| Poole | |
| Parliament: | uk |
| Year: | 1950 |
| Type: | Borough |
| Elects Howmany: | One |
| Year2: | 1455 |
| Abolished2: | 1885 |
| Elects Howmany2: | Two (1455–1868), One (1868–1885) |
| Electorate: | 72,162 (2023)[1] |
| Region: | England |
| European: | South West England |
Poole is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Neil Duncan-Jordan, a Labour politician.
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.
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[2]
2024-present: Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, enacted by the Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023, from the 2024 United Kingdom general election, the constituency will be composed of the following (as they existed on 1 December 2020):
Minor changes following re-organisation of local authorities and wards in Dorset.
The borough is an economically very diverse borough. In the centre and north are a significant minority of Output Areas which in 2001 had high rankings in the Index of Multiple Deprivation, contributing in 2012 with the remainder to producing for Poole the highest unemployment of the constituencies in the county.[4] [5] However, Canford Cliffs is epitomised by one sub-neighbourhood, Sandbanks with its multimillion-pound properties, the coastline area has been dubbed as "Britain's Palm Beach" by the national media.[6] Alongside oil extraction, insurance, care, retail and customer service industries choosing the town as their base tourism contributes to overall a higher income than the national average, however the divergence is not statistically significant and the size of homes varies extensively.[7]
| Parliament | First member | Second member | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1510 | No names known[8] | ||
| 1512 | Richard Phelips | Ralph Worsley | |
| 1515 | Richard Phelips | ? | |
| 1523 | ? | ||
| 1529 | William Thornhill | William Biddlecombe | |
| 1536 | ?William Biddlecombe | ? | |
| 1539 | ?William Biddlecombe | ? | |
| 1542 | Oliver Lawrence | John Carew | |
| 1545 | Oliver Lawrence | John Harward | |
| 1547 | John Hannam | John Harward | |
| 1553 (Mar) | William Newman | Thomas White | |
| 1553 (Oct) | Anthony Dillington | John Scryvin | |
| Parliament of 1554 | William Wightman | Richard Shaw | |
| Parliament of 1554–1555 | Anthony Dillington | Andrew Hourde | |
| Parliament of 1555 | Robert Whitt | John Phelips | |
| Parliament of 1558 | Thomas Goodwin | Thomas Phelips | |
| Parliament of 1559 | Walter Haddon | Humphrey Mitchel | |
| Parliament of 1563–1567 | William Green | ||
| Parliament of 1571 | George Carleton | William Newman | |
| Parliament of 1572–1581 | William Green | John Hastings | |
| Parliament of 1584–1585 | Francis Mills | Thomas Vincent | |
| Parliament of 1586–1587 | William Fleetwood, junior | ||
| Parliament of 1588–1589 | Henry Ashley | Edward Man | |
| Parliament of 1593 | James Orrenge | ||
| Parliament of 1597–1598 | Roger Mawdeley | ||
| Parliament of 1601 | Robert Miller | Thomas Billet | |
| Parliament of 1604–1611 | Thomas Robarts | Edward Man | |
| Addled Parliament (1614) | Sir Walter Erle | Sir Thomas Walsingham, junior | |
| Parliament of 1621–1622 | Sir George Horsey | ||
| Happy Parliament (1624–1625) | Edward Pitt | ||
| Useless Parliament (1625) | John Pyne | Sir John Cooper | |
| Parliament of 1625–1626 | Christopher Erle | ||
| Parliament of 1628–1629 | Sir John Cooper | ||
| No Parliament summoned 1629–1640 | |||
| Election | Member | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1868 | Arthur Guest | Conservative | |
| 1874 | Charles Waring | Liberal | |
| May 1874 by-election | Hon. Evelyn Ashley | Liberal | |
| 1880 | Charles Schreiber | Conservative | |
| 1884 by-election | William James Harris | Conservative | |
| 1885 | Constituency abolished | ||
| Election | Member | Party | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | Mervyn Wheatley | Conservative | ||
| 1951 | Richard Pilkington | Conservative | ||
| 1964 | Oscar Murton | Conservative | Chairman of Ways and Means 1976–79 | |
| 1979 | John Ward | Conservative | ||
| 1997 | Sir Robert Syms | Conservative | ||
| 2024 | Neil Duncan-Jordan | Labour | ||
| 2019 notional result[27] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Vote | % | |
| 28,695 | 58.8 | ||
| 10,087 | 20.7 | ||
| 7,490 | 15.3 | ||
| 1,681 | 3.4 | ||
| Others | 848 | 1.7 | |
| Turnout | 48,801 | 67.6 | |
| Electorate | 72,162 | ||