The constituency was re-created as a county constituency in 1983 from parts of the seats ofChristchurch and Lymington,North Dorset andNew Forest. It has since 1983 seen strongConservative majorities, with the exception of a 1993by-election caused by the death ofRobert Adley when it was won byDiana Maddock, aLiberal Democrat. The Conservatives regained the seat at the next general election in 1997, despite their landslide defeat nationally and Chris Chope has retained it ever since. As of2017, it is the second strongest Conservative seat in terms of voteshare (69.7%) and strongest in terms of majority (49.6%) in the country, although 2017 also sawLabour come second in the seat for the first time in history, having historically been far weaker than the Liberal Democrats and, in2015,UKIP.
1983–1997: The Borough of Christchurch, and the District of Wimborne wards of Ameysford, Ferndown Central, Golf Links, Longham, St Leonards and St Ives East, St Leonards and St Ives South, St Leonards and St Ives West, Stapehill, Tricketts Cross,Verwood, West Moors North, West Moors South, and West Parley.
1997–2010: The Borough of Christchurch, and the District of East Dorset wards of Ameysford, Ferndown Central, Golf Links, St Leonards and St Ives East, St Leonards and St Ives South, St Leonards and St Ives West, Tricketts Cross, Verwood, West Moors North, West Moors South, and West Parley.
2010–2024: The Borough of Christchurch, and the District of East Dorset wards of Ameysford, Ferndown Central, Ferndown Links, Longham, Parley, St Leonards and St Ives East, St Leonards and St Ives West, Stapehill, andWest Moors.
The area is not as rural as the adjoiningNew Forest constituencies, nor as urban as Bournemouth and Poole, and contains a mixed assortment of coastal retirement havens, outlyingBournemouth suburbs and the town of Christchurch itself which has expanded to include dedicated villages of sheltered housing on its outskirts.
Consequently, the present Christchurch seat contains one of the most elderly electorates in the country – onlyEastbourne andEast Devon have an older average voter age and Christchurch has the highest proportion of over-60s of all UK seats. Having recovered from an early-1990s by-election loss, it is today a very safe Conservative seat, with MPChristopher Chope attaining 65% of the votes, a majority of 47%, at the last general election. It is the safest Tory seat in theSouth West and on most analyses is on the fringe of the area that usually qualifies as the South West, served by a station with direct links to the capital and closest toLondon.
The original tally for the 1906 election had Balfour with 3,411 votes and Brassey with 3,408 votes. However, a recount resulted in the increased majority for Balfour.
Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;
The BBC/ITN Guide to the New Parliamentary Constituencies (Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services, 1983)
Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885–1972, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Reference Publications 1972)
British Parliamentary Election Results 1832–1885, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Macmillan Press 1977)
British Parliamentary Election Results 1885–1918, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Macmillan Press 1974)
Who's Who of British Members of Parliament: Volume I 1832–1885, edited by M. Stenton (The Harvester Press 1976)
Who's Who of British Members of Parliament, Volume II 1886–1918, edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (Harvester Press 1978)
Who's Who of British Members of Parliament, Volume III 1919–1945, edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (Harvester Press 1979)
Robert Beatson,A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 1807)[1]
D Brunton & D H Pennington,Members of the Long Parliament (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1954)
Cobbett's Parliamentary history of England, from the Norman Conquest in 1066 to the year 1803 (London: Thomas Hansard, 1808)[2]
Maija Jansson (ed.),Proceedings in Parliament, 1614 (House of Commons) (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1988) * J E Neale,The Elizabethan House of Commons (London: Jonathan Cape, 1949)
J Holladay Philbin,Parliamentary Representation 1832 – England and Wales (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1965)
