Post by greenhert on May 3, 2020 15:17:50 GMT
The North Dorset constituency was created in 1885 and it has existed ever since, despite its boundaries having changed several times since then. It lost Corfe Mullen and the Lytchetts in 1997 to the new Mid Dorset & North Poole constituency, and gained Verwood in 2010 but lost Wimborne Minster.
North Dorset arguably covers the most beautiful and scenic part of Dorset, covering the Cranborne Chase Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Its five main towns are Blandford Forum, Shaftesbury, Gillingham (not to be confused with the Gillingham in Kent; this Gillingham is pronounced with a hard g), Sturminster Newton, and Verwood. Sturminster Newton once had the largest cattle market in Europe, but this ceased in 1997,and its most notable event is now the annual UK Boogie Woogie Festival. Shaftesbury once had a famous abbey founded by King Alfred the Great, but this was sadly demolished during the Dissolution of the Monestaries in 1539. It is also the town where King Cnut (Canute) died in 1035. Gillingham was a setting of many John Constable paintings and today contains the only railway station in the constituency,with the others having been lost to the Beeching Axe. Verwood was once home to one of the few potteries in the West of England. As expected of a rural constituency, North Dorset has high owner-occupation levels but relatively average qualification levels.
North Dorset used to be marginal between the Conservatives and the Liberals/Liberal Democrats. The last Liberal MP to represent this constituency was Frank Byers from 1945-50; he was also the grandfather of Wigan MP Lisa Nandy. The Conservatives have held the constituency since 1950, despite the best efforts of the Liberal Democrats during 1974 and during Blair's tenure. The Liberal Democrats dropped to third place for the first time in 2015, and in 2017 Labour overtook them to take second place in North Dorset for the first time ever although that was easily reversed in 2019; nevertheless the Conservative majority is now overwhelming at 24,301. The most notable of these Conservative MPs was Sir Nicholas Baker, a minister in the John Major government who died shortly before polling day in 1997, having been knighted during the final weeks of his life. The current Conservative MP is Simon Hoare, who is also the first MP for this seat not to have been privately educated. Locally the former North Dorset council area and the northern part of what was East Dorset near Verwood are safely Conservative, with Shaftesbury being best for the Liberal Democrats. Labour support is almost nonexistent at local level; they finished last in almost every division of Dorset Council lying within the boundaries of this constituency last year.
North Dorset arguably covers the most beautiful and scenic part of Dorset, covering the Cranborne Chase Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Its five main towns are Blandford Forum, Shaftesbury, Gillingham (not to be confused with the Gillingham in Kent; this Gillingham is pronounced with a hard g), Sturminster Newton, and Verwood. Sturminster Newton once had the largest cattle market in Europe, but this ceased in 1997,and its most notable event is now the annual UK Boogie Woogie Festival. Shaftesbury once had a famous abbey founded by King Alfred the Great, but this was sadly demolished during the Dissolution of the Monestaries in 1539. It is also the town where King Cnut (Canute) died in 1035. Gillingham was a setting of many John Constable paintings and today contains the only railway station in the constituency,with the others having been lost to the Beeching Axe. Verwood was once home to one of the few potteries in the West of England. As expected of a rural constituency, North Dorset has high owner-occupation levels but relatively average qualification levels.
North Dorset used to be marginal between the Conservatives and the Liberals/Liberal Democrats. The last Liberal MP to represent this constituency was Frank Byers from 1945-50; he was also the grandfather of Wigan MP Lisa Nandy. The Conservatives have held the constituency since 1950, despite the best efforts of the Liberal Democrats during 1974 and during Blair's tenure. The Liberal Democrats dropped to third place for the first time in 2015, and in 2017 Labour overtook them to take second place in North Dorset for the first time ever although that was easily reversed in 2019; nevertheless the Conservative majority is now overwhelming at 24,301. The most notable of these Conservative MPs was Sir Nicholas Baker, a minister in the John Major government who died shortly before polling day in 1997, having been knighted during the final weeks of his life. The current Conservative MP is Simon Hoare, who is also the first MP for this seat not to have been privately educated. Locally the former North Dorset council area and the northern part of what was East Dorset near Verwood are safely Conservative, with Shaftesbury being best for the Liberal Democrats. Labour support is almost nonexistent at local level; they finished last in almost every division of Dorset Council lying within the boundaries of this constituency last year.
