} during January 1963.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://eca.knmi.nl/utils/monitordetail.php?seasonid=7&year=1963&indexid=TNn&stationid=1852 |title=Jan 1963 Minimum |access-date=26 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111128091847/http://eca.knmi.nl/utils/monitordetail.php?seasonid=7&year=1963&indexid=TNn&stationid=1852 |archive-date=28 November 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Typically, 54.9&nbsp;air frosts will be recorded during the course of the year.

Rainfall averages 684.4&nbsp;mm per year,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://eca.knmi.nl/utils/calcdetail.php?seasonid=0&periodid=1971-2000&indexid=RR&stationid=1852 |title=1971-00 average rainfall |access-date=26 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111128164119/http://eca.knmi.nl/utils/calcdetail.php?seasonid=0&periodid=1971-2000&indexid=RR&stationid=1852 |archive-date=28 November 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> with 1&nbsp;mm or more falling on 120.8&nbsp;days.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://eca.knmi.nl/utils/calcdetail.php?seasonid=0&periodid=1971-2000&indexid=RR1&stationid=1852 |title=1971-00 average raindays |access-date=23 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111128164134/http://eca.knmi.nl/utils/calcdetail.php?seasonid=0&periodid=1971-2000&indexid=RR1&stationid=1852 |archive-date=28 November 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> All averages refer to the period 1971–2000.

{{Weather box
|location = [[Newtown Linford]],{{efn|Weather station is located {{convert|5|mi|0|abbr=out}} from the Leicester city centre.}} elevation: {{cvt|119|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}, 1971–2000 normals, extremes 1960–2002
| collapsed = 
| metric first = y
| single line = y
| Jan record high C = 13.6
| Feb record high C = 16.3
| Mar record high C = 21.7
| Apr record high C = 23.9
| May record high C = 26.5
| Jun record high C = 31.5
| Jul record high C = 35.0
| Aug record high C = 34.5
| Sep record high C = 27.7
| Oct record high C = 23.3
| Nov record high C = 16.2
| Dec record high C = 14.6
| Jan high C = 6.7
| Feb high C = 7.0
| Mar high C = 9.9
| Apr high C = 12.4
| May high C = 16.2
| Jun high C = 18.8
| Jul high C = 21.6
| Aug high C = 21.2
| Sep high C = 17.8
| Oct high C = 13.7
| Nov high C = 9.3
| Dec high C = 7.5
| year high C = 13.5
| Jan mean C = 3.6
| Feb mean C = 3.8
| Mar mean C = 6.1
| Apr mean C = 7.9
| May mean C = 11.2
| Jun mean C = 13.9
| Jul mean C = 16.2
| Aug mean C = 16.1
| Sep mean C = 13.4
| Oct mean C = 9.9
| Nov mean C = 6.2
| Dec mean C = 4.3
| year mean C = 9.4
| Jan low C = 0.5
| Feb low C = 0.5
| Mar low C = 2.1
| Apr low C = 3.3
| May low C = 6.0
| Jun low C = 8.7
| Jul low C = 10.8
| Aug low C = 10.7
| Sep low C = 8.8
| Oct low C = 6.0
| Nov low C = 2.8
| Dec low C = 1.3
| year low C = 5.1
| Jan record low C = -16.1
| Feb record low C = -11.7
| Mar record low C = -11.1
| Apr record low C = -6.6
| May record low C = -3.3
| Jun record low C = -0.9
| Jul record low C = 2.8
| Aug record low C = 2.8
| Sep record low C = 0.0
| Oct record low C = -6.2
| Nov record low C = -7.4
| Dec record low C = -14.4
| precipitation colour = green
| Jan precipitation mm = 61.7
| Feb precipitation mm = 48.9
| Mar precipitation mm = 51.9
| Apr precipitation mm = 51.5
| May precipitation mm = 50.8
| Jun precipitation mm = 63.1
| Jul precipitation mm = 46.1
| Aug precipitation mm = 59.3
| Sep precipitation mm = 61.5
| Oct precipitation mm = 60.6
| Nov precipitation mm = 60.3
| Dec precipitation mm = 68.8
| year precipitation mm = 684.4
| unit precipitation days = 1.0 mm
| Jan precipitation days = 12.1
| Feb precipitation days = 10.2
| Mar precipitation days = 11.6
| Apr precipitation days = 9.7
| May precipitation days = 9.1
| Jun precipitation days = 9.6
| Jul precipitation days = 7.8
| Aug precipitation days = 8.8
| Sep precipitation days = 9.3
| Oct precipitation days = 10.2
| Nov precipitation days = 10.7
| Dec precipitation days = 11.7
| year precipitation days = 120.8
| source 1 = [[Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute|KNMI]]{{efn|Data calculated from raw monthly term data}}<ref>{{cite web |url=https://eca.knmi.nl//download/millennium/millennium.php |title=Indices Data - Newtown Linford Station 1852 |access-date=10 March 2019 |publisher=[[KNMI (institute)|KNMI]] |archive-date=9 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180709010608/https://eca.knmi.nl//download/millennium/millennium.php |url-status=dead}}</ref>
}}

==Governance==
[[File:Leicester Town Hall 13795509814 80de745302 o.jpg|thumb|[[Leicester Town Hall]], completed in 1876]]
On 5 May 2011, the [[directly elected]] [[Mayor of Leicester]] role came into effect after the inaugural election. This post exists in addition to that of [[Lord mayor|Lord Mayor]] which goes back to the Middle Ages and is these days a ceremonial role.

The first mayor of Leicester was a [[Normans|Norman]] knight, Peter fitz Roger ("Peter, son of Roger") in 1251.<ref>Agnes Johnson Glimpses of ancient Leicester – Page 60 1891 "The first Mayor of Leicester, A.D. 1251.</ref><ref>The history of the boroughs and municipal corporations of the ... – Page 229 [[Henry Alworth Merewether]], Archibald John Stephens – 1835 "The mayor of Leicester and his brethren, having, with the consent of the commonalty, by the last ordinance, placed the town under the government of the aldermen, appear, in the 4th year of the reign of King Henry VII., to have adopted 1488. a ..."</ref> Following the restoration of city status in 1919 this title was elevated to "Lord Mayor." In 1987 the first Asian Mayor of Leicester was indirectly elected by the councillors, Councillor Gordhan Parmar.<ref>What participation by foreign residents in public life at local ... – Page 91 Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe – 2000 "In 1981 serious riots broke out in the city that were dubbed "race riots" in Highfields and the City centre. ... In 1987 the first Asian Mayor of Leicester was elected, Councillor Gordhan Parmar and the first Asian [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] (MP), Keith Vaz</ref> After institution of a directly elected mayor in 2011 the Lord Mayor of Leicester still exists as a ceremonial role under [[Leicester City Council]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-14615994 |title=Leicester's elected mayor reports lord mayor over parking |date=August 2011 |publisher=BBC |access-date=20 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190223142738/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-14615994 |archive-date=23 February 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref>

On 1 April 1997, [[Leicester City Council]] became a [[unitary authority]]. Previously, local government had been a two-tier system: the city and county councils were responsible for different aspects of local-government services. That system is still in place in the rest of Leicestershire. [[Leicestershire County Council]] retained its headquarters at [[County Hall, Glenfield|County Hall]] in [[Glenfield, Leicestershire|Glenfield]], just outside the city boundary but within the urban area. The administrative offices of Leicester City Council are in the centre of the city at [[City Hall, Leicester|City Hall]] in Charles Street, having moved from Welford Place. The 1970s council offices at Welford Place were declared unsafe in 2010 and demolished on 22 February 2015.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://metro.co.uk/2015/02/22/citys-skyline-changed-as-council-offices-are-pulled-down-5074128/ |title=City's skyline changed as council offices are pulled down |author=Hartley-Parkinson, Richard |website=Metro |date=22 February 2015 |access-date=24 January 2022 |archive-date=24 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220124184426/https://metro.co.uk/2015/02/22/citys-skyline-changed-as-council-offices-are-pulled-down-5074128/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2018 a newly built New Walk Centre was completed as a privately funded mix of offices, shops and flats, alongside tree-lined open spaces.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.procon-leicestershire.co.uk/procon-awards/2018-awards/project/redevelopment-of-the-former-leicester-city-council-site-new-walk-leicester |title=Redevelopment of the former Leicester City Council site, New Walk, Leicester |website=Procon-leicestershire.co.uk |access-date=24 January 2022 |archive-date=24 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220124184427/https://www.procon-leicestershire.co.uk/procon-awards/2018-awards/project/redevelopment-of-the-former-leicester-city-council-site-new-walk-leicester |url-status=dead}}</ref> Some services (particularly the police and the ambulance service) still cover the whole of the city and county, but for the most part the councils are independent.

Leicester is divided into 21 electoral wards: [[Abbey]], [[Aylestone]], [[Beaumont Leys]], [[Belgrave, Leicester|Belgrave]], [[Braunstone Park]] & Rowley Fields, Castle, [[Evington]], [[Eyres Monsell]], Fosse, [[Humberstone & Hamilton]], [[Knighton, Leicester|Knighton]], [[North Evington]], [[Rushey Mead]], Saffron, [[Spinney Hills]], [[Stoneygate]], [[Thurncourt]], Troon, Westcotes, Western, and Wycliffe.<ref>"[https://www.leicester.gov.uk/media/179879/city-mayor-and-ward-councillors-july-2016.pdf Leicester City Mayor and Councillors] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161221145203/http://www.leicester.gov.uk/media/179879/city-mayor-and-ward-councillors-july-2016.pdf |date=21 December 2016 }}", Leicester City Council, July 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2017</ref>

===Political control===
The current directly elected mayor is Sir Peter Soulsby of the Labour Party.<ref>{{Cite news |date=6 May 2011 |title=BBC |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-13309051 |access-date=16 August 2011 |archive-date=19 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719185517/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-13309051 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Sir Peter Soulsby |url=http://www.cabinet.leicester.gov.uk:8071/mgUserInfo.aspx?UID=955 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181107023414/http://www.cabinet.leicester.gov.uk:8071/mgUserInfo.aspx?UID=955 |archive-date=7 November 2018 |access-date=16 August 2020 |website=Leicester City Council}}</ref>

After a long period of Labour administration (since 1979), the city council from May 2003 was run by a [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrat]]/[[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] coalition under [[Roger Blackmore]], which collapsed in November 2004. The minority Labour group ran the city until May 2005, under Ross Willmott, when the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives formed a new coalition, again under the leadership of Roger Blackmore.

In the local government elections of 3 May 2007, Leicester's Labour Party once again took control of the council in what can be described as a [[landslide victory]]. Gaining 18 new councillors, Labour polled on the day 38 councillors, creating a governing majority of +20. Significantly however, the Green Party gained its first councillors in the Castle Ward, after losing on the drawing of lots in 2003, though one of these subsequently resigned and the seat was lost to Labour in a by-election on 10 September 2009.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.leicester.gov.uk/councillors-democracy-and-elections/elections-and-electoral-registration/elections/ |title=Leicester City Council - Elections |access-date=17 February 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100204234623/https://www.leicester.gov.uk/councillors-democracy-and-elections/elections-and-electoral-registration/elections/ |archive-date=4 February 2010}}</ref> The Conservative Party saw a decrease in their representation. The Liberal Democrat Party was the major loser, dropping from 25 councillors in 2003 to only 6 in 2007. This was in part due to the local party splitting, with a number of councillors standing for the [[Liberal Party (UK, 1989)|Liberal Party]].

In the local government elections of 5 May 2011 and those of May 2015, Labour won 52 of the city's 54 seats, with the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats winning one seat each.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.leicester.gov.uk/elections2011/wardResults.aspx |title=Elections and voting |access-date=7 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110509042623/http://www.leicester.gov.uk/elections2011/wardResults.aspx |archive-date=9 May 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> In the 2019 local elections, the Labour Party gained the sole Conservative held ward of Knighton leaving [[Nigel Porter]] of the Liberal Democrats as the only opposition member on the city council.

The current composition of Leicester City Council is as follows:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! colspan="2" rowspan="1" align="center" valign="top" | '''Party'''
! valign="top"| '''Seats'''<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/topics/cgmxywxe9nzt |title=Leicester City Council |work=BBC News |access-date=10 May 2023 |archive-date=14 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190414122720/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/topics/cgmxywxe9nzt/leicester-city-council |url-status=live }}</ref><br />
|-
|{{Party name with color|Labour Party (UK)}}
| 31
|-
|{{Party name with color|Conservative Party (UK)}}
| 14
|-
|{{Party name with color|Liberal Democrats (UK)}}
| 3
|-
|{{Party name with color|Green Party of England and Wales}}
| 3
|-
|{{Party name with color|Independent}}
|3
|}

There have been four changes in party affiliation since the last full council election in May 2023. Councillor Diane Cank left the Labour group in August 2023. Councillor Sanjay Modhwadia, the Conservative Party candidate in the [[Mayor of Leicester|2024 Leicester mayoral election]], was suspended from the Conservative Party following an argument with group leader Deepak Bajaj in a public car park over who should be the next group leader.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/leicester-news/leicester-councillor-suspended-party-after-9189720 |title=Councillor suspended after accusations of threatening behaviour |date=26 March 2024 |access-date=26 March 2024 |archive-date=26 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240326194917/https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/leicester-news/leicester-councillor-suspended-party-after-9189720 |url-status=live }}</ref> Conservative group leader Deepak Bajaj subsequently defected to the Labour Party on 8 April, lambasting a culture of violence, racism, religious divides, threats and bullying within the Conservative Party in Leicester.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://leicestertimes.com/leicester-news/conservative-group-leader-quits-party-and-rejoins-labour-amid-bullying-allegations/44788/ |title=Conservative Group Leader quits party and rejoins Labour amid 'bullying' allegations – Leicester Times &#124; Weekly Newspaper &#124; Leicester News |date=8 April 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/leicester-news/leader-leicesters-conservative-party-returns-9211872 |title=City's Conservative Party leader returns to Labour fold |date=8 April 2024 |access-date=12 April 2024 |archive-date=12 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240412071055/https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/leicester-news/leader-leicesters-conservative-party-returns-9211872 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c2v90dqd1p6o |title=Leader of Leicester's Conservative Party returns to Labour |date=8 April 2024 |access-date=12 April 2024 |archive-date=11 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240411083859/https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c2v90dqd1p6o |url-status=live }}</ref> The conservative group was further reduced in June 2024 when councillor Nagarjun "Nags" Agath quit the party to stand as an independent candidate in [[Leicester East]] in the [[2024 United Kingdom general election]]. Agath cited displeasure in the choice of the Conservative candidate, Shivani Raja, as his reason to stand, branding her as an "inexperienced candidate" that had been "dumped" on the city.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Statement of Persons Nominated Notice of Poll Leicester East |url=https://www.leicester.gov.uk/media/twmb2lev/statement-of-persons-nominated-notice-of-poll-leicester-east.pdf |website=www.leicester.gov.uk |access-date=7 June 2024 |archive-date=7 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240607161353/https://www.leicester.gov.uk/media/twmb2lev/statement-of-persons-nominated-notice-of-poll-leicester-east.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/leicester-news/leicester-conservative-councillor-quits-party-9330340 |title=Tory councillor quits party to run for Leicester East seat |date=7 June 2024}}</ref>

===Representation at Westminster===
In the [[2024 United Kingdom general election|2024 general election]], Leicester is divided into three Parliamentary constituencies: [[Leicester East (UK Parliament constituency)|Leicester East]], represented by [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] MP [[Shivani Raja]], [[Leicester South (UK Parliament constituency)|Leicester South]], represented by independent MP [[Shockat Adam]], and [[Leicester West (UK Parliament constituency)|Leicester West]] represented by Work and Pensions Secretary [[Liz Kendall]] of the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]].

===Coat of arms===
[[File:Arms of Leicester.svg|thumb|upright|Arms of the City of Leicester: ''Gules, a cinquefoil ermine pierced of the field'']]
[[File:Coat of Arms of Leicester City Council.svg|thumb|Full coat of arms with the supporters granted in 1929]]
The Corporation of Leicester's [[coat of arms]] was first granted to the city at the Heraldic Visitation of 1619, and is based on the arms of the first [[Earl of Leicester]], Robert Beaumont. The charge is a [[cinquefoil]] ermine, on a red field, and this emblem is used by the city council. After Leicester became a city again in 1919, the city council applied to add to the arms. Permission for this was granted in 1929, when the supporting lions, from the Lancastrian Earls of Leicester, were added.

The motto ''"Semper Eadem"'' was the motto of [[Queen Elizabeth I]], who granted a royal charter to the city. It means "always the same" but with positive overtones meaning unchanging, reliable or dependable, and united. The crest on top of the arms is a white or silver legless [[wyvern]] with red and white wounds showing, on a wreath of red and white. The legless wyvern distinguishes it as a Leicester wyvern as opposed to other wyverns. The supporting lions are wearing coronets in the form of collars, with the white cinquefoil hanging from them.

==Demography==
{{Main|Demographics of Leicester}}
{{update|section|date=December 2023}}
[[File:Ethnic demography of Leicester from 1961 to 2021.gif|thumb|Ethnic demography of Leicester from 1961 to 2021]]{{Pie chart|caption=Faith in Leicester (2021)<ref>{{cite web |title=How life has changed in Leicester: Census 2021 |publisher=[[gov.uk]] |url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/visualisations/censusareachanges/E06000016/ |access-date=19 June 2024 |archive-date=3 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240403133748/https://www.ons.gov.uk/visualisations/censusareachanges/E06000016/ |url-status=live }}</ref>|label1=[[History of Christianity in Britain|Christian]]|value1=24.7|color1=dodgerblue|label3=[[Islam in the United Kingdom|Muslim]]|value3=23.5|color3=green|label2=[[Irreligion in the United Kingdom|No Religion]]|value2=23.0|color2=honeydew|label4=[[Hinduism in the United Kingdom|Hindu]]|color4=coral|value4=17.9|label5=[[Sikhism in the United Kingdom|Sikh]]|color5=yellow|value5=4.5|label8=Other Religions|color8=deeppink|value8=0.6|label9=Religion not Stated|color9=lightgrey|value9=5.6|label7=[[Judaism in the United Kingdom|Jewish]]|color7=aqua|value7=0.1|label6=[[Buddhism in the United Kingdom|Buddhist]]|color6=goldenrod|value6=0.3}}

===Comparing===
In the 2021 census, the population of the Leicester unitary authority area was 368,581, an increase of 11.7% compared to the [[2011 United Kingdom census|United Kingdom Census 2011]] figure of 329,839. The wider [[Leicester Urban Area]],<ref name="BUA">{{cite web |title=Leicester local authority profile 2023 |url=https://www.leicester.gov.uk/media/inmh1feq/living-in-leicester-infographic-summary-2023.pdf |access-date=16 April 2025 |publisher=[[Office for National Statistics|ONS]]}}</ref> showed an estimated population of 509,000. The population of the Leicester unitary authority area is marginally higher than that of Nottingham, while Nottingham has a higher urban area population compared to Leicester. [[Eurostat]]'s [[Larger Urban Zone]] lists the population of the Leicester LUZ at 886,673 (2017) below that of Nottingham;<ref>{{cite web |title=Population on 1 January by age groups and sex – functional urban areas |url=http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?dataset=urb_lpop1&lang=en |website=Eurostat – Data Explorer |publisher=Eurostat |access-date=14 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150903213351/http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?dataset=urb_lpop1&lang=en |archive-date=3 September 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref> metropolitan and city region populations tend to be similar. According to the 2011 census Leicester had the largest proportion of people aged 19-and-under in the East Midlands at 27 per cent. Coventry, to the south west, has a population of 352,900 (2016 est.) compared to Leicester's 348,300 at the same date. Nonetheless, Coventry has an area one third greater than Leicester's, approximately equivalent to a combined 'Leicester + [[Oadby and Wigston]]' with a respective population of 404,100 (2016 est.).

The Eurostat regional yearbook 2015 classifies Leicester as one of country's eleven 'Greater Cities', together with Birmingham and Nottingham in the Midlands. Leicester is second only to Bristol as the largest [[unitary authority]] city in England ([[List of English districts by population]] 2015 estimates), and ninth largest counting both unitary authority cities and cities within metropolitan counties.

In terms of [[List of English districts and their ethnic composition|ethnic composition]], according to the [[2021 United Kingdom census|2021 census]], 40.9% of the population was [[White people|White]] (33.2% [[White British]], 0.5% [[Irish migration to Great Britain|White Irish]], 0.1% [[Gypsy (term)|Gypsy]] or [[Irish Traveller]], 6.8% [[Other White]]), 43.4% [[British Asian|Asian]] (34.3% [[British Indian|Indian]], 3.4% [[British Pakistanis|Pakistani]], 1.9% [[British Bangladeshi|Bangladeshi]], 0.7% [[British Chinese|Chinese]], 3.1% Other Asian), 3.8% of [[Mixed (United Kingdom ethnicity category)|mixed race]] (1.4% White and Black Caribbean, 0.5% White and Black African, 1.0% White and Asian, 0.8% Other Mixed), 7.8% [[Black British|Black]] (5.8% African, 1.4% [[British African-Caribbean people|Caribbean]], 0.8% [[Other Black]]), 0.9% [[British Arab|Arab]] and 3.2% of other ethnic heritage.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ethnic group - Office for National Statistics |url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/datasets/TS021/editions/2021/versions/1/filter-outputs/7c1de044-3865-4adc-bbf3-2ada317f228d |access-date=2022-12-03 |website=www.ons.gov.uk}}</ref>

{{as of|2015}}, Leicester is the second fastest growing city in the country.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/fast-growing-city-needs-backing-Government/story-16589527-detail/story.html |title=Our fast-growing city needs backing from Government |work=Leicester Mercury |access-date=29 June 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150623231112/http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/fast-growing-city-needs-backing-Government/story-16589527-detail/story.html |archive-date=23 June 2015}}</ref>

===Languages===
A demographic profile of Leicester published by the city council in 2008 noted:

{{blockquote|Alongside English, around 70 languages and/or dialects spoken in the city. In addition to English and the primary western and central European languages, eight ethnic languages are sometimes heard: [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]] is the preferred language of 16% of the city's residents, [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]] 3%, [[Somali language|Somali]] 4% and [[Urdu language|Urdu]] 2%. Other smaller language groups include [[Hindi]] and [[Bengali language|Bengali]]. With continuing migration into the city, new languages and or dialects from Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe are also being spoken in the city.

In certain primary schools in Leicester, English may not be the preferred language of 45% of pupils and the proportion of children whose first language is known, or believed to be, other than English, is significantly higher than other cities in the Midlands or the UK as a whole.<ref name="DiversityOfLeicesterMay2008">{{cite web |url=http://www.leicesterpartnership.org.uk/EasySite/lib/serveDocument.asp?doc=111607&pgid=113861 |title=The Diversity of Leicester May 2008, A Demographic Profile |publisher=[[Leicester City Council]] |access-date=16 November 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090108034740/http://www.leicesterpartnership.org.uk/EasySite/lib/serveDocument.asp?doc=111607&pgid=113861 |archive-date=8 January 2009}}</ref>}}

Certain European languages such as Polish will undoubtedly feature in current statistics, although their prevalence may reduce subsequently as future generations rapidly assimilate or return to places of origin, given cultural and geographic proximity and changes in the geo-political environment.

===Population change===
{| class="wikitable" style="border:0; text-align:center; line-height:120%;"
|+Historic and projected [[Population growth]] in Leicester since 1901
|-
! Year
! 1901
! 1911
! 1921
! 1931
! 1939
! 1951
! 1961
! 1971
! 2001
! 2011
! 
! 2016
! 
! 2021
! 2026
! 2031
|- style="text-align:center;"
! Population
| 211,579
| 227,222
| 234,143
| 239,169
| 261,339
| 285,181
| 273,470
| 284,208
| 279,921
| 329,839
| 
| 348,343
| 
| 362,500
| 376,000
| 390,000
|-
| colspan="11" style="text-align:center;"|Source: A Vision of Britain through Time<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/data_cube_table_page.jsp?data_theme=T_POP&data_cube=N_TPop&u_id=10042744&c_id=10001043&add=N |title=Leicester Leicestershire through time &#124; Population Statistics &#124; Total Population |access-date=28 December 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081207174241/http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/data_cube_table_page.jsp?data_theme=T_POP&data_cube=N_TPop&u_id=10042744&c_id=10001043&add=N |archive-date=7 December 2008 |url-status=live}}</ref>
| colspan="1" style="text-align:center;"|
| colspan="1" style="text-align:center;"|[[Office for National Statistics|ONS]]<ref>mid year estimate</ref>
| colspan="1" style="text-align:center;"|
| colspan="3" style="text-align:center;"|ONS Projections<ref>[[Office for National Statistics|ONS population projections 2014 base / projections uplifted by '21–1,800/'26-2,100/'36-2,500 given underestimation at 2016 – 2,250/]]</ref>
|}

The [[Office for National Statistics|ONS]] 2014 basis population projections indicate the city will be home to 400,000 inhabitants by around 2035.

==Tourism==
The city of Leicester is considered to be one of the birthplaces of popular tourism. Visit Leicester, who are based at the King Richard III Visitor Centre, define the city as 'The Place Where Tourism Began.' <ref>{{cite web | title=The Story of Leicester | url=https://www.storyofleicester.info/city-stories/thomas-cooks-leicester/ }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Discover the 'Birthplace of Tourism' at One of England's Oldest and Most Underrated Cities | date=2 October 2024 | url=https://www.islands.com/1676764/leicester-underrated-hidden-gem-location-in-england-history/ }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Home - King Richard III Visitor Centre | url=https://kriii.com/visit-leicester/ }}</ref>

==Economy==
[[File:Highcross Leicester.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Highcross Leicester]] shopping centre]]
Leicester has the second largest economy in the East Midlands, after [[Nottingham]].<ref>{{cite web |title=European Data Tool |url=https://www.centreforcities.org/data-tool/dataset/european-cities#graph=bar&city=leicester&city=nottingham&sortOrder=high&indicator=gva\\single\\2011 |website=Centre for Cities |access-date=14 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190215050402/https://www.centreforcities.org/data-tool/dataset/european-cities#graph=bar&city=leicester&city=nottingham&sortOrder=high&indicator=gva\\single\\2011 |archive-date=15 February 2019 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Companies that have their principal offices or significant sites in Leicester and the surrounding area include; [[Brantano Footwear]], [[Dunelm Mill]], [[Next (clothing)|Next]], [[Shoe Zone]], [[Everards]] brewing and associated businesses, [[KPMG]], [[Mazars]], [[Cambridge & Counties Bank]], [[HSBC]] and [[Santander UK|Santander]] banking, [[Hastings Insurance]], [[British Gas]], [[British Telecom]], [[Caterpillar Inc.|Caterpillar]] (Inc.), [[Topps Tiles]] and [[DHL]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.uk.cat.com/cda/layout?m=65333&x=7 |title=Cat – Products & Services – Europe – Caterpillar |access-date=30 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110908010130/http://www.uk.cat.com/cda/layout?m=65333&x=7 |archive-date=8 September 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Good Growth for Cities Index===
The city of Leicester is regularly rated as the best place to live and work in the East Midlands. The Good Growth for Cities Index is an annual study which ranks UK cities based on a range of economic factors. In 2022, the Index placed Leicester 14th out of 50 UK cities and the best performing city in the East Midlands.<ref>{{cite web | title=LEICESTER: BEST PLACE TO LIVE AND WORK IN EAST MIDLANDS - Leicester Times | date=29 March 2022 | url=https://leicestertimes.com/leicester-news/leicester-best-place-to-live-and-work-in-east-midlands/25877/#:~:text=Leicester%20has%20been%20named%20the,Gross%20Domestic%20Product%20(GDP). }}</ref> In 2023, the index ranked Leicester first of seven East Midlands cities, and 16th overall across the country.<ref>{{cite web | title=City rated best in the region to live and work | url=https://news.leicester.gov.uk/news-articles/2023/may/city-rated-best-in-the-region-to-live-and-work/#:~:text=Published%20on%20Thursday%2C%20May%2025,the%20past%20decade%20or%20so. }}</ref> In 2024, the Good Growth for Cities Index again rated Leicester as the best performing city in the East Midlands, and 20th overall out of 52 other UK cities.<ref name="dmu.ac.uk"/>

===Textiles===
The city has historically had a strong association with the production of textiles, clothing and footwear. While important companies such as [[N. Corah & Sons|Corah]], Liberty Shoes and Equity Shoes have closed, companies such as Next and [[Boden (clothing)|Boden]] are still active and [[ASOS (retailer)|ASOS]] and [[New Look (company)|New Look]] manufacture in the city. Moreover, in recent years the higher transport prices and longer lead-times associated with [[Globalization|globalised]] production in Asia has led some textile manufacturers to locate to the city.<ref>{{cite news |title=Leicester in spotlight for textiles boost |date=11 January 2011 |url=http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/City-spotlight-textile-boost/story-12041696-detail/story.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130505125301/http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/City-spotlight-textile-boost/story-12041696-detail/story.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=5 May 2013 |work=Leicester Mercury |access-date=14 January 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Far Eastern costs boost textile firm |date=15 September 2010 |url=http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/Far-Eastern-costs-boost-textile-firm/story-12038789-detail/story.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130505100106/http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/Far-Eastern-costs-boost-textile-firm/story-12038789-detail/story.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=5 May 2013 |work=Leicester Mercury |access-date=14 January 2013}}</ref>

{{anchor|Leicester's garment district}}
There have long been concerns about the working conditions in this sector. Leicester's garment district is home to more than 1,000 factories employing as many as 10,000 workers. It has received fewer than 60 [[Health and safety regulations in the United Kingdom|health and safety inspections]] and only 28 [[Building regulations in the United Kingdom|fire inspections]] since October 2017. [[HMRC]] has made just 36 visits checking on compliance with [[National Minimum Wage Act 1998|minimum wage legislation]]; it has issued penalties to fewer than 10 textile firms and claimed just over £100,000 in arrears relating to 143 workers.<ref name="butler">{{cite news |last1=Butler |first1=Sarah |title=Revealed: 'shocking' lack of regulation at Leicester garment factories |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/aug/30/revealed-shocking-lack-of-regulation-at-leicester-garment-factories |access-date=30 August 2020 |work=The Guardian |date=30 August 2020 }}</ref> Research at the University of Leicester in 2010 and published in 2015 found there were 11,700 employees in the East Midlands garment industry. 75-90%  of them were being paid £3 per hour, which was less than half of the then legal minimum wage.<ref name="3 pounds">{{cite news |last1=Hoskins |first1=Tansy |title=Made in Britain: UK textile workers earning £3 per hour |url=https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/sustainable-fashion-blog/2015/feb/27/made-in-britain-uk-textile-workers-earning-3-per-hour |access-date=30 August 2020 |work=The Guardian |date=27 February 2015}}</ref> In 2017 [[Peter Soulsby]], Mayor of Leicester called together 40 regulatory organisations to coordinate a response. He aimed to make sure that Leicester had the highest standards of employment; that workers are properly paid, well trained and work in safe environments,<ref name="Asos">{{cite news |last1=Butler |first1=Sarah |title=Asos and New Look to join anti-slavery event in Leicester |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/oct/05/asos-and-new-look-to-join-anti-slavery-event-in-leicester |access-date=30 August 2020 |work=The Guardian |date=6 October 2017}}</ref> In 2020 the HSE was alerted to [[COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom|COVID-19]] non-compliance, made inspections and gave advice.<ref name="covid-19">{{cite news |last1=Bland |first1=Archie |title=Police and health officials visit garment factories in Leicester |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/jul/03/police-and-health-officials-visit-garment-factories-in-leicester |access-date=30 August 2020 |work=The Guardian |date=3 July 2020 }}</ref>

===Engineering===
{{Unreferenced section|date=December 2024}}
Engineering companies include Jones & Shipman (machine tools and control systems), Richards Engineering (foundry equipment), Transmon Engineering (materials handling equipment) and [[Trelleborg AB|Trelleborg]] (suspension components for rail, marine, and industrial applications). Local commitment to nurturing British engineers includes apprenticeship schemes with local companies, and academic-industrial connections with the engineering departments at [[Leicester University]], [[De Montfort University]], and nearby [[Loughborough University]]. Leicester was also home to the famous [[Gents' of Leicester]] clock manufacturers.

===Shopping===
[[File:Leicester City Centre.jpg|thumb|Main city centre shopping area]]
The city centre has two large shopping malls – [[Highcross Leicester]] and the [[Haymarket Shopping Centre]]. The Haymarket Shopping Centre opened in 1974 and has two levels of shopping, multi-storey parking for up to 500 cars, a bus station and is home to the [[Haymarket Theatre (Leicester)|Haymarket Theatre]]. Highcross Leicester opened in 2008 after work to redevelop "The Shires Centre" was completed at a cost of £350&nbsp;million (creating 120 stores, 15 restaurants, a cinema, 110,000&nbsp;m<sup>2</sup> of shopping space).

St Martin's Square and the Leicester Lanes area has numerous designer and specialist shops; several of the city's Victorian arcades are located in the same neighbourhood. [[Leicester Market]] is the largest outdoor covered market in Europe.<ref>William, David (2010) ''Life in the United Kingdom: The Land and the People'', New Africa Press, {{ISBN|978-9987160174}}, p. 230 [https://books.google.com/books?id=Rx3ATOg_MSoC&q=leicester%20market] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231002181929/https://books.google.com/books?id=Rx3ATOg_MSoC&q=leicester%20market|date=2 October 2023}}</ref> It central feature, the [[Leicester Corn Exchange]], has been converted into a public house.<ref>{{NHLE|desc= Corn Exchange|num=1361417|access-date=14 April 2023}}</ref>

Central Leicester is the location for several [[department store]]s including [[John Lewis Partnership|John Lewis]], [[Debenhams]].

The [[Golden Mile (Leicester)|Golden Mile]] is the name given to a stretch of Belgrave Road renowned for its authentic Indian restaurants, [[sari]] shops, and [[jeweller]]s; the [[Diwali]] celebrations in Leicester are focused on this area and are the largest outside the sub-continent.<ref>Panesar, Jeevan (13 October 2006); "[https://www.bbc.co.uk/leicester/content/articles/2005/10/26/al_diwali_feature.shtml Diwali in Leicester] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111016224550/http://www.bbc.co.uk/leicester/content/articles/2005/10/26/al_diwali_feature.shtml |date=16 October 2011 }}, BBC, Accessed 25 January 2011.</ref>

===Food and drink===
[[File:Leicester Market 2009.jpg|thumb|[[Leicester Market]]]]
Henry Walker was a successful pork butcher who moved from [[Mansfield]] to Leicester in the 1880s to take over an established business in High Street. The first Walker's crisp production line was in the empty upper storey of Walker's Oxford Street factory in Leicester. In the early days the potatoes were sliced by hand and cooked in an ordinary [[deep fryer]]. In 1971 the [[Walkers (snack foods)|Walker's]] crisps business was sold to [[Standard Brands]], an American firm, who sold on the company to [[Frito-Lay]]. [[Walkers (snack foods)|Walker's]] crisps makes 10&nbsp;million bags of crisps per day at two factories in Beaumont Leys, and is the UK's largest grocery brand.<ref>''[http://www.themanufacturer.com/uk/detail.html?contents_id=7024 Walkers Crisps, Coming to the crunch] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081012063802/http://www.themanufacturer.com/uk/detail.html?contents_id=7024 |date=12 October 2008 }}'' – ''The Manufacturer'', October 2006</ref> The Beaumont Leys manufacturing plant is world's largest crisp factory.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.pepsico.co.uk/our-company/contact-us/our-offices-factories-and-sites |title=Our offices, factories and sites &#124; PepsiCo |date=22 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722191657/http://www.pepsico.co.uk/our-company/contact-us/our-offices-factories-and-sites |access-date=27 June 2022 |archive-date=22 July 2011}}</ref>

Meanwhile, the sausage and pie business was bought out by [[Samworth Brothers]] in 1986. Production outgrew the Cobden Street site and pork pies are now manufactured at a meat processing factory and bakery in Beaumont Leys, coincidentally near to the separately owned crisp factories. Sold under the Walker's name and under UK retailers own brands such as [[Tesco]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.samworthbrothers.co.uk/Our-Businesses/Walker-Son |title=Walker & Son |website=Samworth Brothers |access-date=30 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170331030931/http://www.samworthbrothers.co.uk/Our-Businesses/Walker-Son |archive-date=31 March 2017 |url-status=dead}}</ref> over three million hot and cold pies are made each week.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Traditional Foods, Territorial Boundaries and the TRIPS Agreement: The Case of the Melton Mowbray Pork Pie |url=https://www.academia.edu/5932483 |journal=The Journal of World Intellectual Property |year=2013 |volume=16 |issue=5–6 |pages=262–301 |publisher=Academia |last1=Rippon |first1=Matthew J. |doi=10.1002/jwip.12016 |s2cid=153781899 |access-date=9 July 2021 |archive-date=2 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231002182053/https://www.academia.edu/5932483 |url-status=live }}</ref> Henry Walker's butcher shop at 4–6 Cheapside sold Walker's sausages and pork pies until March 2012 when owner Scottish Fife Fine Foods ceased trading, although the shop was temporarily open and selling Walker's pies for the Christmas season of 2012.<ref>Mack, Tom (15 December 2012); "[http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/Temporary-pop-Walkers-pork-pie-shop-open/story-17588041-detail/story.html Temporary pop-up Walkers pork pie shop to open in Cheapside, Leicester, for Christmas] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121217084602/http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/Temporary-pop-Walkers-pork-pie-shop-open/story-17588041-detail/story.html |date=17 December 2012 }}, Leicester Mercury, Accessed 17 December 2012.</ref>

==Landmarks==
[[File:StMartins aglow-large.jpg|thumb|[[Leicester Cathedral]] a-glow with fireworks]]
[[File:St Margaret's church, Leicester.jpg|thumb|The imposing 33 meter high tower of [[St Margaret's Church, Leicester|St Margaret's]]. Begun {{c.}} 1444, it has a peal of 14 bells.]]
[[File:Bridge over the River Soar, Abbey Park (geograph 4718856).jpg|thumb|The [[River Soar]] passing the pavilion in [[Abbey Park, Leicester|Abbey Park]]]]
There are 10 [[scheduled monuments in Leicester]], 13 [[Grade I listed buildings in Leicester|Grade I listed buildings]], and 35 [[Grade II* listed buildings in Leicester|Grade II* listed buildings]]. Some sites, such as [[Leicester Castle]] and the Jewry Wall, are both scheduled monuments and listed buildings.

'''20th-century architecture:''' Leicester University Engineering Building (James Stirling & James Gowan : Grd II Listed), Kingstone Department Store, Belgrave Gate (Raymond McGrath : Grd II Listed), [[National Space Centre (England)|National Space Centre]] tower.

'''Older architecture:'''

'''Historic buildings:''' [[Jewry Wall]], the [[Leicester Castle|Castle]], [[Magazine Gateway|Newarke Magazine Gateway]], [[St Nicholas Church, Leicester|St Nicholas Church]], [[St Margaret's Church, Leicester|St Margaret's Church]], [[Church of St Mary de Castro, Leicester|St Mary de Castro]], [[All Saints Church, Leicester|All Saints]], the [[Leicester Cathedral|Cathedral]], the [[Leicester Abbey|Abbey]], the [[Leicester Guildhall|Guildhall]], the [[Leicester Town Hall|Town Hall]], [[Belgrave Hall]], [[The City Rooms, Leicester|The City Rooms]], the [[Haymarket Memorial Clock Tower|Clock Tower]], the [[Leicester Secular Hall|Secular Hall]].

'''Parks:''' [[Abbey Park, Leicestershire|Abbey Park]], [[University of Leicester Botanic Garden|Botanic Gardens]], Castle Gardens, [[Grand Union Canal (old)|Grand Union Canal]], Knighton Park, [[Nelson Mandela Park]], [[River Soar]], [[Victoria Park, Leicester|Victoria Park]], [[Watermead Country Park]].

'''Industry:''' [[Abbey Pumping Station]], [[National Space Centre (England)|National Space Centre]], [[Great Central Railway (preserved)|Great Central Railway]].

'''Shopping:''' Abbey Lane-''grandes surfaces'', [[Beaumont Shopping Centre]], Belvoir Street/Market Street, [[Golden Mile (Leicester)|Golden Mile]], [[Haymarket Shopping Centre]], [[Highcross Leicester|Highcross]], Leicester Lanes, [[Leicester Market]], St Martin's Square, [[Silver Arcade]] area.

'''Sport:''' [[King Power Stadium]] – [[Leicester City FC]], [[Welford Road Stadium|Welford Road]] – [[Leicester Tigers]], [[Grace Road]] – [[Leicestershire County Cricket Club]], [[Beaumont Park Stadium|Paul Chapman & Sons Arena]], [[Leicester Lions|Leicester Lions Speedway]], Leicester Sports Arena – [[Leicester Riders]], [[Saffron Lane sports centre]] – [[Leicester Coritanian A.C.|Leicester Coritanian Athletics Club]].

{{clear}}

==Transport==
{{More citations needed section|date=June 2015}}

===Air===
[[East Midlands Airport]] (EMA), at [[Castle Donington]] {{convert|20|mi}} north-north-west of the city, is the closest international airport. The airport is a national hub for mail/freight networks.

[[Leicester Airport]] (LRC) is a small airport, some {{convert|6|mi|km}} east of Leicester city centre; it does not operate scheduled services.

===Road===
[[File:Burleys Way, Leicester, England.jpg|thumb|Burleys Way, Leicester, England]]
Leicester is at the midpoint of the primary English north/south [[M1 motorway]] between London and Leeds, served by junctions 21, 21A and 22. This is where the M1 transects with one of the primary north-east to south-west routes, the [[M69 motorway]]/[[A46 road|A46]] corridor linking to the [[A1 road (Great Britain)|A1]] and [[M6 motorway]] at Newark-on-Trent and Coventry respectively. The [[M42 motorway]] towards [[Birmingham Airport]] terminates in [[North West Leicestershire|north-west Leicestershire]], some {{convert|12|mi}} west-north-west of the Leicester urban area. Leicester is at the nexus of the A6/(A14), A50, A47 and A607 trunk roads and A426 and A5199 primary routes.

===Buses===
Leicester has two main bus stations: [[St Margaret's Bus Station|St. Margarets]] and [[Haymarket bus station, Leicester|Haymarket]], which was recommissioned in May 2016. The main bus operators for Leicester and the surrounding area are [[Arriva Fox County]], [[Centrebus]], [[First Leicester]], [[Arriva Midlands|Hinckley Bus (Part of Arriva Midlands)]], [[Kinchbus]], Leicester Bus and [[Stagecoach in Northants|Stagecoach Midlands]].

The [[Star trak real time]] system was introduced in 2000 by Leicester City Council; it allowed bus tracking and the retrieval of bus times by text message or online. The system was discontinued in 2011.

There are three permanent [[Park and Ride]] sites at Meynells Gorse (Leicester Forest East), Birstall and Enderby; buses operate every 15 mins from all sites. The park and ride services are branded as ''quicksilver shuttle'' and are contracted to Roberts' Coaches from the [[Leicester City Council|City Council]] and [[Leicestershire County Council|County Council]]; buses use a purpose-built terminal near St. Nicholas Circle.

Leicester has two circular bus services: [[Hop!]] which operates anticlockwise in the city centre via the railway station and Haymarket bus station, and the larger {{Convert|30|mi|km|abbr=off|adj=on}} long [[Orbital (bus service)|Orbital]] which operates in both directions.<ref>{{Cite web |title=greenlines |url=https://www.leicesterbuses.co.uk/greenlines |access-date=8 May 2023 |website=Leicester Buses |archive-date=8 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230508180858/https://www.leicesterbuses.co.uk/greenlines |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=17 October 2022 |title=Longest electric circular bus route launches in Leicester |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-leicestershire-63288216 |access-date=8 May 2023}}</ref>

===Cycling===
[[National Cycle Network]] [[National Cycle Route 6|Route 6]] passes through Leicestershire along with other secondary routes. The [[Leicester Bike Park]] is in Town Hall Square. ''Cycle Works'' Bike Mechanic Training Centre is in Wellington Street Adult Education Centre and former Central Lending Library.

From 2021 to 2023, the city had an [[electric bicycle]] [[Bicycle-sharing system|sharing scheme]], Santander Cycles Leicester. The scheme was a joint venture between [[Leicester City Council]], the operator Ride On, Enzen Global as delivery partner and additional funding provided through sponsorship with [[Santander UK|Santander]].<ref name=LCC>{{cite web |title=Leicester's e-bike share opens to all city residents |url=https://news.leicester.gov.uk/news-articles/2021/april/leicester-s-e-bike-share-opens-to-all-city-residents/ |website=Leicester City Council |access-date=14 April 2021 |date=14 April 2021 |archive-date=13 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210413163303/https://news.leicester.gov.uk/news-articles/2021/april/leicester-s-e-bike-share-opens-to-all-city-residents/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Railway===
====Mainline rail====
[[File:Leicester Railway Station from south.jpg|thumb|[[Leicester railway station]] lies on the eastern side of the city centre on the [[A6 road (Great Britain)|A6]] London Road.]]

The rail network is of growing importance in Leicester and, with the start of [[Eurostar]] international services from [[St Pancras railway station|London St Pancras International]] in November 2007, [[Leicester railway station]] has gained connections at St. Pancras station to Lille, Brussels and Paris onwards.

Inter-city services are operated by [[East Midlands Railway]] providing connectivity on 'fast' and 'semi-fast' services to London, the south-east and to major locations in the East Midlands and Yorkshire; there are also local services operating within the East Midlands region. Trans-regional services to the [[West Midlands (region)|West Midlands]] and [[East Anglia]] are provided by [[CrossCountry]], enabling connections at nearby [[Nuneaton railway station|Nuneaton]], onto the [[West Coast Main Line]], and at [[Peterborough railway station|Peterborough]] to the [[East Coast Main Line]].

The {{convert|99|mi}} from [[Leicester Railway Station]] to [[St Pancras railway station|London St Pancras International]] on the Midland Main Line are covered in an average of 1{{nbsp}}hour 25{{nbsp}}minutes during the morning peak, with journey times as low as 1{{nbsp}}hour 6{{nbsp}}minutes later in the day. Transfers onto [[London Underground]] or [[Thameslink (route)|Thameslink]] train services to London City or West End add another 15 to 25{{nbsp}}minutes to the journey time; double that to Canary Wharf. The journey time to [[Sheffield]] is around one hour, with Leeds and York taking approximately two. [[Birmingham New Street railway station|Birmingham]] is 50{{nbsp}}minutes away and [[Cambridge railway station|Cambridge]], via Peterborough, can be reached in around 1{{nbsp}}hour 55{{nbsp}}minutes with further direct services available onto Stansted Airport in north Essex.

====Great Central Railway====
{{Main|Great Central Railway}}
The decommissioned [[Leicester Central railway station]] is on the late Victorian Great Central Railway line that ran from London Marylebone northwards. [[Beeching cuts]] closed the route in the late 1960s. A preserved section, however, remains operational in the East Midlands centred on [[Loughborough Central railway station]] providing tourist services through central Leicestershire'','' passing Swithland Reservoir on to the [[Leicester North railway station]] terminus.

===Waterways===
[[File:River Soar in Leicester.jpg|thumb|Section of the River Soar in central Leicester]]
Two navigable waterways join at Leicester: The [[Grand Union Canal#The Leicester Line|Leicester Line]] of the [[Grand Union Canal]], and the [[River Soar]] Navigation. The Grand Union Canal links Leicester with London and Birmingham to the south, and joins the Soar in Leicester, which links the city to the [[River Trent]], and the [[Trent and Mersey Canal]] to the north.<ref>{{cite web |title=Grand Union Canal – Leicester Line |url=https://waterways.org.uk/waterways/discover-the-waterways/grand-union-canal-leicester-line |publisher=Inland Waterways Association |access-date=23 May 2022 |archive-date=26 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220526202856/https://waterways.org.uk/waterways/discover-the-waterways/grand-union-canal-leicester-line |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Education==
===Schools===
{{Main|List of schools in Leicester}}
Leicester is home to a number of comprehensive schools and independent schools. There are three sixth form colleges, all of which were previously grammar schools.

The Leicester City [[Local Education Authority]] initially had a troubled history when formed in 1997 as part of the local government reorganisation – a 1999 [[Ofsted]] inspection found "few strengths and many weaknesses", although there has been considerable improvement since then.

[[Tudor Grange Samworth Academy]] an [[Academy (English school)|academy]] whose catchment area includes the Saffron and Eyres Monsell estates, was co-sponsored by the [[Church of England]] and David Samworth, chairman of Samworth Brothers pasty makers.

Under the "Building Schools for the Future" project, Leicester City Council has contracted with developers Miller Consortium for £315&nbsp;million to rebuild [[Beaumont Leys School]], [[Judgemeadow Community College]], the [[City of Leicester College]] in Evington, and [[Soar Valley College]] in Rushey Mead, and to refurbish Fullhurst Community College in Braunstone.<ref>''[http://thisisleicestershire.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=132407&command=displayContent&sourceNode=132390&contentPK=19305931&moduleName=InternalSearch&formname=sidebarsearch Schools building deal is signed and sealed] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150513085442/http://thisisleicestershire.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=132407&command=displayContent&sourceNode=132390&contentPK=19305931&moduleName=InternalSearch&formname=sidebarsearch |date=13 May 2015 }}'' – ''[[Leicester Mercury]]'', 19 December 2007</ref>

Leicester City Council underwent a major reorganisation of children's services in 2006, creating a new Children and Young People's Services department.

===Tertiary===
{{Multiple image
| total_width       = 670
| image1            = University of Leicester towers 2010.jpg
| caption1          = [[University of Leicester]] seen from [[Victoria Park, Leicester|Victoria Park]] – Left to right: the Department of Engineering, the [[Attenborough Tower]], the Charles Wilson Building.
| image2            = Magazine Square, Leicester.jpg
| caption2          = Magazine Square, with the [[Grade I]] listed [[Magazine Gateway]] and the [[Hugh Aston]] building of [[De Montfort University]]
| image3            = National Space Center Leicester - panoramio.jpg
| caption3          = [[National Space Centre (England)|The National Space Centre]]
}}

Leicester is home to two universities, the [[University of Leicester]], which attained its [[Royal Charter]] in 1957 and was ranked 12th by the 2009 Complete University Guide,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/higher/the-main-league-table-2009-813839.html |title=The main league table 2009 |date=23 April 2008 |work=The Independent |access-date=2 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110515214413/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/higher/the-main-league-table-2009-813839.html |archive-date=15 May 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref> and [[De Montfort University]], which opened in 1969 as [[Leicester Polytechnic]] and achieved university status in 1992. In 2025, the University of Leicester was named as the Daily Mail University of the Year.<ref>{{cite web | title=Leicester is named Daily Mail University of the Year 2025 &#124; News | date=5 September 2024 | url=https://le.ac.uk/news/2024/september/daily-mail-award }}</ref>

It is also home to the [[National Space Centre (England)|National Space Centre]] off Abbey Lane, due in part to the University of Leicester being one of the few universities in the UK to specialise in space sciences.
{{clear}}

==Religion==
[[File:Leicester Cathedral Nave, Leicestershire, UK - Diliff.jpg|thumb|The interior of [[Leicester Cathedral]]]]
The Cathedral Church of Saint Martin, Leicester,<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ot-vCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA396 |title=The Macmillan Guide to the United Kingdom 1978–79 |last=NA |first=NA |date=25 December 2015 |publisher=Springer |isbn=9781349815111 }}</ref> usually known as [[Leicester Cathedral]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://leicestercathedral.org/ |title=Leicester Cathedral – A beating heart for City and County |website=Leicestercathedral.org |access-date=26 October 2019 |archive-date=26 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191026013719/https://leicestercathedral.org/ |url-status=live }}</ref> is the [[Church of England]] cathedral and is the seat of the [[Bishop of Leicester]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://leicestercathedral.org/about-us/welcome/ |title=Welcome to Leicester Cathedral – Leicester Cathedral |website=Leicestercathedral.org |access-date=26 October 2019 |archive-date=26 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191026015438/https://leicestercathedral.org/about-us/welcome/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The church was elevated to a [[collegiate church]] in 1922 and made a cathedral in 1927 following the establishment of a new [[Diocese of Leicester]] in 1926.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://leicestercathedral.org/learn/history-of-leicester-cathedral/ |title=History of Leicester Cathedral – Leicester Cathedral |website=Leicestercathedral.org |access-date=26 October 2019 |archive-date=29 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211229025156/https://leicestercathedral.org/history-of-leicester-cathedral-2/ |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web| url=https://leicestercathedral.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Leicester-Cathedral-Consolidated-Report-Accounts-2017.pdf | title=Leicester Cathedral, Leicester Cathedral Charitable Trust & Leicester Cathedral Music Foundation - Consolidated Report and Accounts | access-date=1 March 2020 | archive-date=26 October 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191026014656/https://leicestercathedral.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Leicester-Cathedral-Consolidated-Report-Accounts-2017.pdf | url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite web |url=https://www.britainexpress.com/counties/leicestershire/leicester/leicester-cathedral.htm |title=Leicester Cathedral & Richard III Memorial {{!}} History & Photos |website=Britainexpress.com |access-date=26 October 2019 |archive-date=26 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191026015442/https://www.britainexpress.com/counties/leicestershire/leicester/leicester-cathedral.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

The [[Church of England parish church]] of [[St Nicholas Church, Leicester|St Nicholas]] is the oldest place of worship in the city. Parts of the church certainly date from about 880 AD, and a recent architectural survey suggested possible Roman building work. The tower is [[Norman architecture|Norman]]. By 1825 the church was in an extremely poor condition, and plans were made for its demolition. Instead, it was extensively renovated between 1875 and 1884, including the building of a new north [[aisle]]. Renovation continued into the twentieth century. A fifteenth-century octagonal [[Baptismal font|font]]. from the redundant [[Church of St Michael the Greater, Stamford]], was transferred to St Nicholas.<ref>{{cite web |title=20th Century |url=https://history.stnicholasleicester.com/1900-s.html |website=Welcome to St Nicholas Church in Leicester History Section |access-date=15 February 2020 |archive-date=15 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200215080043/https://history.stnicholasleicester.com/1900-s.html |url-status=dead}}</ref>

St Peter's Lane takes its name from the former medieval church of that name, which closed in the 1570s, its parish having merged with All Saints church.<ref>{{cite web |title=The ancient borough: Lost churches Pages 388-389 A History of the County of Leicester: Volume 4, the City of Leicester. |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/leics/vol4/pp388-389 |website=British History Online |access-date=20 September 2021 |archive-date=20 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210920212338/https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/leics/vol4/pp388-389 |url-status=live }}</ref>

From the mid 17th century Leicester became a noted centre for [[Nonconformist (Protestantism)|Protestant Nonconformity]] and many sects constructed places of worship in the city including the [[Baptist Union of Great Britain|Baptists]], the [[Congregational church|Congregationalists]], the [[Quakers]], the [[Methodist Church of Great Britain|Methodists]], and the [[Unitarianism|Unitarians]]. By the 19th century the Baptist, Methodist, and Congregational presence had grown to include churches in several districts across the city and the [[Nonconformist conscience]] did much to impact the city's progressive politics. Many of these congregations are still active. In the aftermath of [[Catholic Emancipation]] in the 19th century a number of [[Roman Catholic]] churches and schools have been established in the city (see [[Catholic churches in Leicester]]).<ref name="Moore, Andre 2008">{{Cite book |title=Where Leicester Has Worshipped |url=http://www.laurel-house.co.uk/where-leicester-has-worshipped.html |year=2008 |author=Moore, Andre |publisher=Laurel House |isbn=978-0-9533628-2-0 |access-date=14 January 2020 |archive-date=22 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200922204915/http://laurel-house.co.uk/where-leicester-has-worshipped.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="storyofleicester.info">{{Cite web |url=https://www.storyofleicester.info/faith-belief/ |title=Faith & Belief – Story of Leicester |website=Storyofleicester.info |access-date=14 January 2020 |archive-date=23 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200523161356/https://www.storyofleicester.info/faith-belief/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name = hist1958>{{cite web |title=The ancient borough: Protestant Nonconformity: A History of the County of Leicester: Volume 4 |publisher=Victoria County History |pages=390–394 |year=1958 |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/leics/vol4/pp390-394#h3-0003 |access-date=11 January 2020 |quote=1601}}</ref>

In 2011 Christians were the largest religious group in the city at 32.4%, with [[Muslims]] next (18.6%), followed by [[Hindus]] (15.2%), [[Sikhs]] (4.4%), [[Buddhists]] (0.4%), and Jews (0.1%). In addition, 0.6% belonged to other religions, 22.8% identified with no religion and 5.6% did not respond to the question.<ref>{{Cite book |title="2011 Census: Religion, local authorities in England and Wales". United Kingdom Census 2011. |publisher=Office for National Statistics.}}</ref> The city is home to places of worship or gathering for all the faith groups mentioned and many of their respective sub-denominations. In the case of Judaism, for example, with only 0.1% declaring it as their faith, the city hosts two active synagogues: one [[Liberal Judaism (United Kingdom)|Liberal]] and one [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox]].{{citation needed|date=May 2020}}

===Places of worship===
Places of worship include: [[Holy Cross Priory, Leicester|Holy Cross Priory]] (Roman Catholic), [[Shree Jalaram Prarthana Mandal]] (Hindu temple),<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/leicester/360_images/2002/11/shree_jalaram_prathana_mandal.shtml |title=Leicester 360° Images – 360-degree tour of Shree Jalaram Prathana Mandal |publisher=BBC |access-date=17 July 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091004173051/http://www.bbc.co.uk/leicester/360_images/2002/11/shree_jalaram_prathana_mandal.shtml |archive-date=4 October 2009 |url-status=live}}</ref> the [[Stake center|Stake Centre]] of the [[LDS Church]]'s [[Stake (Latter Day Saints)|Stake]],{{Citation needed|date=July 2011}} four [[Christadelphian]] meeting halls,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.leicester-christadelphians.org.uk/ |title=Leicester Christadelphians |publisher=Leicester Christadelphians |access-date=25 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180126012642/http://www.leicester-christadelphians.org.uk/ |archive-date=26 January 2018 |url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Jain|Jain Centre]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/leicester/360_images/2002/11/jain_temple.shtml |title=Leicester 360° Images – 360-degree tour of Jain Centre |publisher=BBC |access-date=17 July 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130218024739/http://www.bbc.co.uk/leicester/360_images/2002/11/jain_temple.shtml |archive-date=18 February 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> [[Leicester Cathedral]], Leicester Central Mosque,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.islamiccentre.org/ |title=islamiccentre.org |access-date=29 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150623193733/http://www.islamiccentre.org/ |archive-date=23 June 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
Masjid Umar<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.masjid-umar.org/ |title=Masjid Umar – Leicester |access-date=29 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150621220332/http://www.masjid-umar.org/ |archive-date=21 June 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref> (Mosque),<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/leicester/content/panoramas/masjid_mosque_360.shtml |title=Leicester – In Pictures – Masjid Umar mosque |publisher=BBC |access-date=17 July 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101120080616/http://www.bbc.co.uk/leicester/content/panoramas/masjid_mosque_360.shtml |archive-date=20 November 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref> Guru Nanak Gurdwara (Sikh), Neve Shalom Synagogue (Progressive Jewish).{{citation needed|date=May 2020}}

==Culture==
[[File:Curve Leicester full panorama.jpg|thumb|left|[[Curve (theatre)|Curve]] theatre]]
The city hosts annually a [[Leicester Caribbean Carnival|Caribbean Carnival and parade]] (the largest in the UK outside London), [[Diwali]] celebrations (the largest outside of India),<ref>{{cite web |title=Diwali Visit Leicester |work=Leicester city |date=8 June 2020 |url=https://www.visitleicester.info/whats-on/diwali-p704841 |access-date=8 June 2020 |archive-date=23 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200923123156/https://www.visitleicester.info/whats-on/diwali-p704841 |url-status=live }}</ref> the largest comedy festival in the UK [[Leicester Comedy Festival]] and a [[Pride Parade]] ([[Leicester Pride]]). Belgrave Road, not far from the city centre, is colloquially known as "The Golden Mile" because of the number of Jewellers.

The Leicester International Short Film Festival is an annual event; it commenced in 1996 under the banner title of "Seconds Out". It has become one of the most important short film festivals in the UK and usually runs in early November, with venues including the [[Phoenix Square|Phoenix Cinema and Arts Centre]].<ref>{{cite news |first=Adele |last=Pascale |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/leicester/content/articles/2005/11/01/film_festival_feature.shtml |title=Leicester Short Film Festival: CAN 2005 |publisher=BBC Leicester |date=2 November 2005 |access-date=23 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181022030028/http://www.bbc.co.uk/leicester/content/articles/2005/11/01/film_festival_feature.shtml |archive-date=22 October 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>Barry Turner. The Screenwriter's Handbook 2010. Palgrave Macmillan. 2009. Page 218. (The Screenwriter's Handbook 2009, p 232).</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=Robin |last=Turner |title=So Where's the Main Threat to the Welsh Bid to Be City of Culture? |work=Western Mail |date=7 March 2013 |url=https://www.questia.com/read/1G1-321379618}}{{Dead link|date=August 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

[[File:Phoenix Square Leicester.jpg|thumb|upright=0.66|[[Phoenix Square]] cinema and media complex]]

Notable arts venues in the city include:
* [[Curve Theatre, Leicester|Curve]]: Purpose-designed performing arts centre, designed by [[Rafael Viñoly]], opened in Autumn 2008,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.leicesterpac.co.uk/ |title=Curve website |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060714055304/https://www.leicesterpac.co.uk/ |archive-date=14 July 2006}}</ref>
* The [[De Montfort Hall]]
* The [[Leicester Haymarket Theatre|Haymarket Theatre]]
* The [[Little Theatre (Leicester)|Little Theatre]]
* The Y Theatre at the YMCA<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.leicesterymca.co.uk/spaces/the-y-theatre |title=THE y THEATRE - the y Leicester |access-date=29 December 2021 |archive-date=5 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211205014237/https://www.leicesterymca.co.uk/spaces/the-y-theatre/ |url-status=dead}}</ref>
* The [[Peepul Centre]], Designed by Andrzej Blonski Architects, the £15&nbsp;million building was opened in 2005 and houses an auditorium, restaurant, cyber café, gym and dance studio for the local people, as well as being used for conferences and events. The centre has even been host to former Prime Minister Gordon Brown and other senior Labour Party figures for hustings during the deputy leadership contest.
* Phoenix Cinema and Arts Centre, in Midland street opened in 2009.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Visiting Phoenix |url=https://www.phoenix.org.uk/visiting-phoenix/ |access-date=23 December 2024 |website=phoenix.org.uk}}</ref>
*The [[Sue Townsend Theatre]] in Upper Brown Street– which opened in the former Phoenix Arts Centre.

===Museums===
<gallery>
File:Newarke Houses Museum Leicester.jpg|[[Newarke Houses Museum]] (Grade II*)
File:New Walk Museum Leicester 2.JPG|[[Leicester Museum & Art Gallery]]
File:Abbey Pumping station.JPG|[[Abbey Pumping Station]]
File:Jewry Wall and St Nicholas.jpg|[[Jewry Wall Museum]]
File:Belgrave Hall Museum - geograph.org.uk - 70266.jpg|[[Belgrave Hall]]
File:GasMuseumMay2010.JPG|[[Gas Museum (Leicester)]]
File:Leicester Guildhall.jpg|[[Leicester Guildhall|The Guildhall]]
File:Dynasty Death and Discovery, Richard III museum entrance.png|[[King Richard III Visitor Centre]]
</gallery>

===Music===
{{main|Music in Leicester}}

===In popular culture===
Leicester is the setting for the fictional diaries of [[Adrian Mole]], created by [[Sue Townsend]]. In the early books he lives in a suburb of Leicester and attends a local school where he first meets "the love of his life", Pandora Braithwaite.

After a period of years spent working in Oxford and London, Mole returns to Leicester and gets a job in a second-hand bookshop and a flat in an "upmarket" development on a swan-infested waterfront, which is a barely disguised representation of the area near to St. Nicholas Circle. Vastly in debt he is forced to move to the fictional village of Mangold Parva. The local (fictional) [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) for the town of Ashby de la Zouch is his old flame, Pandora Braithwaite.

Leicester is the setting for [[Rod Duncan]]'s novels, the ''Fall of the Gas-Lit Empire'' series and the Riot trilogy.

Leicester and the surrounding county are settings for several [[Graham Joyce]] novels, including ''Dark Sister'', ''The Limits of Enchantment'' and ''[[Some Kind of Fairy Tale]]''.

The Clarendon Park and New Walk areas of the city, along with an unnamed Charnwood village ("vaguely based upon Cossington", according to the author) are some of the settings of the 2014 novel ''The Knot of Isis'' by Chrid McGordon.

Leicester is the setting for the British children book series, ''[[The Sleepover Club]]'', by authors Rose Impey, Narinder Dhami, Lorna Read, Fiona Cummings, Louis Catt, Sue Mongredien, Angie Bates, Ginny Deals, Harriet Castor and Jana Novotny Hunter.

Notable feature films made in the city are ''[[The Girl with Brains in Her Feet]]'' (1997), ''[[Jadoo (2013 film)|Jadoo]]'' (2013) and ''[[Yamla Pagla Deewana 2]]'' (2013).

==Sport==
{{Main|Sport in Leicester}}

The city of Leicester has a successful record in sport. In 2016, it was named the UK's Greatest Sporting City, and in 2008, it was named as a European City of Sport.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://aceseurope.eu/european-cities-of-sport/ | title=European Cities of Sport - ACES EUROPE | date=September 2017 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.leicestertigers.com/news/leicester-named-uks-sporting-capital-2016-08-23 | title=Leicester named UK's sporting capital }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/36140289 | title=Leicester win Premier League: Have Foxes turned city into UK's sporting capital? | work=BBC Sport | date=4 May 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/36140289 | title=Leicester win Premier League: Have Foxes turned city into UK's sporting capital? | work=BBC Sport | date=4 May 2016 }}</ref>

[[Leicester City F.C.|Leicester City]] are a professional association football club who currently compete in the [[EFL Championship]]. The club famously won the [[Premier League]] in 2016.<ref name="WillHill">{{cite news |url=http://www.itv.com/news/central/2016-05-02/bookies-set-to-hand-over-15m-if-leicester-win-title/ |title=Bookies set to hand over £15m if Leicester win title |publisher=ITV News |date=2 May 2016 |access-date=3 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160602225204/http://www.itv.com/news/central/2016-05-02/bookies-set-to-hand-over-15m-if-leicester-win-title/ |archive-date=2 June 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="TelegraphBookies">{{cite news |last1=Rayner |first1=Gordon |last2=Brown |first2=Oliver |title=Leicester City win Premier League and cost bookies biggest ever payout |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/05/02/leicester-city-win-premier-league-and-cost-bookies-biggest-ever/ |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=2 May 2016 |access-date=2 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160503100437/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/05/02/leicester-city-win-premier-league-and-cost-bookies-biggest-ever/ |archive-date=3 May 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Liabilities">{{cite news |last1=Wood |first1=Greg |title=The 5,000-1 payouts on Leicester only tell part of Premier League betting story |url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/may/03/5000-1-outsider-leicester-city-bookmakers |access-date=6 May 2016 |work=The Guardian |date=3 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160506053223/http://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/may/03/5000-1-outsider-leicester-city-bookmakers |archive-date=6 May 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Leicester Tigers]] have been the most successful English [[rugby union]] football club since the introduction of a league in 1987, winning it a record eleven times, five more than either [[Bath Rugby|Bath]] or [[Wasps RFC|Wasps]]. They won the Premiership title most recently in 2022.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/live/rugby-union/61801347 |work=BBC Sport |date=18 June 2022 |access-date=27 August 2022 |title=Relive Leicester's last-gasp Premiership final win over Saracens |first1=Matt |last1=Newsum |archive-date=27 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220827201534/https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/live/rugby-union/61801347 |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:WalkerStadium.jpg|thumb|right|290px|[[King Power Stadium]], home of [[Leicester City]]]]

[[Leicester Riders]] are the oldest professional basketball team in the country. In 2016, they moved into the new Charter Street Leicester Community Sports Arena.<ref>[http://www.leicesterriders.co.uk/club/history/ Leicester Riders web site club history] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160513214440/http://www.leicesterriders.co.uk/club/history/ |date=13 May 2016 }}. Retrieved 18 May 2016.</ref>

[[Leicestershire County Cricket Club]] who are a professional cricket club based at Grace Road, Leicester, currently play in the second tier of the county championship. They won the County Championship in 1975, 1996 and 1998.<ref>[http://www.leicestershireccc.co.uk/ Leiscestershire County Cricket Club web site] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051029232546/http://www.leicestershireccc.co.uk/ |date=29 October 2005 }}. Retrieved 18 May 2016.</ref>

[[Leicester City Hockey Club]] was founded in 1894, and a men's team was established in 2018. The women's team is regarded as one of the oldest and most successful teams in [[England]] with six league titles.<ref>{{Cite web | title=Leicester Hockey Club {{!}} TRAIN - PLAY - ENJOY. | url=https://www.leicesterhc.co.uk/ | access-date=2025-09-06 | website=www.leicesterhc.co.uk}}</ref>

[[Greyhound racing in the United Kingdom|Greyhound racing]] took place at two venues in the city; the main venue was the [[Leicester Stadium]] which hosted racing from 1928 to 1984, it also hosted [[motorcycle speedway|speedway]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.old-maps.co.uk/#/Map/457897/306570/12/101227 |title=OS County Series Leicestershire 1929 |publisher=old-maps.co.uk |access-date=10 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190510133720/https://www.old-maps.co.uk/#/Map/457897/306570/12/101227 |archive-date=10 May 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> A smaller track existed at [[Leicester (Aylestone Road) Greyhound Track|Aylestone Road]] (1927–1929).<ref>{{cite book |last=Barnes |first=Julia |title=Daily Mirror Greyhound Fact File |year=1988 |publisher=Ringpress Books |isbn=0-948955-15-5}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://greyhoundracingtimes.co.uk/2019/04/24/leicester-aylestone-road/ |title=Leicester |work=Greyhound Racing Times |access-date=10 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190510091302/https://greyhoundracingtimes.co.uk/2019/04/24/leicester-aylestone-road/ |archive-date=10 May 2019 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Public services==
In the public sector, [[University Hospitals Leicester]] NHS Trust is one of the larger employers in the city, with over 12,000 employees working for the Trust. Leicester City Primary Care Trust employs over 1,000 full and part-time staff providing healthcare services in the city. Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.leicspt.nhs.uk/ |title=Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust – Home |access-date=17 July 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100823111815/http://www.leicspt.nhs.uk/ |archive-date=23 August 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref> employs 3,000 staff providing mental health and learning disability services in the city and county.

In the private sector are Nuffield Hospital Leicester and the Spire Hospital Leicester.

==Notable people==
{{Main|List of people from Leicester and Leicestershire}}

==Local media==

=== Print and online ===
The ''[[Leicester Mercury]]'' was founded by [[James Thompson (journalist)|James Thompson]] in 1874. Until recently, it was based at 16–18 New Walk, but switched to an almost entirely remote operation after the [[COVID-19 pandemic]].

Pukaar Group, a local media company, publishes the ''Leicester Times''.<ref>{{Cite web |date=17 May 2012 |title=Leicester Times {{!}} Online Newspaper - Leicester News & Publications |url=https://leicestertimes.com/ |access-date=4 July 2024 |archive-date=5 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240605175914/https://leicestertimes.com/ |url-status=live }}</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=July 2024}}

A co-operative and independent newspaper, the [[Leicester Gazette|Great Central ''Gazette'']], was launched online in March 2023. It was renamed the Leicester Gazette in 2024 and plans to launch a print edition in 2025.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sharman |first=David |title=New newspaper Great Central Gazette to launch in Leicester - Journalism News from HoldtheFrontPage |url=https://www.holdthefrontpage.co.uk/2022/news/new-newspaper-with-anti-clickbait-agenda-launched-to-serve-city/ |access-date=3 April 2023 |website=HoldtheFrontPage |archive-date=2 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231002182408/https://www.holdthefrontpage.co.uk/2022/news/new-newspaper-with-anti-clickbait-agenda-launched-to-serve-city/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[National World]] has plans to launch online-only ''Leicester World''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sharman |first=David |title=National World launches in Leicester, Derby and Nottingham - Journalism News from HoldtheFrontPage |url=https://www.holdthefrontpage.co.uk/2023/news/publisher-launches-in-three-cities-amid-fresh-expansion-on-to-rival-territory/ |access-date=3 April 2023 |website=HoldtheFrontPage |archive-date=9 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230209214846/https://www.holdthefrontpage.co.uk/2023/news/publisher-launches-in-three-cities-amid-fresh-expansion-on-to-rival-territory/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Television ===
The [[Midlands Asian Television]] channel known as MATV Channel 6 was broadcast in Leicester until late 2009.
[[File:Cameraman and soundman filming police in Leicester, England, 1974.jpg|thumb|right|Film crew at work during an "anti-Fascist" march in Leicester, August 1974]]

=== Radio ===
[[BBC Radio Leicester]] was the first [[BBC Local Radio]] station in Britain, opening on 8 November 1967. Other analogue FM radio stations are Leicester Community Radio for English speaking over 35's (1449 AM/MW), [[Demon FM]] which is Leicester's community and student radio station broadcasting from De Montfort University, [[Takeover Radio]] is the first ever children's radio station in the UK to be produced and presented by children, [[Capital Midlands]], [[Hits Radio East Midlands]], [[Smooth East Midlands]] and [[Hindu Sanskar Radio]], which only broadcasts during Hindu religious festivals. [[BBC Asian Network]] and [[Sabras Radio]] broadcast on AM.

The local [[Digital Audio Broadcasting|DAB]] multiplex includes [[Capital Midlands]], [[BBC Radio Leicester]], [[Hits Radio East Midlands]] and [[Smooth East Midlands]].

Leicester's independent radio stations launched a new DAB multiplex in 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |date=14 March 2023 |title=Leicester's small-scale DAB digital radio multiplex switched on |url=https://radiotoday.co.uk/2023/03/leicesters-small-scale-dab-digital-radio-multiplex-switched-on/ |access-date=3 April 2023 |website=RadioToday |archive-date=14 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230314210546/https://radiotoday.co.uk/2023/03/leicesters-small-scale-dab-digital-radio-multiplex-switched-on/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=30 March 2023 |title=New DAB multiplex in Leicester |url=https://www.greatcentralgazette.org/leicesters-independent-radio-is-set-for-the-future-with-new-dab-multiplex/ |access-date=3 April 2023 |website=Great Central Gazette |archive-date=16 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230516094008/https://www.greatcentralgazette.org/leicesters-independent-radio-is-set-for-the-future-with-new-dab-multiplex/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

There are two hospital radio stations in Leicester, Radio Fox and Radio Gwendolen. Leicester University has a radio station, [[University of Leicester#Galaxy Radio|Galaxy Radio]].

==Twin cities==
{{See also|List of twin towns and sister cities in the United Kingdom}}
Leicester is [[Twin towns and sister cities|twinned]] with six cities.<ref name="Leicester twinnings">{{cite web |url=http://www.leicester.gov.uk/your-council-services/lc/twinning/ |title=Twinning |publisher=Leicester City council |access-date=5 February 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101002090459/http://www.leicester.gov.uk/your-council-services/lc/twinning/ |archive-date=2 October 2010}}</ref>

* [[Strasbourg]], France (1960)<ref name="Strasbourg twinnings">{{cite web |url=http://www.en.strasbourg.eu/en/europe-international/partnerships-and-solidarity/strasbourg-twin-city/ |title=Strasbourg, Twin City |access-date=21 August 2013 |work=Strasbourg.eu & Communauté Urbaine |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130728153619/http://www.en.strasbourg.eu/en/europe-international/partnerships-and-solidarity/strasbourg-twin-city/ |archive-date=28 July 2013}}</ref><ref name="Archant twinning 3">{{cite web |url=http://www.completefrance.com/language-culture/twin-towns |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130705094933/http://www.completefrance.com/language-culture/twin-towns |title=British towns twinned with French towns ''[via WaybackMachine.com]'' |access-date=20 July 2013 |archive-date=5 July 2013 |work=Archant Community Media Ltd}}</ref>
* [[Krefeld]], Germany (1969)
* [[Masaya]], Nicaragua (1987)
* [[Chongqing]], China (1993)
* [[Rajkot]], India (1996)
* [[Haskovo]], Bulgaria (2008)

Since 1973, the [[fire department|fire services]] of Leicester and twin city [[Krefeld]] have played each other in an annual 'friendly' football match.<ref name="BBC">{{cite news |first=Tom |last=Brown |title=Twin towns: Do we still need them? |date=31 July 2013 |publisher=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-23517210 |work=BBC East Midlands Today |access-date=7 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130807144832/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-23517210 |archive-date=7 August 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref>

==Freedom of the City==
The following people and military units have received the [[Freedom of the City]] of Leicester.
{{Incomplete list|date=October 2019}}

===Individuals===
* [[List of lord mayors of Leicester|Thomas Wright]]: 25 October 1892.
* [[List of lord mayors of Leicester|Edward Wood]]: 25 October 1892.
* [[List of lord mayors of Leicester|Thomas Windley]]: 31 March 1903.
* [[Colonel (United Kingdom)|Colonel]] John Edward Sarson: 31 March 1903.
* Alexander Bains: 29 November 1904.
* [[List of lord mayors of Leicester|William Wilkins Vincent]]: 28 November 1911.
* [[Thomas Smith (trade unionist)|Thomas Smith]]: 3 July 1918.
* [[List of lord mayors of Leicester|Jonathan North]]: 28 January 1919.
* [[Admiral of the Fleet (Royal Navy)|Admiral of the Fleet]] [[David Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty|Lord Beatty]]: 28 January 1919.
* Thomas Fielding Johnson: 8 July 1919.
* [[Field marshal (United Kingdom)|Field Marshal]] [[Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig|Lord Haig]]: 28 February 1922.
* [[Charles John Bond]]: 28 April 1925.
* [[Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)|Captain]] [[Robert Gee]]: 28 April 1925.
* [[Ramsay MacDonald|James Ramsay MacDonald]]: 29 October 1929.
* [[Cosmo Gordon Lang|Lord Laig of Lambeth]]: 28 May 1935.
* [[List of lord mayors of Leicester|Walter Ernest Wilford]]: 26 July 1949.
* [[List of lord mayors of Leicester|Thomas Rowland Hill]]: 3 January 1956.
* [[Lieutenant colonel (United Kingdom)|Lieutenant Colonel]] Sir Robert Martin: 3 January 1961.
* [[List of lord mayors of Leicester|Sir Charles Robert Keene]]: 31 July 1962.
* [[Barnett Janner, Baron Janner|Lord Janner of the City of Leicester]]: 26 October 1971.
* [[List of lord mayors of Leicester|Sir Frederick Ernest Oliver]]: 26 October 1971.
* [[List of lord mayors of Leicester|Sidney William Bridges]]: 26 October 1971.
* Mac Goldsmith: 26 October 1971.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://jewish-gilroes.org.uk/stories/mac-goldsmith/ |title=Mac and Ruth GoldsmithInventor and Freeman of the City of Leicester &#124; Jewish Gilroes |access-date=15 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191015121641/http://jewish-gilroes.org.uk/stories/mac-goldsmith/ |archive-date=15 October 2019 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [[David Attenborough|Sir David Attenborough]]: 30 November 1989.
* [[Richard Attenborough|Lord Attenborough of Kingston upon Thames]]: 30 November 1989.
* Professor [[Alec Jeffreys|Sir Alec Jeffreys]]: 26 November 1992.
* [[Gary Lineker]]: 26 November 1992.
* Frank Ephraim May: 12 July 2001.
* [[Rosemary Conley]]: 12 July 2001.
* [[Engelbert Humperdinck (singer)|Engelbert Humperdinck]]: 25 February 2009.
* [[Sue Townsend|Susan Lillian Townsend]]: 25 February 2009.
* [[Alan Birchenall]]: 25 February 2009.

<ref name="whatdotheyknow.com">{{Cite web |url=https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/freedom_of_the_city_4 |title=Freedom of the City – a Freedom of Information request to Leicester City Council |date=7 March 2018 |website=WhatDoTheyKnow.com |access-date=30 November 2020 |archive-date=15 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191015003059/https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/freedom_of_the_city_4 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Military units===
* The [[Royal Anglian Regiment]]: 25 January 1996.<ref name="whatdotheyknow.com"/>
* The [[9th/12th Royal Lancers]]: 30 June 2011.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/Lancers-freedom-city/story-12855235-detail/story.html |title=Lancers to get freedom of the city |publisher=This is Leicester |date=30 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120923102758/http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/Lancers-freedom-city/story-12855235-detail/story.html |archive-date=23 September 2012 |url-status=dead |access-date=4 October 2019}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

===Secondary sources===
{{refbegin|40em}}
* {{cite book |last=Beazley |first=Ben |title=Four Years Remembered: Leicester During the Great War |year=1999 |publisher=The Breedon Books Publishing Company |location=[[Derby]] |isbn=9781859831823}}
* {{cite book |first1=Paul A. |last1=Biggs |first2=Sandra |last2=Biggs |title=Leicestershire & Rutland Walks with Children |publisher=Sigma Leisure |date=2002 |ref=p.44}}
* {{Butt-Stations}}
* {{cite magazine |first=John |last=Dudley |title=Etymology of the name of Leicester |magazine=The Gentleman's Magazine |volume=184 |date=1848 |ref=580–582}}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Gelling |title=The Names of Towns and Cities in Britain |publisher=B. T. Batsford |date=1970 |ref=p.122 |display-editors=etal}}
* {{cite book |author=Geoffrey of Monmouth |editor-first=Lewis |editor-last=Thorpe |title=The History of the Kings of Britain |pages=81, 86 |publisher=Harmondsworth |year=1966 |author-link=Geoffrey of Monmouth}}
*{{cite journal |last=Harris |first=Oliver |title=Jews, jurats and the Jewry Wall: a name in context |journal=Transactions of the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society |volume=82 |year=2008 |pages=113–33 |url=https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/library/browse/details.xhtml?recordId=3245556 }}
* {{cite book |last=Hoskins |first=W. G. |author-link=W. G. Hoskins |year=1957 |title=Leicestershire: an illustrated essay on the history of the landscape |place=London: Hodder & Stoughton}}
* {{cite journal |last=Hoskins |first=W. G. |author-link=W. G. Hoskins |title=Leicester |journal=History Today |date=September 1951 |volume=1 |issue=9 |pages=48–56 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Levy |first=S. |title=Notes on Leicester Jewry |journal=Transactions of the [[Jewish Historical Society of England]] |volume=5 |year=1902 |pages=34–42 |jstor=29777626 }}
* {{cite book |first=Robin R. |last=Mundill |title=England's Jewish Solution |publisher=Cambridge University Press |ol=26454030M |isbn=978-0-521-52026-3 |location=Cambridge, United Kingdom |date=2002}}
* {{cite book |author=Nennius |editor-first=Theodor |editor-last=Mommsen |title=Historia Brittonum |volume=6 |page=830 |language=la |author-link=Nennius}}
* {{cite news |first=Adele |last=Pascale |title=Leicester Short Film Festival: CAN 2005 |place=BBC Leicester |date=2 November 2005}}
* {{cite book |last=Richardson |first=Matthew |title=Leicester in the Great War |year=2014 |publisher=[[Pen and Sword Military]] |location=[[Barnsley]] |isbn=9781783032891}}
* {{cite book |first=Buchanan |last=Sharp |year=1980 |title=In Contempt of All Authority |place=Berkeley: University of California Press |isbn=0-520-03681-6 |pages=58–59, 70–1, 88}}
* {{cite journal |last=Stevenson |first=W. H. |title=A note on the derivation of the name 'Leicester' |journal=[[The Archaeological Journal]] |volume=75 |pages=30–31 |date=1918 |url=https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archiveDS/archiveDownload?t=arch-1132-1/dissemination/pdf/075/075_001_046.pdf }}
* {{cite journal |last=Tomlin |first=R. S. O. |date=1983 |title=Roman Leicester, a Corrigendum: For Coritani should we read Corieltauvi? |journal=Transactions of the Leicester Archaeological and Historical Society |page=48}}
* {{cite journal |last=Tomlin |first=R. S. O. |date=1983 |title=Non Coritani sed Corieltauvi |journal=The Antiquaries Journal |volume=63 |issue=2 |page=63 |doi=10.1017/s0003581500066579 |s2cid=161713854}}
* {{cite book |first=Barry |last=Turner |title=The Screenwriter's Handbook 2010 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |date=2009 |page=218}}
* {{cite journal |first=J. |last=Wilford |title=History of Leicester |journal=Asiatick Researches |volume=2 |issue=2 |date=1812 |page=45}}
* {{cite book |last=William |first=David |date=13 October 2010 |title=UK Cities: A Look at Life and Major Cities in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland |publisher=New Africa Press |ref=p.127 |isbn=978-9987160211}}
* {{cite book |last=Williamson |first=David |date=1998 |title=The National Portrait Gallery History of the Kings and Queens of England |url=https://archive.org/details/nationalportrait0000will_i4a1 |url-access=registration |publisher=National Portrait Gallery Publications |isbn=9781855142282 |ref=p.81 }}
{{refend}}

===Newspapers===
* {{cite news |first=Robin |last=Turner |title=So Where's the Main Threat to the Welsh Bid to Be City of Culture? |journal=Western Mail |date=7 March 2013 |url=http://www.highbeam.com |access-date=18 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020331041952/http://highbeam.com/ |archive-date=31 March 2002 |url-status=dead}}
* {{cite news |first=Dan J. |last=Martin |date=21 May 2015 |title=Ted Cassidy takes the chains as Leicester's new ceremonial lord mayor |journal=Leicester Mercury}}
* {{cite news |title=Richard III team makes second Leicester car park find |author=BBC News Leicester |date=4 May 2013}}

==External links==
* [http://www.leicester.gov.uk/ Leicester City Council]

{{Sister bar|auto=y}}
{{Areas of Leicester}}
{{Leicestershire}}
{{East Midlands}}
{{UK cities}}
{{Unitary authorities of England}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Leicester| ]]
[[Category:Local government in Leicestershire]]
[[Category:Unitary authority districts of England]]
[[Category:50 establishments]]
[[Category:Cities in the East Midlands]]
[[Category:County towns in England]]
[[Category:Local government districts of the East Midlands]]
[[Category:50s establishments in the Roman Empire]]
[[Category:Populated places established in the 1st century]]
[[Category:1st-century establishments in Roman Britain]]
[[Category:Towns in Leicestershire]]
[[Category:Unparished areas in Leicestershire]]
[[Category:Boroughs in England]]
[[Category:Former civil parishes in Leicestershire]]