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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.
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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 continues with locals and visitors.
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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 operated by Portland port for a range of commercial activity, the National Sailing Academy will host the Olympics in 2012. With one of the largest
deep water harbours in the world, the enormous potential is being realised.
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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.
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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. The 2005 General Election was launched from Portland by Tony Blair and Jim Knight went on to increase his majority to 1,812.
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