Parliamentary constituencies in Dorset
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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
† Conservative ‡ Labour ¤ Liberal Democrat
| Constituency[nb 1] | Electorate[1] | Majority | Member of Parliament[2] | Nearest opposition[2] | Map | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bournemouth East BC | 73,173 | 5,479 | Tom Hayes‡ | Tobias Ellwood† |  | ||
| Bournemouth West BC | 72,094 | 3,224 | Jessica Toale‡ | Conor Burns† |  | ||
| Christchurch CC | 71,598 | 7,455 | Christopher Chope† | Mike Cox¤ |  | ||
| Mid Dorset and North Poole CC | 74,305 | 1,352 | Vikki Slade¤ | Michael Tomlinson† |  | ||
| North Dorset CC | 72,109 | 1,589 | Simon Hoare† | Gary Jackson¤ |  | ||
| Poole BC | 72,162 | 18 | Neil Duncan-Jordan‡ | Robert Syms† |  | ||
| South Dorset CC | 76,640 | 1,048 | Lloyd Hatton‡ | Richard Drax† |  | ||
| West Dorset CC | 75,390 | 7,789 | Edward Morello¤ | Chris Loder† |  | ||
2024 Boundary changes
See 2023 review of Westminster constituencies for further details.
| Name | Boundaries 2010–2024 | Boundaries 2024–present |
|---|---|---|
|
 |
 |
For the 2023 review of Westminster constituencies, which redrew the constituency map ahead of the 2024 United Kingdom general election, the Boundary Commission for England opted to retain 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.[3]
The boundary commission recommended the following seats within Dorset:
Containing electoral wards from Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole
Containing electoral wards from Dorset (unitary authority)
Results history
Primary data source: House of Commons research briefing - General election results from 1918 to 2019[4]
2024
The number of votes cast for each political party who fielded candidates in constituencies comprising Dorset in the 2024 general election were as follows:[2]
| Party | Votes | % | Change from 2019 | Seats | Change from 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | 127,188 | 33.7% |  24.6% |
2 | 6 |
| Liberal Democrats | 95,463 | 25.3% |  6.4% |
2 | 2 |
| Labour | 82,652 | 21.9% | 3.5% |
4 | 4 |
| Reform | 45,367 | 12.0% | New | 0 |  |
| Greens | 18,400 | 4.9% | 1.0% |
0 | |
| Others | 8,287 | 2.2% | 1.7% |
0 | |
| Total | 377,357 | 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 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | 33.7 |
| Liberal Democrat1 | 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 | 25.3 |
| 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 | 21.9 |
| Reform | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 12.0 |
| Green Party | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | * | * | * | * | * | 0.5 | 5.3 | 2.6 | 3.9 | 4.9 |
| 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 | 2.2 |
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 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Conservative | 4 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 2 |
| Liberal Democrat1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Total | 4 | 7 | 8 | 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
2024
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 1918
| Constituency | 1885 | 1886 | 91 | 1892 | 95 | 1895 | 1900 | 04 | 05 | 1906 | Jan 10 | Dec 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dorset East | Glyn | Bond | Napier Sturt | Lyell | H. Guest1 | F. Guest | ||||||
| Dorset North | Portman | Wingfield-Digby | Wills | Baker | ||||||||
| Dorset South | Sturgis | C. Hambro | Brymer | Scarisbrick | A. Hambro | |||||||
| Dorset West | Farquharson | Williams | ||||||||||
1original candidate, F. Guest (Lib), disqualified; fresh by-election held June 1910
1918 to 1950
Coalition Liberal (1918-22) / National Liberal (1922-23) Conservative Independent Conservative Liberal
| Constituency | 1918 | 1922 | 23 | 1923 | 1924 | 1929 | 1931 | 1935 | 37 | 41 | 1945 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dorset East | → | Caine | → | Glassey | Caine | Wheatley | |||||
| Dorset North | Colfox | Emlyn-Jones | Hanbury | A. Hambro | Byers | ||||||
| Dorset South | A. Hambro | Yerburgh | Gascoyne-Cecil | Montagu | |||||||
| Dorset West | Williams | Colfox | Digby | ||||||||
1950 to 1983
| 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 | 2024 | 25 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bournemouth East | Atkinson | Ellwood | Hayes | ||||||||||||
| Bournemouth West | Butterfill | Burns | Toale | ||||||||||||
| Christchurch | Adley | Maddock | Chope | ||||||||||||
| North Dorset | Baker | Walter | Hoare | ||||||||||||
| Poole | Ward | Syms | Duncan-Jordan | → | → | ||||||||||
| South Dorset | Gascoyne-Cecil | Bruce | Knight | Drax | Hatton | ||||||||||
| West Dorset | Spicer | Letwin | → | Loder | Morello | ||||||||||
| Mid Dorset and North Poole | Seat not created | Fraser | Brooke | Tomlinson | Slade | ||||||||||
See also
Notes
- BC denotes borough constituency, CC denotes county constituency.