West Dorset (constituency)
| West Dorset | |
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County constituency for the House of Commons |
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Boundary of West Dorset in Dorset.
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Location of Dorset within England.
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| County | Dorset |
| Electorate | 76,779 (December 2010) |
| Major settlements | Dorchester, Bridport and Sherborne |
| Current constituency | |
| Created | 1885 |
| Member of parliament | Oliver Letwin (Conservative) |
| Number of members | One |
| Overlaps | |
| European Parliament constituency | South West England |
Coordinates: 50°47′20″N 2°35′53″W / 50.7889°N 2.5980°W
West Dorset is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 1997 by Oliver Letwin, a Conservative.
The seat was created under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885.
West Dorset has been served only by Conservative MPs. Historically there have mostly been large majorities; thus the seat can be considered a safe seat. The closest result in recent years was in 2001, when the present member, Oliver Letwin, only just held his seat, with a majority of 2.8% over the Liberal Democrat candidate, Simon Green. The Liberal Democrats have come second since then.
Oliver Letwin, with a settled background in policy formulation, was appointed Minister of State for Policy (a Cabinet Office role) in the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition on 12 May 2010.
1885–1918: The Municipal Boroughs of Bridport and Lyme Regis, the Sessional Divisions of Bridport and Cerne, and part of the Sessional Divisions of Dorchester and Sherborne.
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