# Rushey Mead

Rushey Mead is an area, suburb, electoral ward and administrative division of the city of Leicester, in the ceremonial county of Leicestershire, England. The population of the ward at the 2011 census was 15,962. It comprises the northern Leicester suburb of Rushey Mead in its entirety, as well as a part of the neighbouring area, suburb and electoral ward of Belgrave and historical parts of neighbouring Northfields and Thurmaston.

## Geography

Rushey Mead is bounded by the wards and areas of Belgrave to the south and west and Humberstone & Hamilton and Northfields to the east and south-east on the other side of the Midland Main Line. North and north-west of Rushey Mead are the Leicestershire villages of Thurmaston and Birstall at the Leicestershire county border and in the Borough of Charnwood at the start of the Leicester Urban Area in that direction.

## History

Rushey Mead was originally a part of the Thurmaston civil parish during the 19th century. The modern day suburb was split from Thurmaston and gazetted as a "Thurmaston Urban District" in 1894, before being annexed to the City of Leicester in 1935, when it was renamed Rushey Mead.
Jesse Jackson, the American politician who was twice a Democratic Party candidate for nomination in elections to be President of the United States visited Rushey Mead on 5 December 2015 to open a park named in his honour.

## Business and commerce

One of the most important lamp factories in Britain, originally built to supply parts for aircraft in World War Two was located in Rushey Mead. In 1946 British Thomson-Houston (BTH) opened the Mazda Lamps Factory on Melton Road, producing electric lamps of many kinds. BTH had licensed the 'Mazda (light bulb)' brand name from General Electric of USA (GE). In 1964 the lamp factory was renamed as Thorn Lighting after the merger of Thorn Lighting with AEI. General Electric, one of the world's biggest companies took over the Thorn Lighting company in 1991. The site contained ground breaking research labs that made countless contributions of global significance, development workshops and even built machines used on the factory floor. The Factory closed in 2007 after 61 years of producing lamps.
It became a well-known local landmark, known locally as "GE Thorn" or simply "Thorn Lighting" after Sir Jules Thom who ran the business in the 1970s.
For many years at Christmas Time there had been a Public Christmas Lights Display on the site of the Lamp Factory attracting people from Leicester, the Midlands and Beyond.
The Site of the Former Thorn Lighting Factory is now occupied by a Sainsbury’s Supermarket. There is now a large metallic tree built opposite the former site on the corner of Melton Road and Troon Way called The World Tree, there being a map of the world on the base of the tree. This was built in honour of the former factory.
Earlier History
In 1928 BTH was amalgamated with its rival, the Metropolitan-Vickers company to form Associated Electrical Industries (AEI). The two companies' brand identities were maintained until the 1960's when, soon after 1967 the holding company AEI was taken over by one of the UK's biggest companies, the General Electric Company (GEC) which is distinct from, and should never be confused with the giant US company General Electric (GE).

## Demographics

Like neighbouring Belgrave, Rushey Mead has a large Asian population.

### As of the 2011 Census

The population of Rushey Mead was 15,962 and was made up of approximately 51% females and 49% males.
The average age of people in Rushey Mead is 39, while the median age is lower at 38.
53.9% of people living in Rushey Mead were born in England. Other top answers for country of birth were 18.7% India, 6.6% Kenya, 1.7% Sri Lanka, 1.2% Africa not otherwise specified, 1.0% Pakistan, 0.5% Ireland, 0.4% Zimbabwe, 0.4% Scotland, 0.3% Somalia.
61.0% of people living in Rushey Mead speak English. The other top languages spoken are 23.6% Gujarati, 5.5% Punjabi, 1.8% Tamil, 1.3% Polish, 0.9% Urdu, 0.9% Slovak, 0.9% South Asian Language, 0.5% Portuguese, 0.4% Hindi.
The religious make up of Rushey Mead is 43.1% Hindu, 21.7% Christian, 10.5% Muslim, 9.8% Sikh, 9.2% No religion, 0.3% Buddhist, 0.1% Jewish. 668 people did not state a religion. 18 people identified as Jedi knights and 2 people said they believe in Heavy Metal.
54.2% of people are married, 5.4% cohabit with a member of the opposite sex, 0.4% live with a partner of the same sex, 24.5% are single and have never married or been in a registered same sex partnership, 6.0% are separated or divorced. There are 552 widowed people living in Rushey Mead.
The top occupations listed by people in Rushey Mead are Process, plant and machine operatives 15.0%, Administrative and secretarial 13.6%, Elementary 13.3%, Sales and customer service 12.2%, Administrative 11.3%, Process, plant and machine operatives 10.9%, Professional 10.6%, Skilled trades 10.0%, Elementary administration and service 9.5%, Sales 9.4%.

## Education
### Schools in the area

Primary schools: Wyvern Primary, Herrick Primary, Sandfield Primary and Rushey Mead Primary.
Secondary schools: Rushey Mead Academy, which is the best state-funded secondary school in Leicester and Leicestershire and Soar Valley College.

## The World Tree

Located in Rushey Mead, on the corner of Melton Road and Troon Way is a 5m high, steel tree sculpture with bronze light bulbs on the branches. It stands opposite the former site of the GE-Thorn Lighting Factory, which a Sainsbury's supermarket now occupies. It cost £62,000 and was paid for by Sainsbury's. It was unveiled on 4 March 2016 by the Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow in the attendance of Mayor of Leicester Peter Soulsby and Leicester East MP Keith Vaz.

## Places of Interest

* Watermead Country Park - a network of artificial lakes with a large statue of a mammoth atop a hill.

## Scenery

The River Soar runs along the west of Rushey Mead and up to Watermead Country Park.

## Area

The electoral ward of Rushey Mead contains parts of the neighbouring area and suburb of Belgrave meaning that despite the actual geographical location that specific area may also be classed as being in Rushey Mead by virtue of the electoral ward mapping.

## Shopping

There is a large Sainsbury’s supermarket on Melton Road including a garage and café.

## Transport
### Major Roads

Rushey Mead is located on the A607 road and the A563 road.

### Bus

First Leicester service 4 serves Rushey Mead on Glenagles Avenue and Trevino Drive and Arriva Midlands services 5, 5A and 6 all serve Rushey Mead along the A607.
All bus services operate along the Golden Mile from and into Leicester City Centre.
The nearest bus stations, both in Leicester City Centre are the Haymarket and St Margaret's.

### Train

The nearest train stations are Leicester railway station and Syston railway station.
The Midland Main Line runs along at the east of Rushey Mead.

### Airport

The nearest airport is East Midlands Airport, located in Leicestershire and 19.8 miles (31.9 km) away from Rushey Mead.

## Politics

Rushey Mead is located within the Leicester East parliament constituency, a seat currently held by the Conservative Party since 2024. The Labour Party consistently held the seat between 1987 and 2024 but lost the seat to the outgoing Conservative Government despite a landslide victory across the country for the Labour Party in that particular election.
The Rushey Mead electoral ward is currently, since 2023 represented on Leicester City Council by three Conservative Party Councillors.
The electoral ward of Rushey Mead includes parts of the neighbouring suburb and Leicester area of Belgrave.
Former Councillors for Rushey Mead include Ross Willmott, a former leader of the city council and the Labour Party candidate for Leicestershire Police and Crime Commissioner, Piara Singh Clair MBE, former deputy city mayor and cabinet member for Culture, Leisure, Sport and Regulatory Services and Rita Patel, former assistant city mayor and cabinet member for Equalities and Special Projects and founder of the Peepul Centre, located in the neighbouring area of Belgrave and close to Leicester City Centre.
Rushey Mead was represented within the East Midlands parliamentary constituency in the European Parliament.

## Council election results
### Rushey Mead 2023

Rushey Mead :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Bhupen Dave | 3,036 | 45.4 | |
| | Conservative | Geeta Karavadra | 2,990 | 44.7 | |
| | Conservative | Devi Singh Patel | 2,844 | 42.6 | |
| | Labour | Piara Singh Clair | 2,008 | 30.1 | |
| | Labour | Gurinder Singh Sandhu | 1,761 | 26.4 | |
| | Labour | Priya Evarista Lavina Mendes | 1,751 | 26.2 | |
| | Independent | Rita Patel | 1,328 | 19.9 | |
| | Independent | Dharmesh Bhagwanji Lakhani | 941 | 14.1 | |
| | Independent | Rajul Tejura | 761 | 11.4 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Hash Chandarana | 475 | 7.1 | |
| | Independent | Ross Willmott | 384 | 5.7 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Pradeep Gocal | 301 | 4.5 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Asit Sodha | 213 | 3.2 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 6,682 | 50.6 | |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 13,209 | | |
| | Conservative gain from Labour | Conservative gain from Labour | Conservative gain from Labour | Conservative gain from Labour | Conservative gain from Labour |
| | Conservative gain from Labour | Conservative gain from Labour | Conservative gain from Labour | Conservative gain from Labour | Conservative gain from Labour |
| | Conservative gain from Labour | Conservative gain from Labour | Conservative gain from Labour | Conservative gain from Labour | Conservative gain from Labour |

### Rushey Mead 2019

Rushey Mead :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| | Labour | Rita Patel | 4,118 |
| | Labour | Piara Singh Clair | 3,786 |
| | Labour | Ross Willmott | 3,320 |
| | Conservative | Geeta Mahesh Karavadra | 1166 |
| | Conservative | Sudhir Odedra | 998 |
| | Conservative | Heten Tejura | 883 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Hash Chandarana | 556 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Nitesh Pravin Dave | 554 |
| | Green | Anne Louise Scott | 451 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | |

### Rushey Mead 2015

Rushey Mead :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | Rita Patel | 4,597 | |
| | Labour | Piara Singh Clair | 4,584 | |
| | Labour | Ross Willmott | 4,390 | |
| | Conservative | Hemubhai Chandarana | 1797 | |
| | Conservative | Rashmi Vyas | 1702 | |
| | Conservative | Sarban Singh | 1389 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Hash Chandarana | 586 | |
| | Green | Nimit Jethwa | 513 | |
| | UKIP | Keith Agius | 472 | |
| | UKIP | Adam Barker | 399 | |
| | UKIP | Kyle Perkins | 353 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Nitesh Dave | 327 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Jaswinder Kaur | 305 | |
| | LICC | Leila Khamis | 117 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 66.4 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | |

## Sport

Highfield Rangers F.C. is based in Rushey Mead. They are currently members of the Leicestershire Senior League Premier Division.

## Notable people

Actresses Parminder Nagra and Rakhee Thakrar went to Soar Valley College within Rushey Mead.