The constituency of South Dorset contains
some the most outstanding coastline in the
country. From Studland in the east, past
Swanage Kimmeridge, Durdle Door, Lulworth
Cove and on to Weymouth and Portland, the
coastal path attracts thousands of visitors
every year. And now that this stretch of
coast- and on past Chesil and Lyme Regis
into East Devon - has been granted World
Heritage status, interest is certain to
be even greater.
The tourist industry continues to be very
important. Swanage and Weymouth are still
popular family sea-side resorts which, while
updating themselves to meet modern needs,
retain distinctive local and historical
qualities. Swanage has the hinterland of
the Purbeck hills, Corfe Castle and the
centuries old Purbeck quarries, and many
of the older cottages in Swanage have the
traditional stone roofs. Weymouth remains
an excellent example of a Georgian sea-side
town, with a statue of George 111 half way
along its magnificent curving esplanade.
Weymouth also boasts a working harbour which
surely must be one of the most attractive
in the country. Sea fishing thrives with
locals and visitors, and towards the end
of the harbour stands the condor ferry with
daily trips to the Channel Islands, and
then on to Brittany.
From the westernmost tip of Weymouth a
short drive along the causeway stands Portland,
Thomas Hardy's 'Isle of Slingers', a place
apart and famous for its grey white stone,
which Wren chose for the building of St
Paul's and Lutyens for the Centaph in Whitehall.
Quarrying continues today and, and with
the departure of the M.O.D in the early
1990s, Portland has witnesses a flurry of
new economic activity in recent years. The
excellent deep water harbour is now being
occupied by Portland port for a range of
commercial activity, and there good prospects
of a world class Sailing Academy developing
alongside. With one of the largest deep
water harbours in the world, the potential
is enormous.
Inland in South Dorset , the army camp
at Bovington houses a famous tank museum
and also, very close by, the small and Spartan
cottage in which TE Lawrence (Lawrence of
Arabia) was living at the time of his death
in a motorcycle accident in 1935. His grave
is nearby in the little hamlet of Moreton.
Moreton was also home of the famous family
who, in 1834, prosecuted a group of their
farm worker employees for daring to hold
a meeting to discuss their grievances over
a cut in their wages. The six men from Tolpuddle
now famous as the Tolpuddle
Martyrs - were sentenced to transportation
to Australia. Nowadays the TUC has a museum
in Tolpuddle to tell their story, and every
year on the third Sunday of July the Martyrs
Rally is held, attracting people from all
over the country to commemorate this significant
event in the history of trade unionism.
The post war politics in South Dorset has
mainly been one of tight struggle between
Labour and the Conservatives. The Tories
narrowly held the seat until by-election
in 1962, when Guy Barnett memorably gained
it for Labour. The Tories just won it back
at the next general election in 1964 and
it continued to be a highly marginal seat
for many years.
In their disastrous election of 1983 Labour
was squeezed into third place by the SDP/Liberal
Alliance, but in 1997 Labour's candidate,
Jim Knight, shot into second place and just
77 votes behind Conservative MP, Ian Bruce.
Then, in 2001, Jim Knight went one step
better and won the seat- the only labour
gain from the Conservatives in 2001, and
the first time South Dorset had gone to
Labour in a general election.
