List of parliamentary constituencies in Dorset

The ceremonial county of Dorset (which comprises the two unitary authorities of Dorset and Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole) is divided into 8 parliamentary constituencies: 3 borough constituencies and 5 county constituencies.

Constituencies

Further information: 2019 United Kingdom general election

   † Conservative    ‡ Labour    ¤ Liberal Democrat

Constituency [nb 1]	Electorate [1]	Majority [2] [nb 2]	Member of Parliament [2]		Nearest opposition [2]		Map
Bournemouth East BC	74,125	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. ^[3] Initial proposals were published on 8 June 2021 and, following two periods of public consultation, revised proposals were published on 8 November 2022. The final recommendations were published on 28 June 2023.

The commission has proposed retaining the eight current constituencies in Dorset, 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

• Bournemouth East
• Bournemouth West
• Christchurch (part)
• Mid Dorset and North Poole (part)
• Poole

Containing electoral wards from Dorset (unitary authority)

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

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

1885-1910

• 
  1885
• 
  1886
• 
  1892
• 
  1895
• 
  1900
• 
  1906
• 
  Jan 1910
• 
  Dec 1910

1918-1945

• 
  1918
• 
  1922
• 
  1923
• 
  1924
• 
  1929
• 
  1931
• 
  1935
• 
  1945

1950-1979

• 
  1950
• 
  1951
• 
  1955
• 
  1959
• 
  1964
• 
  1966
• 
  1970
• 
  Feb 1974
• 
  Oct 1974
• 
  1979

1983-present

• 
  1983
• 
  1987
• 
  1992
• 
  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.

Before 1885

Constituency	Established	Abolished
Bridport	1295	Redistribution of Seats Act 1885
Corfe Castle	1572	Parliamentary Boundaries Act 1832
Dorchester	1295	Redistribution of Seats Act 1885
Dorset	1290	Redistribution of Seats Act 1885
Lyme Regis	1572	Parliamentary Boundaries Act 1832
Poole	1362	Redistribution of Seats Act 1885
Shaftesbury	1295	Redistribution of Seats Act 1885
Weymouth and Melcombe Regis	1572	Redistribution of Seats Act 1885
Wareham	1302	Redistribution of Seats Act 1885

1885 to 1950

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

Constituency	1885	1886	91	1892	95	1895	1900	04	05	1906	Jan 10	Dec 10	1918	1922	23	1923	1924	1929	1931	1935	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	1955	57	1959	62	1964	1966	1970	Feb 1974	Oct 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	1992	93	1997	2001	2005	2010	2015	2017	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

See also

• List of constituencies in South West England

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 (28 January 2020). "General Election 2019: full results and analysis".
2. "Constituencies A-Z - Election 2019". BBC News. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
3. "2023 Review | Boundary Commission for England". boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
4. "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume one: Report | Boundary Commission for England". boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk. paras 1179-1203. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
5. Watson, Christopher; Uberoi, Elise; Loft, Philip (17 April 2020). "General election results from 1918 to 2019".

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