South Dorset (UK Parliament constituency)

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South Dorset
County constituency

South Dorset shown within Dorset, and Dorset shown within England
Created: 1885
MP: Jim Knight
Party: Labour
Type: House of Commons
County: Dorset
EP constituency: South West England

South Dorset is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

Contents

[edit] Boundaries

The constituency covers a similar area to the borough of Weymouth and Portland and the Purbeck district in Dorset. Weymouth is one of the few large towns in Dorset, but Purbeck is largely rural. The constituency includes Bovington army camp.

[edit] History

In the 1997 election, this seat was won by the Conservatives by a margin of only 77 votes, one of the smallest margins in the UK. The constituency went on to be won by Labour from the Conservatives in the 2001 election, but with Labour's smallest majority in England, at 153. In the 2005 election this constituency was one of the few in which Labour significantly increased their majority. Labour may have been helped with the fact that Tony Blair started his official campaign in this seat. In both elections, the left-wing singer-songwriter Billy Bragg ran an anti-Conservative tactical voting campaign in Dorset constituencies.

[edit] Members of Parliament

[edit] Election results

General Election 2005: Dorset South
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Jim Knight 20,231 41.6 −0.4
Conservative Ed Matts 18,419 37.9 −3.7
Liberal Democrats Graham Oakes 7,647 15.7 +1.3
UK Independence Hugh Chalker 1,571 3.2 +1.2
Legalise Cannabis Vic Hamilton 282 0.6 N/A
Respect Berny Parkes 219 0.5 N/A
Personality and Rational Thinking? Yes! Party Andrew Kirkwood 107 0.2 N/A
Wessex Regionalist Colin Bex 83 0.2 N/A
Socialist Labour David Marchesi 25 0.1 N/A
Majority 1,812 3.7
Turnout 48,584 68.7 +3.2
Labour hold Swing +1.7
General Election 2001: Dorset South
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Jim Knight 19,027 42.0 +6.0
Conservative Ian Bruce 18,874 41.6 +5.5
Liberal Democrats Andy Canning 6,531 14.4 -5.8
UK Independence Laurie Moss 913 2.0 +0.3
Majority 153 0.4
Turnout 45,345 65.5 -8.5
Labour gain from Conservative Swing

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Constituencies in South West England
Conservative

Bournemouth East | Bournemouth West | Bridgwater | Christchurch | Cotswold | Devizes | East Devon | Forest of Dean | North Dorset | North Wiltshire | Poole | Salisbury | South West Devon | Tewkesbury | Tiverton and Honiton | Torridge and West Devon | Totnes | Wells | West Dorset | Westbury | Weston-super-Mare | Woodspring
Liberal Democrat

Bath | Bristol West | Cheltenham | Falmouth and Camborne | Mid Dorset and North Poole | North Cornwall | North Devon | Northavon | Somerton and Frome | South East Cornwall | St Ives | Taunton | Teignbridge | Torbay | Truro and St Austell | Yeovil
Labour

Bristol East | Bristol North West | Bristol South | Exeter | Gloucester | Kingswood | North Swindon | Plymouth Devonport | Plymouth Sutton | South Dorset | South Swindon | Stroud | Wansdyke
South West European constituency: Conservative (3) | UKIP (2) | Liberal Democrats (1) | Labour (1)
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