West Dorset (UK Parliament constituency)

West Dorset
County constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundary of West Dorset in Dorset.
Location of Dorset within England.
County	Dorset
Electorate	76,779 (December 2010)
Current constituency
Created	1885 (1885)
Member of Parliament	Oliver Letwin (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	South West England

West Dorset is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which covers almost the same geographical area as the West Dorset district. In the 2005 general election it had the highest turnout of any UK constituency. The current MP is Oliver Letwin of the Conservative Party, first elected at the 1997 general election.

Boundaries

The West Dorset constituency covers most of the West Dorset administrative district of Dorset County Council and includes the towns of Dorchester, the county town of Dorset; Bridport, Lyme Regis and Beaminster to the west and Sherborne to the north. The constituency is mainly rural and its coastline forms part of the Jurassic Coast, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1885	Henry Richard Farquharson	Conservative
	1895 by-election	Sir Robert Williams	Conservative
	1922	Sir (William) Philip Colfox	Conservative
	1941 by-election	Simon Wingfield-Digby	Conservative
	Feb 1974	Sir Jim Spicer	Conservative
	1997	Oliver Letwin	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2010: West Dorset
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Oliver Letwin	27,287	47.6	+1.1
	Liberal Democrat	Sue Farrant	23,364	40.7	-1.2
	Labour	Steve Bick	3,815	6.7	-1.1
	UKIP	Oliver Chisholm	2,196	3.8	+1.8
	Green	Susan Greene	675	1.2	-0.6
Majority			3,923	6.8
Turnout			57,337	74.6	-1.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.1

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: West Dorset
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Oliver Letwin	24,763	46.5	+1.9
	Liberal Democrat	Justine McGuinness	22,302	41.9	+0.1
	Labour	Dave Roberts	4,124	7.7	−5.9
	UKIP	Linda Guest	1,084	2.0	N/A
	Green	Susan Greene	952	1.8	N/A
Majority			2,461	4.6
Turnout			53,225	76.3	+6.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.9

General Election 2001: West Dorset
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Oliver Letwin	22,126	44.6	+3.5
	Liberal Democrat	Simon Green	20,712	41.8	+4.1
	Labour	Richard Hyde	6,733	13.6	-4.1
Majority			1,414	2.8
Turnout			49,571	69.5	-6.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: West Dorset
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Oliver Letwin	22,036	41.1
	Liberal Democrat	Robin Legg	20,196	37.7
	Labour	Robert Bygraves	9,491	17.7
	UKIP	P. Jenkins	1,590	3.0
	Natural Law	M. Griffiths	239	0.4
Majority			1,840
Turnout				76.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1992: Dorset West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Jim Spicer	27,766	50.8	−5.3
	Liberal Democrat	RAS Legg	19,756	36.2	+4.5
	Labour	JPB Mann	7,082	13.0	+0.8
Majority			8,010	14.7	−9.9
Turnout			54,604	81.2	+2.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	−4.9

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Dorset