List of Parliamentary constituencies in Dorset

Last updated March 30, 2022

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.

Constituencies

† Conservative ‡ Labour ¤ Liberal Democrat

Constituency^{[nb 1]}	Electorate^[1]	Majority^[2]^{[nb 2]}
Bournemouth East BC	74,125	8,806	Tobias Ellwood†	Corrie Drew‡
Bournemouth West BC	74,205	10,150	Conor Burns†	David Stokes‡
Christchurch CC	71,520	24,617	Christopher Chope†	Mike Cox¤
Mid Dorset and North Poole CC	65,427	14,898	Michael Tomlinson†	Vikki Slade¤
North Dorset CC	76,765	24,301	Simon Hoare†	David Chadwick¤
Poole BC	73,989	19,116	Robert Syms†	Sue Aitkenhead‡
South Dorset CC	73,809	17,153	Richard Drax†	Carralyn Parkes‡
West Dorset CC	81,897	14,106	Chris Loder†	Edward Morello¤

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.

Name	Boundaries 1997-2010	Boundaries 2010–present
Bournemouth East BC Bournemouth West BC Christchurch CC Mid Dorset and North Poole CC North Dorset CC Poole BC South Dorset CC West Dorset CC	Parliamentary constituencies in Dorset	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)

Christchurch (part)
Mid Dorset and Poole North (part)
North Dorset
South Dorset
West Dorset

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:

Party	Votes	%	Change from 2017	Seats	Change from 2017
Conservative	241,835	58.3%	0.4%	8	0
Liberal Democrats	78,414	18.9%	6.1%	0	0
Labour	76,310	18.4%	6.8%	0	0
Greens	16,020	3.9%	1.3%	0	0
Others	2,094	0.5%	0.2%	0	0
Total	414,673	100.0		8

Percentage votes

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

Election year	1922	1923	1924	1929	1931	1935	1945	1950	1951	1955	1959	1964	1966	1970	1974(F)	1974(O)	1979	1983	1987	1992	1997	2001	2005	2010	2015	2017	2019
Conservative	39.1	51.7	60.1	46.2	56.8	54.0	45.2	47.6	52.2	53.9	52.4	46.6	47.3	54.2	48.1	48.0	58.4	58.6	57.8	54.5	41.8	45.3	44.1	48.3	51.7	58.7	58.3
Labour	21.4	19.4	18.0	17.0	12.3	16.0	30.8	37.9	32.0	32.6	28.7	29.8	32.5	28.8	21.0	23.6	20.4	10.2	11.3	13.4	18.8	21.1	18.3	12.2	13.0	25.2	18.4
Liberal Democrat ¹	18.0	28.9	21.9	36.8	16.3	28.7	24.0	14.5	15.8	13.6	18.9	23.6	20.2	17.0	30.9	28.4	20.9	29.7	30.8	31.2	34.1	31.5	32.8	32.8	12.9	12.8	18.9
Green Party	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	*	*	*	*	*	0.5	5.3	2.6	3.9
UKIP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	*	*	*	5.6	16.2	0.3	*
Other	21.5	-	-	-	14.6	1.4	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	0.3	1.4	0.1	0.9	5.3	2.1	4.7	0.6	0.9	0.4	0.5

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 year	1950-1979	1983-1992	1997	2001-2005	2010	2015-2019
Conservative	4	7	8	6	7	8
Labour	0	0	0	1	0	0
Liberal Democrat ¹	0	0	0	1	1	0
Total	4	7	8	8	8	8

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

Maps

1997
2001
2005
2010
2015
2017
2019

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

Constituency	1885	1886	91	1892	95	04	05	1906	Jan 10	Dec 10	1918	1922	23	1924	1929	1931	37	41	1945
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

Constituency	1950	1951	57	62	1964	1970	Feb 1974	1979
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

Constituency	1983	1987	93	1997	2001	2005	2010	2015	19	2019
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

Notes

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

References

↑ Baker, Carl; Uberoi, Elise; Cracknell, Richard (2020-01-28). "General Election 2019: full results and analysis".{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
1 2 3 "Constituencies A-Z - Election 2019". BBC News. Retrieved 2020-04-25.
↑ "2023 Review | Boundary Commission for England". boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk. Retrieved 2021-10-06.
↑ "South West | Boundary Commission for England". boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk. Retrieved 2021-10-06.
↑ 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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[1] BC denotes borough constituency, CC denotes county constituency.

[4] The majority is the number of votes the winning candidate receives more than their nearest rival.

[2] Baker, Carl; Uberoi, Elise; Cracknell, Richard (2020-01-28). "General Election 2019: full results and analysis".{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)

[:0-3] 1 2 3 "Constituencies A-Z - Election 2019". BBC News. Retrieved 2020-04-25.

[5] "2023 Review | Boundary Commission for England". boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk. Retrieved 2021-10-06.

[6] "South West | Boundary Commission for England". boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk. Retrieved 2021-10-06.

[7] Watson, Christopher; Uberoi, Elise; Loft, Philip (2020-04-17). "General election results from 1918 to 2019".{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)

[nb 1]

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[2]

[nb 2]

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[5]

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