Dorset was a county constituency covering Dorset

Dorset

Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...

 in southern England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, which elected two Members of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 (MPs), traditionally known as knights of the shire

Knights of the Shire

From the creation of the Parliament of England in mediaeval times until 1826 each county of England and Wales sent two Knights of the Shire as members of Parliament to represent the interests of the county, when the number of knights from Yorkshire was increased to four...

, to the House of Commons of England

House of Commons of England

The House of Commons of England was the lower house of the Parliament of England from its development in the 14th century to the union of England and Scotland in 1707, when it was replaced by the House of Commons of Great Britain...

 from 1290 until 1707, to the House of Commons of Great Britain

House of Commons of Great Britain

The House of Commons of Great Britain was the lower house of the Parliament of Great Britain between 1707 and 1801. In 1707, as a result of the Acts of Union of that year, it replaced the House of Commons of England and the third estate of the Parliament of Scotland, as one of the most significant...

 from 1707 to 1800, and to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom until 1832.

The Great Reform Act increased its representation to three MPs with effect from the 1832 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1832

-Seats summary:-Parties and leaders at the general election:The Earl Grey had been Prime Minister since 22 November 1830. His was the first predominantly Whig administration since the Ministry of all the Talents in 1806-1807....

, and under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885

Redistribution of Seats Act 1885

The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was a piece of electoral reform legislation that redistributed the seats in the House of Commons, introducing the concept of equally populated constituencies, in an attempt to equalise representation across...

 the constituency was abolished for the 1885 election

United Kingdom general election, 1885

-Seats summary:-See also:*List of MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1885*Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885–1918*Representation of the People Act 1884*Redistribution of Seats Act 1885-References:...

, and replaced by four single-member divisions: North Dorset, South Dorset, East Dorset

East Dorset (UK Parliament constituency)

East Dorset is a former United Kingdom Parliamentary constituency. It was formally known as the Eastern Division of Dorset. It was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom...

 and West Dorset.

When elections were contested, the bloc vote

Plurality-at-large voting

Plurality-at-large voting is a non-proportional voting system for electing several representatives from a single multimember electoral district using a series of check boxes and tallying votes similar to a plurality election...

 system was used, but contests were rare. Even after the 1832 Reforms, only three of the nineteen elections before 1885 were contested; in the others, the nominated candidates were returned without a vote.

Before 1640

Parliament	First member	Second member
1376	Sir Thomas Blount
1386	Sir Stephen Derby	John Frome
1388 (Feb)	Sir Robert Turberville	John Frome
1388 (Sep)	Sir Humphrey Stafford I	Sir John Moigne
1390 (Jan)	Sir Humphrey Stafford I	John Frome
1390 (Nov)	Sir Stephen Derby	Theobald Wykeham
1391	Sir Humphrey Stafford I	Sir John Hamely
1393	Sir Humphrey Stafford I	Sir John Moigne
1394	Sir Stephen Derby	John Perle
1395	Sir Humphrey Stafford I	Theobald Wykeham
1397 (Jan)	Sir Humphrey Stafford I	Sir John Moigne
1397 (Sep)	John Bathe	William Martin
1399	Sir Humphrey Stafford I	John Frome
1401	Sir Humphrey Stafford I	John Frome
1402	Sir William Cheyne	John Bathe
1404 (Jan)	Sir Humphrey Stafford I	John Frome
1404 (Oct)	Sir John Devereux	John Frampton
1406	Sir Humphrey Stafford I	Sir Ivo Fitzwaryn
1407	Sir Humphrey Stafford I	Sir Ivo Fitzwaryn
1410	Sir Humphrey Stafford I	William Stourton William Stourton (speaker) William Stourton was a Speaker of the House of Commons of England from May 1413 to June 1413 when he represented the constituency of Dorset.He was born the son and heir of John Stourton of Stourton, Wiltshire....
1411
1413 (Feb)
1413 (May)	Thomas Brooke	William Stourton William Stourton (speaker) William Stourton was a Speaker of the House of Commons of England from May 1413 to June 1413 when he represented the constituency of Dorset.He was born the son and heir of John Stourton of Stourton, Wiltshire....
1414 (Apr)	Sir Humphrey Stafford II	William Filoll
1414 (Nov)	Sir Humphrey Stafford II	John Chideock
1415
1416 (Mar)
1416 (Oct)
1417	Sir Humphrey Stafford II	Robert More
1419	Sir Humphrey Stafford II	Ralph Bush
1420	Sir Humphrey Stafford II	William Carent
1421 (May)	Sir Humphrey Stafford II	Robert Lovell
1421 (Dec)	Sir John Horsey	John Roger
1431	John Hody John Hody Sir John Hody was an English judge and Chief Justice of the King’s Bench-Origins:Hody was descended from a family of considerable antiquity, though of no great note, in Devon. Jordan de Hode held lands in Hode in the thirteenth century; Richard de Hody was the king's escheator of that county in...
1510–1523	No names known
1529	Sir Giles Strangways I	John Horsey
1536	?
1539	Sir Giles Strangways I	Sir John Horsey John Horsey (died 1546) Sir John Horsey was a knight of Henry VIII and Lord of the Manor of Clifton Maubank. He was also a friend of the poet Thomas Wyatt.He was born the son of Sir John Horsey and Elizabeth Turges...
1542	?
1545	Sir Thomas Arundell	Sir John Rogers
1547	Sir Thomas Arundell	Sir John Rogers
1553 (Mar)	?
1553 (Oct)	Sir John Horsey John Horsey (died 1564) Sir John Horsey JP was a knight of Henry VIII and Lord of the Manors of Clifton Maubank and South Perrott....	Sir Giles Strangeways
Parliament of 1554	John Lewson
Parliament of 1554-1555	Sir Henry Ashley	Richard Phelips
Parliament of 1555	Sir John Rogers	Sir Giles Strangeways
Parliament of 1558	Sir Oliver Laurence
Parliament of 1559	Sir John Rogers	Thomas Strangeways
Parliament of 1563-1567	Sir Henry Ashley	Thomas Howard
Parliament of 1571	John Horsey	Sir William Pawlet
Parliament of 1572-1581	Richard Rogers	John Strode
Parliament of 1584-1585	George Trenchard	John Fitzjames
Parliament of 1586-1587	Ralph Horsey	Andrew Rogers
Parliament of 1588-1589	Sir John Wolley
Parliament of 1593	Thomas Hussey	Arthur Gorges Arthur Gorges Sir Arthur Gorges , was a sea captain, poet, translator and courtier.-Early life:He was born the son of Sir William Gorges of Charlton and his wife Winifred Budockshede, heiress to the manor of Budockshede.Sir William Gorges died in Dec 1584, in the Tower of London: he was knighted in Ireland in...
Parliament of 1597-1598	Sir Ralph Horsey	Sir Walter Raleigh Walter Raleigh Sir Walter Raleigh was an English aristocrat, writer, poet, soldier, courtier, spy, and explorer. He is also well known for popularising tobacco in England....
Parliament of 1601	George Trenchard	Sir Edmund Uvedall
Parliament of 1604-1611	Sir Thomas Freke Thomas Freke Sir Thomas Freke was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1584 and 1626....	John Williams
Addled Parliament (1614) Addled Parliament The Addled Parliament was the second Parliament of England of the reign of James I of England , which sat between 5 April and 7 June 1614...	Sir Mervyn Audley	Sir John Strangways John Strangways (died 1666) Sir John Strangways was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1614 and 1666. He supported the Royalist side in the English Civil War...
Parliament of 1621-1622	Sir Thomas Trenchard Thomas Trenchard (Dorset MP) Sir Thomas Trenchard was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1621 and 1648.Trenchard was the son of Sir George Trenchard of Warmwell and his wife Ann Speke daughter of Sir George Speke of Whitelackington. He was knighted at Theobalds on 15 December 1613...
Happy Parliament (1624-1625) Happy Parliament The Happy Parliament was the fourth and last Parliament of England of the reign of King James I, sitting from 19 February 1624 to 24 May 1624 and then from 2 November 1624 to 16 February 1625...	Sir George Hussey
Useless Parliament (1625) Useless Parliament The Useless Parliament was the first Parliament of England of the reign of King Charles I, sitting only from June until August 1625. It gained its name because it transacted no significant business, making it 'useless' from the king's point of view...	Sir Walter Erle Walter Erle Sir Walter Erle or Earle was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1614 and 1648...	Sir Nathaniel Napier Nathaniel Napier Sir Nathaniel Napier , of Middlemarsh Hall and Moor Crichel in Dorset, was an English Member of Parliament . He was born c.1587, the only son of Sir Robert Napier, a judge and MP, who held the office of Lord Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer, and his second wife Magdalen Denton. He was knighted in...
Parliament of 1625-1626	Sir George Morton Sir George Morton, 1st Baronet Sir George Morton, 1st Baronet was an English landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1626.Morton was the son of Sir George Morton of Milbourne St Andrew, Dorset and his wife Joan Holloway of Walton...	Sir Thomas Freke Thomas Freke Sir Thomas Freke was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1584 and 1626....
Parliament of 1628-1629	Sir George Hussey	Sir John Strangways John Strangways (died 1666) Sir John Strangways was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1614 and 1666. He supported the Royalist side in the English Civil War...
No Parliament summoned 1629-1640

MPs 1640–1832

Year		First member	First party		Second member	Second party
April 1640 Short Parliament The Short Parliament was a Parliament of England that sat from 13 April to 5 May 1640 during the reign of King Charles I of England, so called because it lasted only three weeks....		Lord Digby George Digby, 2nd Earl of Bristol George Digby, 2nd Earl of Bristol was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1640 until 1641 when he was raised to the House of Lords...	Royalist		Richard Rogers Richard Rogers (MP) Richard Rogers was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1640 to 1642. He supported the Royalist side in the English Civil War....	Royalist
November 1640 Long Parliament The Long Parliament was made on 3 November 1640, following the Bishops' Wars. It received its name from the fact that through an Act of Parliament, it could only be dissolved with the agreement of the members, and those members did not agree to its dissolution until after the English Civil War and...
1641		John Browne John Browne (Parliamentarian) John Browne was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1621 and 1653. He supported the Parliamentary cause in the English Civil War....	Parliamentarian
September 1642				Rogers disabled from sitting - seat vacant
1645					Sir Thomas Trenchard Thomas Trenchard (Dorset MP) Sir Thomas Trenchard was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1621 and 1648.Trenchard was the son of Sir George Trenchard of Warmwell and his wife Ann Speke daughter of Sir George Speke of Whitelackington. He was knighted at Theobalds on 15 December 1613...
December 1648				Trenchard did not sit after Pride's Purge Pride's Purge Pride’s Purge is an event in December 1648, during the Second English Civil War, when troops under the command of Colonel Thomas Pride forcibly removed from the Long Parliament all those who were not supporters of the Grandees in the New Model Army and the Independents...  - seat vacant
1653 Barebones Parliament Barebone's Parliament, also known as the Little Parliament, the Nominated Assembly and the Parliament of Saints, came into being on 4 July 1653, and was the last attempt of the English Commonwealth to find a stable political form before the installation of Oliver Cromwell as Lord Protector...		William Sydenham			John Bingham John Bingham (MP) John Bingham was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1645 and 1659. He served in the Parliamentary army in the English Civil War....
Dorset had six seats in the First First Protectorate Parliament The First Protectorate Parliament was summoned by the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell under the terms of the Instrument of Government. It sat for one term from 3 September 1654 until 22 January 1655 with William Lenthall as the Speaker of the House....   and Second Second Protectorate Parliament The Second Protectorate Parliament in England sat for two sessions from 17 September 1656 until 4 February 1658, with Thomas Widdrington as the Speaker of the House of Commons...  Parliaments of the Protectorate
1654 First Protectorate Parliament The First Protectorate Parliament was summoned by the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell under the terms of the Instrument of Government. It sat for one term from 3 September 1654 until 22 January 1655 with William Lenthall as the Speaker of the House....	William Sydenham, John Bingham John Bingham (MP) John Bingham was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1645 and 1659. He served in the Parliamentary army in the English Civil War.... , Sir Walter Earle, John Fitzjames John Fitzjames (MP) Sir John Fitzjames was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1654 and 1670.Fitzjames was the son of Leweston Fitzjames of Leweston, Dorset... , John Trenchard John Trenchard (of Warmwell) John Trenchard was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1621 and 1659.Trenchard was born in Charminster, Wareham, the son of Sir George Trenchard of Warmwell and his wife Ann Speke daughter of SIr George Speke of Whitelackington.In 1621, Trenchard was... , Henry Henley Henry Henley Henry Henley was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1653 and 1681. He supported the Parliamentary cause in the English Civil War....
1656 Second Protectorate Parliament The Second Protectorate Parliament in England sat for two sessions from 17 September 1656 until 4 February 1658, with Thomas Widdrington as the Speaker of the House of Commons...	William Sydenham, John Bingham John Bingham (MP) John Bingham was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1645 and 1659. He served in the Parliamentary army in the English Civil War.... , Robert Coker Robert Coker Robert Coker was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1656 and 1660.Coker was the son of William Coker, of Mapowder, Dorset. He matriculated at Magdalen Hall, Oxford on 23 October 1635, aged 18... , John Fitzjames John Fitzjames (MP) Sir John Fitzjames was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1654 and 1670.Fitzjames was the son of Leweston Fitzjames of Leweston, Dorset... , John Trenchard John Trenchard (of Warmwell) John Trenchard was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1621 and 1659.Trenchard was born in Charminster, Wareham, the son of Sir George Trenchard of Warmwell and his wife Ann Speke daughter of SIr George Speke of Whitelackington.In 1621, Trenchard was... , James Dewey James Dewey James Dewey was an English lawyer and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1656 to 1659.Dewey was the son and heir of James Dewey of Christchurch, Hampshire. He matriculated at Exeter College, Oxford on 20 November 1651 and was called to the bar at Middle Temple in 1656. In 1656, he...
Dorset reverted to two seats in the Third Protectorate Parliament Third Protectorate Parliament The Third Protectorate Parliament sat for one session, from 27 January 1659 until 22 April 1659, with Chaloner Chute and Thomas Bampfylde as the Speakers of the House of Commons...
January 1659 Third Protectorate Parliament The Third Protectorate Parliament sat for one session, from 27 January 1659 until 22 April 1659, with Chaloner Chute and Thomas Bampfylde as the Speakers of the House of Commons...		Sir Walter Earle			John Bingham John Bingham (MP) John Bingham was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1645 and 1659. He served in the Parliamentary army in the English Civil War....
May 1659 Rump Parliament The Rump Parliament is the name of the English Parliament after Colonel Pride purged the Long Parliament on 6 December 1648 of those members hostile to the Grandees' intention to try King Charles I for high treason....	Not represented in the restored Rump Rump Parliament The Rump Parliament is the name of the English Parliament after Colonel Pride purged the Long Parliament on 6 December 1648 of those members hostile to the Grandees' intention to try King Charles I for high treason....
April 1660		John Fitzjames John Fitzjames (MP) Sir John Fitzjames was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1654 and 1670.Fitzjames was the son of Leweston Fitzjames of Leweston, Dorset...			Robert Coker Robert Coker Robert Coker was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1656 and 1660.Coker was the son of William Coker, of Mapowder, Dorset. He matriculated at Magdalen Hall, Oxford on 23 October 1635, aged 18...
Apr 1661		John Strode			Giles Strangways Giles Strangways Giles Strangways was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1640 and 1675. He fought on the Royalist side in the English Civil War...
1675					Lord Digby John Digby, 3rd Earl of Bristol John Digby, 3rd Earl of Bristol was a British peer and Member of Parliament, styled Lord Digby from 1653 to 1677....
1677					Thomas Browne
1679		Thomas Strangways I			Thomas Freke Thomas Freke Sir Thomas Freke was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1584 and 1626....
1701					Thomas Trenchard
1702					Thomas Chafin
1711					Richard Bingham
1713		George Chafin			Thomas Strangways II
Jan 1727					George Pitt
Sep 1727					Edmund Morton Pleydell
1747					George Pitt George Pitt, 1st Baron Rivers George Pitt, 1st Baron Rivers was a British diplomat and politician.-Background and education:He born in Geneva, the eldest son of George Pitt of Stratfieldsaye, Hampshire and his wife Mary Louise Bernier from Strasbourg. General Sir William Augustus Pitt was his younger brother...	Tory  later Independent
1754		Humphrey Sturt Humphrey Sturt Humphrey Sturt was a British architect. He designed the Horton Tower in Horton, Dorset, built 1750. He was the Lord of Horton Manor and was five times returned to parliament as the MP for the county of Dorset 1745-86...
1774					Hon. George Pitt George Pitt, 2nd Baron Rivers George Pitt, 2nd Baron Rivers was a British politician.He was the only son of George Pitt, 1st Baron Rivers and his wife Penelope, daughter of Sir Henry Atkins, 4th baronet of Clapham, Surrey. He succeeded his father as Member of Parliament for Dorset in 1774, retaining the seat until 1790. In...
1784		Francis John Brown
1790					William Morton Pitt
1806		Edward Berkeley Portman I	|
1823		Edward Portman II Edward Portman, 1st Viscount Portman Edward Berkeley Portman, 1st Viscount Portman , was a British Liberal politician.Portman was the son of Edward Portman, of Bryanston and Orchard in Dorset, and his wife Lucy, daughter of Reverend Thomas Whitby. He was a descendant of Sir William Portman, Lord Chief Justice of England between 1555...
1826					Henry Bankes Henry Bankes Henry Bankes was an English politician and author.-Life:Bankes was the only surviving son of Henry Bankes, Esq., and the great-grandson of Sir John Bankes, chief justice of the common pleas in the time of Charles I. He was educated at Westminster School and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he...
1831					John Calcraft John Calcraft (the younger) John Calcraft the younger , of Rempstone in Dorset and Ingress in Kent, was an English landowner and Member of Parliament....	Whig British Whig Party The Whigs were a party in the Parliament of England, Parliament of Great Britain, and Parliament of the United Kingdom, who contested power with the rival Tories from the 1680s to the 1850s. The Whigs' origin lay in constitutional monarchism and opposition to absolute rule...
1832					Lord Ashley Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury Anthony Ashley Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury KG , styled Lord Ashley from 1811 to 1851, was an English politician and philanthropist, one of the best-known of the Victorian era and one of the main proponents of Christian Zionism.-Youth:He was born in London and known informally as Lord Ashley...	Tory
1832	Representation increased to 3 members

MPs 1832–1885

Election		First member	First party		Second member	Second party		Third member	Third party
1832 United Kingdom general election, 1832 -Seats summary:-Parties and leaders at the general election:The Earl Grey had been Prime Minister since 22 November 1830. His was the first predominantly Whig administration since the Ministry of all the Talents in 1806-1807....		Lord Ashley Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury Anthony Ashley Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury KG , styled Lord Ashley from 1811 to 1851, was an English politician and philanthropist, one of the best-known of the Victorian era and one of the main proponents of Christian Zionism.-Youth:He was born in London and known informally as Lord Ashley...	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...		William John Bankes William John Bankes William John Bankes , the second, but first surviving son of Henry Bankes, was a notable explorer, Egyptologist and adventurer. He was a member of the Bankes family of Dorset and he had Sir Charles Barry recase Kingston Lacy in stone as it is today...	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...		Hon. William Ponsonby William Ponsonby, 1st Baron de Mauley William Francis Spencer Ponsonby, 1st Baron de Mauley was an English Whig and Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1826 and 1837...	Whig British Whig Party The Whigs were a party in the Parliament of England, Parliament of Great Britain, and Parliament of the United Kingdom, who contested power with the rival Tories from the 1680s to the 1850s. The Whigs' origin lay in constitutional monarchism and opposition to absolute rule...
1835 United Kingdom general election, 1835 The 1835 United Kingdom general election was called when Parliament was dissolved on 29 December 1834. Polling took place between 6 January and 6 February 1835, and the results saw Robert Peel's Conservatives make large gains from their low of the 1832 election, but the Whigs maintained a large...					Henry Sturt Henry Sturt Henry Charles Sturt , of Crichel House, Dorset, was a British landowner and politician.-Background:Sturt was the son of Charles Sturt, son of Humphrey Sturt and his wife Diana, daughter of Sir Nathaniel Napier, 3rd Baronet, and his wife the Hon...	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
1837 United Kingdom general election, 1837 The 1837 United Kingdom general election saw Robert Peel's Conservatives close further on the position of the Whigs, who won their fourth election of the decade....								Hon. John Fox-Strangways John Fox-Strangways The Hon. John George Charles Fox-Strangways was a British diplomat, Whig politician and courtier.-Background:...	Whig British Whig Party The Whigs were a party in the Parliament of England, Parliament of Great Britain, and Parliament of the United Kingdom, who contested power with the rival Tories from the 1680s to the 1850s. The Whigs' origin lay in constitutional monarchism and opposition to absolute rule...
1841 United Kingdom general election, 1841 -Seats summary:-Whig MPs who lost their seats:*Viscount Morpeth - Chief Secretary for Ireland*Sir George Strickland, Bt*Sir Henry Barron, 1st Baronet-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987...								George Bankes George Bankes George Bankes was the last of the Cursitor Barons of the Exchequer, the office being abolished on his death in 1856.-Early life:Bankes was the third son of Henry Bankes of Kingston Hall, Dorsetshire, who represented Corfe Castle for nearly fifty years, and of Frances, daughter of William Woodley,...	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
1846 by-election		Henry Ker Seymer	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...		John Floyer John Floyer (MP) John Floyer was an English Conservative politician who sat in the House of Commons in two periods between 1846 and 1885....	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
1856 by-election								Henry Sturt Henry Sturt, 1st Baron Alington Henry Gerard Sturt, 1st Baron Alington was a British peer and Conservative Party politician. The son of Henry Sturt, he was created 1st Baron Alington of Crichel on 15 January 1876....	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
1857 United Kingdom general election, 1857 -Seats summary:-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987* British Electoral Facts 1832-1999, compiled and edited by Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher *...					Hon. Henry Portman Henry Portman, 2nd Viscount Portman Henry Berkeley Portman, 2nd Viscount Portman GCVO Henry Berkeley Portman, 2nd Viscount Portman GCVO Henry Berkeley Portman, 2nd Viscount Portman GCVO (12 July 1829 – 16 October 1919, was a British Liberal Member of Parliament.-Biography:...	Liberal Liberal Party (UK) The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
1864 by-election		John Floyer John Floyer (MP) John Floyer was an English Conservative politician who sat in the House of Commons in two periods between 1846 and 1885....	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
1876 by-election								Hon. Edward Digby Edward Digby, 10th Baron Digby Edward Henry Trafalgar Digby, 10th Baron Digby , also 4th Baron Digby in the Peerage of Great Britain, was a British peer and Conservative Member of Parliament....	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
1885 United Kingdom general election, 1885 -Seats summary:-See also:*List of MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1885*Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885–1918*Representation of the People Act 1884*Redistribution of Seats Act 1885-References:...	Constituency divided among North, South, East East Dorset (UK Parliament constituency) East Dorset is a former United Kingdom Parliamentary constituency. It was formally known as the Eastern Division of Dorset. It was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom... , and West Dorset.