List of Parliamentary constituencies in Dorset

Last updated

The ceremonial county of Dorset (which comprises the unitary authorities of Dorset, and Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole) is divided into 8 Parliamentary constituencies - 3 Borough constituencies and 5 County constituencies.

Contents

Constituencies

   † Conservative    ‡ Labour    ¤ Liberal Democrat

Constituency [nb 1] Electorate [1] Majority [2] [nb 2] Member of Parliament [2] Nearest opposition [2] Map
Bournemouth East BC 74,1258,806  Tobias Ellwood Corrie Drew‡
BournemouthEast2007Constituency.svg
Bournemouth West BC 74,20510,150  Conor Burns David Stokes‡
BournemouthWest2007Constituency.svg
Christchurch CC 71,52024,617  Christopher Chope Mike Cox¤
Christchurch2007Constituency.svg
Mid Dorset and North Poole CC 65,42714,898  Michael Tomlinson Vikki Slade¤
MidDorsetNorthPoole2007Constituency.svg
North Dorset CC 76,76524,301  Simon Hoare David Chadwick¤
NorthDorset2007Constituency.svg
Poole BC 73,98919,116  Robert Syms Sue Aitkenhead‡
Poole2007Constituency.svg
South Dorset CC 73,80917,153  Richard Drax Carralyn Parkes‡
SouthDorset2007Constituency.svg
West Dorset CC 81,89714,106  Chris Loder Edward Morello¤
WestDorset2007Constituency.svg

2010 boundary changes

Under the Fifth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the Boundary Commission for England decided to retain Dorset's constituencies for the 2010 election, making minor changes to realign constituency boundaries with the boundaries of current local government wards, and to reduce the electoral disparity between constituencies.

NameBoundaries 1997-2010Boundaries 2010–present
  1. Bournemouth East BC
  2. Bournemouth West BC
  3. Christchurch CC
  4. Mid Dorset and North Poole CC
  5. North Dorset CC
  6. Poole BC
  7. South Dorset CC
  8. West Dorset CC
Parliamentary constituencies in Dorset DorsetParliamentaryConstituenciesNumbered.svg
Parliamentary constituencies in Dorset
Proposed Revision DorsetParliamentaryConstituencies2007.svg
Proposed Revision

Proposed boundary changes

See 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies for further details.

Following the abandonment of the Sixth Periodic Review (the 2018 review), the Boundary Commission for England formally launched the 2023 Review on 5 January 2021 and published their initial proposals on 8 June 2021. [3]

The commission has proposed retaining the current constituencies in Dorset, as detailed below, with minor boundary changes to reflect changes to ward boundaries following the reorganisation of local government authorities within the county. [4]

Containing electoral wards from Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole

Containing electoral wards from Dorset (unitary authority)

Revised proposals will be published in late 2022 and the final report will be submitted in June 2023.

Results history

Primary data source: House of Commons research briefing - General election results from 1918 to 2019 [5]

2019

The number of votes cast for each political party who fielded candidates in constituencies comprising Dorset in the 2019 general election were as follows:

PartyVotes%Change from 2017SeatsChange from 2017
Conservative 241,83558.3%Decrease2.svg0.4%80
Liberal Democrats 78,41418.9%Increase2.svg6.1%00
Labour 76,31018.4%Decrease2.svg6.8%00
Greens 16,0203.9%Increase2.svg1.3%00
Others2,0940.5%Decrease2.svg0.2%00
Total414,673100.08

Percentage votes

Note that before 1983 Dorset did not include the Bournemouth and Christchurch areas (see below).

Election year192219231924192919311935194519501951195519591964196619701974(F)1974(O)19791983198719921997200120052010201520172019
Conservative 39.151.760.146.256.854.045.247.652.253.952.446.647.354.248.148.058.458.657.854.541.845.344.148.351.758.758.3
Labour 21.419.418.017.012.316.030.837.932.032.628.729.832.528.821.023.620.410.211.313.418.821.118.312.213.025.218.4
Liberal Democrat 118.028.921.936.816.328.724.014.515.813.618.923.620.217.030.928.420.929.730.831.234.131.532.832.812.912.818.9
Green Party ------------------*****0.55.32.63.9
UKIP --------------------***5.616.20.3*
Other21.5---14.61.4----------0.31.40.10.95.32.14.70.60.90.40.5

11950-1979: Liberal Party; 1983 & 1987 - SDP-Liberal Alliance

* Included in Other

Accurate vote percentages are not applicable for the 1918 election because one candidate stood unopposed.

Seats

Election year1950-19791983-199219972001-200520102015-2019
Conservative 478678
Labour 000100
Liberal Democrat 1000110
Total478888

11950-1979: Liberal Party; 1983 & 1987 - SDP-Liberal Alliance

Maps

Historical representation by party

A cell marked → (with a different colour background to the preceding cell) indicates that the previous MP continued to sit under a new party name.

1885 to 1950

   Coalition Liberal (1918-22) / National Liberal (1922-23)   Conservative    Independent Conservative    Liberal

Constituency18851886911892951895190004051906Jan 10Dec 1019181922231923192419291931193537411945
Dorset East Glyn Bond Napier Sturt Lyell H. Guest 1 F. Guest Caine Glassey Caine Wheatley
Dorset North Portman Wingfield-Digby Wills Baker Colfox Emlyn-Jones Hanbury A. Hambro Byers
Dorset South Sturgis C. Hambro Brymer Scarisbrick A. Hambro Yerburgh Gascoyne-Cecil Montagu
Dorset West Farquharson Williams Colfox Digby

1original candidate, F. Guest (Lib), disqualified; fresh by-election held June 1910

1950 to 1983

   Conservative    Labour

Constituency19501951195557195962196419661970Feb 1974Oct 19741979
Dorset North Crouch Glyn James Baker
Dorset South Montagu Barnett King Gascoyne-Cecil
Dorset West Digby Spicer
Poole Wheatley Pilkington Murton Ward

1983 to present (7, then 8 MPs)

   Conservative    Independent    Labour    Liberal Democrats

Constituency19831987199293199720012005201020152017192019
Bournemouth East Atkinson Ellwood
Bournemouth West Butterfill Burns
Christchurch Adley Maddock Chope
Mid Dorset and North Poole Fraser Brooke Tomlinson
North Dorset Baker Walter Hoare
Poole Ward Syms
South Dorset Gascoyne-Cecil Bruce Knight Drax
West Dorset Spicer Letwin Loder

See also

Notes

  1. BC denotes borough constituency, CC denotes county constituency.
  2. The majority is the number of votes the winning candidate receives more than their nearest rival.

References

  1. Baker, Carl; Uberoi, Elise; Cracknell, Richard (2020-01-28). "General Election 2019: full results and analysis".{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  2. 1 2 3 "Constituencies A-Z - Election 2019". BBC News. Retrieved 2020-04-25.
  3. "2023 Review | Boundary Commission for England". boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk. Retrieved 2021-10-06.
  4. "South West | Boundary Commission for England". boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk. Retrieved 2021-10-06.
  5. Watson, Christopher; Uberoi, Elise; Loft, Philip (2020-04-17). "General election results from 1918 to 2019".{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)

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