Poole is a constituency in Dorset represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Neil Duncan-Jordan, a member of the Labour Party.
Constituency profile
Poole is a constituency in Dorset in South West England. It covers most of the town of Poole, including the town centre and the neighbourhoods of Hamworthy, Turlin Moor, Creekmoor, Oakdale, Newtown, Parkstone, Branksome Park, Lilliput, Canford Cliffs and Sandbanks.
Poole is a large, coastal town with a history of maritime trade. Situated in Poole Harbour, the town was one of the country's busiest ports in the early industrial era until ships became too large for its shallow harbour. Poole is also a tourist resort known for its Blue Flag beaches. Many of the town's neighbourhoods were developed during the Victorian era. Canford Cliffs and Sandbanks have been dubbed "Britain's Palm Beach" and contain some of the most expensive properties in the country.Morris, Steven. "£3m for modest bungalow needing TLC", The Guardian 2 November 2005. The constituency overall has average levels of wealth; there is some deprivation in the town centre whilst the eastern suburbs are highly affluent. House prices across the constituency are generally higher than the regional and UK averages.
Poole has a below-average young adult population and a high proportion of retirees. Residents have average levels of income and homeownership and low rates of child poverty. They generally have average levels of education and a high proportion work in the health and manufacturing sectors. White people made up 94% of the population at the 2021 census.
At the local council, Poole town centre is represented by localists, most of the suburbs by Liberal Democrats and the wealthy eastern neighbourhoods by Conservatives. An estimated 58% of voters in Poole supported leaving the European Union in the 2016 referendum, higher than the UK-wide rate of 52%.
History The first version of the Poole constituency existed from 1455 until 1885. During this period its exact status was a parliamentary borough, sending two burgesses to Westminster per year, except during its last 17 years, when its representation was reduced to one member.
During its abeyance, most of Poole was in the East Dorset seat and, since its recreation in 1950, its area has been reduced as the harbour town's population has increased.
From its recreation in 1950, the seat had always elected Conservative MPs with comfortable majorities. However, at the 2024 general election, Labour captured the seat for the first time with a majority of just 18 votes.
Boundaries
1950–1983: The Municipal Borough of Poole.
1983–1997: The Borough of Poole wards of Broadstone, Canford Cliffs, Canford Heath, Creekmoor, Hamworthy, Harbour, Newtown, Oakdale, Parkstone, and Penn Hill.
1997–2010: The Borough of Poole wards of Bourne Valley, Canford Cliffs, Hamworthy, Harbour, Newtown, Oakdale, Parkstone, and Penn Hill.
2010–2019: The Borough of Poole wards of Branksome West, Canford Cliffs, Creekmoor, Hamworthy East, Hamworthy West, Newtown, Oakdale, Parkstone, Penn Hill, and Poole Town.
2019–2024: The Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council wards of Alderney and Bourne Valley (part), Broadstone (very small part), Canford Cliffs (nearly all), Canford Heath (very small part), Creekmoor, Hamworthy, Newtown and Heatherlands (most), Oakdale, Parkstone, Penn Hill and Poole Town
Changes arising from re-organisation of local authorities and wards in Dorset; no change in boundaries.
2024–present: The District of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole wards of: Canford Cliffs; Creekmoor; Hamworthy; Newtown & Heatherlands; Oakdale; Parkstone; Penn Hill; Poole Town.
Minor changes to align boundaries to those of local authority wards.
Members of Parliament
MPs 1455–1629
Borough established 1455, returning two members
ParliamentFirst memberSecond member1510No names known1512 Richard PhelipsRalph Worsley1515 Richard Phelips?1523 ?1529 William ThornhillWilliam Biddlecombe1536 ?William Biddlecombe?1539 ?William Biddlecombe?1542 Oliver LawrenceJohn Carew1545 Oliver LawrenceJohn Harward1547 John HannamJohn Harward1553 (Mar)William NewmanThomas White1553 (Oct)Anthony DillingtonJohn ScryvinParliament of 1554William WightmanRichard ShawParliament of 1554–1555Anthony DillingtonAndrew HourdeParliament of 1555Robert WhittJohn PhelipsParliament of 1558Thomas GoodwinThomas PhelipsParliament of 1559Walter HaddonHumphrey MitchelParliament of 1563–1567William GreenParliament of 1571George CarletonWilliam NewmanParliament of 1572–1581William GreenJohn HastingsParliament of 1584–1585Francis MillsThomas VincentParliament of 1586–1587 William Fleetwood, juniorParliament of 1588–1589Henry AshleyEdward ManParliament of 1593James OrrengeParliament of 1597–1598Roger MawdeleyParliament of 1601Robert MillerThomas BilletParliament of 1604–1611Thomas RobartsEdward ManAddled Parliament (1614)Sir Walter Erle Sir Thomas Walsingham, juniorParliament of 1621–1622Sir George HorseyHappy Parliament (1624–1625)Edward PittUseless Parliament (1625)John PyneSir John CooperParliament of 1625–1626Christopher ErleParliament of 1628–1629Sir John CooperNo Parliament summoned 1629–1640
MPs 1640–1868 YearFirst memberFirst partySecond memberSecond partyApril 1640John Pyne Parliamentarian William Constantine RoyalistNovember 1640September 1642Constantine disabled from sitting – seat vacant1645George SkuttDecember 1648Skutt excluded in Pride's Purge – seat vacant1653Poole was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament1654Sir Anthony Ashley CooperBrowne Willis and Cobbett both list Cooper as Poole's MP. Cooper was also elected for Wiltshire, and seems to have been regarded as its Member, but there appears no record of another Member having been elected for Poole in his place Poole had only one seat in the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate1656Edward BotelerJanuary 1659Colonel John FitzjamesCobbett again lists Cooper (elected for Wiltshire) as Poole's MP together with Bond, but Browne Willis gives Fitzjames as the second memberSamuel BondMay 1659John PyneOne seat vacantApril 1660 George Cooper Sir Walter Erle 1661 Sir John Fitzjames (Sir) John MortonSucceeded to baronetcy, February 1662 1670 Thomas Trenchard February 1673 George Cooper March 1673 Thomas Strangways 1679 Henry Trenchard Thomas Chafin 1685 William Ettrick 1689 Henry Trenchard Sir Nathaniel Napier 1690 Sir John Trenchard Whig 1695 Lord Ashley 1698 William Joliffe Sir William Phippard 1705 Samuel Weston 1708 William Lewen Tory Thomas RidgeExpelled from the House of Commons, 15 February 1711, for "great Frauds and Abuses in his Contract for furnishing the Navy with Beer" Whig 1710 Sir William Phippard 1711 Sir William Lewen Tory 1713 George TrenchardWhig 1722 Thomas Ridge Whig 1727 Denis BondExpelled from the House of Commons, 30 March 1732, for his role in the fraudulent sale of the Earl of Derwentwater's estate 1732 Thomas Wyndham Whig 1741 Joseph Gulston Thomas Missing 1747 George Trenchard Whig 1754 Colonel Sir Richard LytteltonMajor-General from 1758 1761 Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Calcraft 1765 Joseph Gulston 1768 Joshua Mauger 1774 Major-General Sir Eyre Coote 1780 Joseph Gulston William Morton Pitt 1784 Michael Angelo Taylor 1790 Colonel Hon. Charles StuartOn petition, Stuart was declared not to have been duly elected and his opponent, Taylor, was declared elected in his place Benjamin Lester 1791 Michael Angelo Taylor 1796 Colonel Hon. Charles Stuart John Jeffery 1801 George Garland 1808 Sir Richard Bickerton 1809Benjamin Lester Lester Whig 1812 Michael Angelo Taylor Whig 1818 John Dent Non-partisan 1826 Hon. William Ponsonby Whig 1831 Sir John Byng WhigJanuary 1835 Charles Augustus Tulk WhigMay 1835 Hon. George Byng Whig 1837 Hon. Charles Ponsonby Whig George Philips Whig 1847 George Richard Robinson Peelite 1850 Henry Danby Seymour Whig 1852 George Woodroffe Franklyn Conservative 1859 Liberal 1865 Charles Waring Liberal1868 Representation reduced to one Member
MPs 1868–1885 ElectionMemberParty 1868 Arthur Guest Conservative 1874 Charles Waring LiberalMay 1874 by-election Hon. Evelyn Ashley Liberal 1880 Charles Schreiber Conservative1884 by-election William James Harris Conservative1885Constituency abolished
MPs since 1950 ElectionMemberPartyNotes1950Mervyn Wheatley Conservative1951 Richard Pilkington Conservative1964 Oscar Murton Conservative Chairman of Ways and Means 1976–791979 John Ward Conservative1997 Sir Robert Syms Conservative2024 Neil Duncan-Jordan LabourJuly 2025IndependentNovember 2025 Labour
Elections
Elections in the 2020s
Elections in the 2010s
2019 notional result Party Vote % Conservative 28,695 58.8 Labour 10,087 20.7 Liberal Democrats 7,490 15.3 Green 1,681 3.4 Others 848 1.7Turnout48,80167.6Electorate72,162
Elections in the 2000s
Elections in the 1990s
Elections in the 1980s
Elections in the 1970s
Elections in the 1960s
Elections in the 1950s
Elections in the 1880s
Caused by Schreiber's death.
Elections in the 1870s
Caused by the election being declared void on petition, after "corrupt conduct and treating".
Elections in the 1860s
Seat reduced to one member.
Elections in the 1850s
Caused by Robinson's death.
Elections in the 1840s
Elections in the 1830s
Caused by John Byng's elevation to the peerage, becoming 1st Earl of Strafford
Caused by Ponsonby's resignation
See also List of parliamentary constituencies in Dorset
Notes
References
Sources
Robert Beatson, A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 1807) Cobbett's Parliamentary history of England, from the Norman Conquest in 1066 to the year 1803 (London: Thomas Hansard, 1808) F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1832–1885 (2nd edition, Aldershot: Parliamentary Research Services, 1989) Maija Jansson (ed.), Proceedings in Parliament, 1614 (House of Commons) (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1988) Henry Stooks Smith, The Parliaments of England from 1715 to 1847, Volume 1 (London: Simpkin, Marshall & Co, 1844)
External links Poole UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at MapIt UK Poole UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at MapIt UK Poole UK Parliament constituency (boundaries from June 2024) at MapIt UK