The seat includes most ofDover District. It comprises the towns ofDeal,Dover,Walmer and surrounding villages in a productive chalkland, long-cultivated area adjoining theStrait of Dover.
Since 1945 Dover has been a Labour/Conservative swing seat. In local elections, most of its rural villages and the two small towns favour theConservative Party, whereas Dover favours theLabour Party, as well as the former mixed mining and agricultural villages in thelocal coal belt (East Kent coalfield), such asAylesham. Labour's vote held on very solidly here in 2005, but the seat went Conservative in the2010 election on a swing of 10.4% compared with a 4.9% swing nationally.
Electoral Calculus categorises the seat as being part of the “Strong Right” demographic, those who have fiscally conservative views on the economy but are also fairly nationalist and socially conservative, alongside strong support forBrexit. In addition to this, around 55% of Dover and Deal isdeprived, in terms of employment, income and education, with 47% of the local population, in particular, being unemployed, according to the site. For general statistics, the average age is 52.4, at least 80% of the local population owns a car, whilst 67% own a home, and the gross household income is £41,120.[4]
Dover's representation was originally as aCinque Port constituency. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, theLord Warden of the Cinque Ports nominated one member, as with other Cinque Ports, but this was outlawed by theParliamentary Elections Act 1689 (2 Will. & Mar. c. 7).[5] There was still some residual influence, but there was also a local independent element in the borough, with two local leading families, the Papillons and Furneses, starting to send MPs to Parliament. By the mid eighteenth century, it had come under more government authority through the influence of theEarl of Hardwicke, although government control was often more fragile than it seemed.[6]
Dover lost its status as a Cinque Port seat, becoming a borough seat under theReform Act 1832 (2 & 3 Will. 4. c. 45).
1918–1950: The Boroughs of Dover and Deal, the Urban District of Walmer, and the Rural Districts of Dover andEastry.
1950–1983: The Boroughs of Dover, Deal, and Sandwich, the Rural District of Dover, and the Rural District of Eastry, except the parishes included in theIsle of Thanet constituency.
1983–2010: TheDistrict of Dover wards of Aylesham, Barton, Buckland, Capel-le-Ferne, Castle, Cornilo, Eastry, Eythorne, Lower Walmer, Lydden and Temple Ewell, Maxton and Elms Vale, Middle Deal, Mill Hill, Mongeham, Noninstone, North Deal, Pineham, Priory, Ringwould, River, St Margaret's-at-Cliffe, St Radigund's, Shepherdswell with Coldred, Tower Hamlets, Town and Pier, and Upper Walmer.
2010–2024: The District of Dover wards of Aylesham, Buckland, Capel-le-Ferne, Castle, Eastry, Eythorne and Shepherdswell, Lydden and Temple Ewell, Maxton, Elms Vale and Priory, Middle Deal and Sholden, Mill Hill, North Deal, Ringwould, River, St Margaret's-at-Cliffe, St Radigund's, Tower Hamlets, Town and Pier, Walmer, and Whitfield.
2024–present: The District of Dover wards of Alkham & Capel-le-Ferne, Aylesham, Eythorne & Shepherdswell, Buckland, Dover Downs & River, Eastry Rural, Guston, Kingsdown & St. Margaret's-at-Cliffe, Maxton & Elms Vale, Middle Deal, Mill Hill, North Deal, St. Radigunds, Tower Hamlets, Town & Castle, Walmer, and Whitfield.[7]
From 2010, the MP wasCharlie Elphicke, elected as a member of the Conservative Party. On 3 November 2017, Elphicke was suspended by the Conservative Party after "serious allegations" were made against him, and then sat as an Independent until 12 December 2018, when he had the Conservative whip restored ahead ofa party vote on a no-confidence motion against Theresa May.[8][9] In July 2019, the whip was withdrawn again after he was charged by theCrown Prosecution Service with three counts ofsexual assault against two women.[10][11][12] Elphicke stood down as an MP shortly before the 2019 UK general election, with his wife,Natalie Elphicke, standing as the Conservative Party candidate in his place. Natalie Elphicke was elected as the Conservative MP for Dover at the 2019 UK general election, achieving a higher majority than her husband's, but she defected to Labour in May 2024, as they gained the seat in the general election two months later, with new MP Mike Tapp.
