West Dorset.
Liberal Democrats MP Edward Morello holds the seat on 51.3% of the vote.
2 Jun 2026
Morello's one rebel vote against his party came on the assisted dying bill in May 2025, when he backed an amendment that would allow religious employers -- such as hospices -- to prohibit their staff from participating in assisted dying, even where individual workers would otherwise be willing. That put him slightly below the Liberal Democrat average on assisted dying access. More recently, he voted with his party to refer Keir Starmer to the Privileges Committee over the Mandelson appointment, opposed government powers to direct pension fund investment, and backed Lords amendments on English devolution -- a consistent pattern of supporting parliamentary and Lords scrutiny over executive authority.
At 62% participation, Morello votes in roughly three in five divisions -- below the Commons average -- though his 99.7% party alignment means he rarely breaks ranks. His stance profile marks him out as strongly opposed to the employer NI increase, broadly supportive of climate action and business, and sceptical of housing development. He consistently backs Lords scrutiny (97%) and parliamentary accountability (94%), but votes well below his party's average on workers' rights and progressive taxation. Economy and jobs dominate his speeches, followed by environment, local government, and defence.
His Foreign Affairs Committee membership provides a formal foreign policy role, though his local advocacy draws more coverage: he has pressed ministers on flooding in West Dorset, organised a cross-party pharmacy inquiry, championed grassroots rugby funding, and co-hosted a "Dorset Day" showcase at Westminster. News sentiment across 135 articles in the past 90 days is broadly neutral, suggesting steady local coverage rather than controversy. Rebel vote and speech data are available; some voting context is limited where debate excerpts are absent.
Ward-level direction-of-travel: who controls what, who flipped recently, who holds the line.
| Ward | Latest winner | Votes | Council | Last cycle |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beaminster | Craig Monks | 601 | Dorset LD | May 2024 |
| Chalk Valleys | Jill Haynes | 683 | Dorset LD | May 2024 |
| Charminster St Marys | David Taylor | 892 | Dorset LD | May 2024 |
| Dorchester East(2 seats) | Major · Jones | 2,316 | Dorset LD | May 2024 |
| Dorchester Poundbury | Richard Martin Biggs | 780 | Dorset LD | May 2024 |
| Dorchester West(2 seats) | Canning · Fry | 2,657 | Dorset LD | May 2024 |
| Lyme Charmouth | Belinda Bawden | 884 | Dorset LD | May 2024 |
| Sherborne East | Jon Andrews | 838 | Dorset LD | May 2024 |
| Sherborne Rural | Robin Andrew Shane Legg | 916 | Dorset LD | May 2024 |
| Sherborne West | Richard Henry Geoffrey Crabb | 575 | Dorset LD | May 2024 |
| Winterborne Broadmayne | Roland Tarr | 747 | Dorset LD | May 2024 |
| Yetminster | Chris Kippax | 813 | Dorset LD | May 2024 |
Source · Democracy Club · DCLEAPIL v1.0 (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The seat’s population is concentrated in Rural & dispersed (26,606), with Dorchester (Dorset) (21,358) as the second pole. Total population across named built-up areas: 92,129.
Source · ONS Built-Up Areas · Census 2021
| Settlement | Pop. | Class |
|---|---|---|
| Rural & dispersed | 26,606 | large town |
| Dorchester (Dorset) | 21,358 | town |
| Sherborne | 10,363 | town |
| Bridport | 9,907 | town |
| Lyme Regis | 3,742 | village |
| Beaminster | 2,993 | village |
Headline indicators.
| Indicator | Local | National | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employment rate | 50.5% | 57.1% | -12% |
| Owner-occupied | 69.0% | 63.1% | +9% |
| Private rented | 16.8% | 20.0% | -16% |
| Social rented | 14.2% | 16.8% | -16% |
Ethnicity.
Source · Census 2021
Population by age & sexCensus 2021 · 18 bands · click to expand
Source · Census 2021 (ONS) · % of usual residents; tick marks the median seat per band
Income tax contribution.
| Total income tax | £304m |
| Taxpayers | 49,000 |
| Median per taxpayer | £2,740 |
| Mean per taxpayer | £6,250 |
Source · HMRC SPI · ±8% confidence
Where the money flows back in.
This constituency is served by Dorset. Each council’s service spend, peer rank and supplier list lives on its own page — open from the meta block above or the compass strip below.
Move the income slider on My place to see income tax, NI, VAT and council tax against your earnings — the household lens.
Headline rate.
By category.
Source · data.police.uk · 3-month rate per 1,000 pop
2024 — full result.
| Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Edward MorelloWON | LD | 26,999 | 51.3 |
| Chris Loder | Con | 19,210 | 36.5 |
| Donna Lumsden | Lab | 3,086 | 5.9 |
| Kelvin Clayton | Grn | 2,288 | 4.3 |
| Oliver Chisholm | Ind | 733 | 1.4 |
| Marcus White | Ind | 289 | 0.6 |
Turnout 52,605
Prior contests.
| Year | Winner | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Chris Loder | Con | 55.1 |
| 2017 | Oliver Letwin | Con | 55.5 |
| 2015 | Oliver Letwin | Con | 50.2 |
| 2010 | Letwin, Oliver | Con | 47.6 |
Sources, methods & last update
2023 boundary review
DCLEAPIL v1.0 (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Census 2021
National avg over 575 seats
±8% confidence
LSOA-aggregated · rolling 12mo