North Dorset | |
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County constituency for the House of Commons |
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Boundary of North Dorset in Dorset.
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Location of Dorset within England.
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County | Dorset |
Electorate | 73,010 (December 2010) |
Major settlements | Blandford Forum, Gillingham, Shaftesbury, Sturminster Newton and Verwood |
Current constituency | |
Created | 1885 |
Member of parliament | Simon Hoare (Conservative) |
Number of members | One |
Overlaps | |
European Parliament constituency | South West England |
Coordinates: 51°00′21″N 2°11′51″W / 51.0058°N 2.1976°W
North Dorset is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by Simon Hoare, a Conservative.
This seat was created by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, since which it has been served at various times by candidates from only two parties. For 19 of the years between 1885 and 1950 it has been served by a Liberal and for the other years it has been served only by Conservatives.
The constituency covers North Dorset local government district and most (geographically) of East Dorset. It is largely rural, with a lower than average proportion of social housing and five small towns shown in the infobox. The largest town is Verwood, and the most central is the market town of Blandford Forum, north of the port of Poole.