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Wessex (European Parliament constituency) facts for kids

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Wessex
European Parliament constituency
Europarl logo.svg
Member state United Kingdom
Created 1979
Dissolved 1984
MEPs 1
Sources
[1]

Wessex was a European Parliament constituency covering all of Dorset in England, plus parts of western Hampshire and southern Wiltshire. It was named after the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Wessex.

Prior to its uniform adoption of proportional representation in 1999, the United Kingdom used first-past-the-post for the European elections in England, Scotland and Wales. The European Parliament constituencies used under that system were smaller than the later regional constituencies and only had one Member of the European Parliament each.

The constituency consisted of the Westminster Parliament constituencies of Bournemouth East, Bournemouth West, Christchurch and Lymington, North Dorset, Poole, South Dorset, Westbury and West Dorset.

The constituency was replaced by much of Dorset East and Hampshire West and parts of Somerset and Dorset West and Wiltshire in 1984. Following further changes, these seats became part of the much larger South West England and South East England constituencies in 1999.

Members of the European Parliament

Elected Name Party
1979 James Spicer Conservative
1984 Constituency abolished

Results

European Parliament election, 1979: Wessex
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative James Spicer 130,744 63.3
Labour John Goss 42,910 20.8
Liberal W. M. Duncan 31,220 15.1
Wessex Regionalist Viscount Weymouth 1,706 0.8
Majority 87,834 42.5
Turnout 206,580 37.2
Conservative win (new seat)
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