South Dorset (UK Parliament constituency)

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For the sheep breed, see South Dorset (sheep).
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 county 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 by 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

The Roman numerals after the courtesy title of the Viscounts Cranborne, who represented this constituency, are to distinguish between them. It is not suggested that roman numerals were used in this way at the time.

  • In this section by-elections are indicated by an asterisk after the date.
Election Member Party
1885 constituency created
1885 Henry Parkman Sturgis Liberal
1886 Charles Joseph Theophilus Hambro [1] Conservative
1891 * William Ernest Brymer Conservative
1906 Sir Thomas Scarisbrick, 1st Baronet Liberal
1910 Angus Valdimar Hambro Conservative
1918 Coalition Conservative
1922 Robert Yerburgh Conservative
1929 Viscount Cranborne I [2] Conservative
1941 * Viscount Hinchingbrooke [3] Conservative
1962 * Guy Barnett Labour
1964 Evelyn King Conservative
1979 Viscount Cranborne II Conservative
1987 Ian Bruce Conservative
2001 Jim Knight Labour

Notes

  1. ^ Died 1891
  2. ^ Called to the House of Lords, by a writ in acceleration, as Lord Cecil of Essendon in 1941.
  3. ^ Succeeded as the 10th Earl of Sandwich

[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 Democrat 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 Democrat 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

v • d • e
Constituencies in South West England
Conservative
Liberal Democrat
Labour
South West England European constituency

Conservative (3) • UKIP (2) • Liberal Democrats (1) • Labour (1)