Election data comes from UK Parliament. Turnout percentage is calculated by Project Open Gov from Parliament's turnout and electorate figures.
People and place
A population and household snapshot for South Dorset, using validated House of Commons Library constituency datasets.
Estimated population100,592
EstimateMid-2024 estimate
Region / nationSouth West
Age profile
0 to 1716.9% · 16,993 people
18 to 246.0% · 6,052 people
25 to 3410.2% · 10,307 people
35 to 4916.2% · 16,309 people
50 to 6422.3% · 22,481 people
65 and over28.3% · 28,450 people
Population figures are mid-2024 estimates from the House of Commons Library. Project Open Gov calculates the estimated population shown above by summing the six published age-band counts. View population source ↗
Home ownership and renting
Housing tenure shows how households in this constituency described their home at the most recent census.
44,272 householdsCensus 2021
Home owners66.1% · 29,276 households
Private renters19.7% · 8,727 households
Social renters13.2% · 5,862 households
Other tenure0.9% · 407 households
“Other tenure” combines shared ownership and households recorded as living rent free.
Housing-tenure figures come from the most recent census: 2021 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and 2022 in Scotland. View housing-tenure source ↗
Household composition
A broad view of household types in this constituency. Project Open Gov uses the four broad groups supplied by the Commons Library so the presentation remains consistent across the UK.
44,272 householdsCensus 2021
One-person households32.6% · 14,451 households
Families with dependent children22.0% · 9,722 households
Other single-family households41.7% · 18,468 households
Other household types3.7% · 1,631 households
Household-composition figures come from the Commons Library constituency dataset. The source uses census data and Project Open Gov displays its broad household groups rather than attempting to harmonise the detailed categories itself. View household-composition source ↗
Disability and day-to-day activities
The source records whether day-to-day activities are limited and uses separate person-level tables for England & Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
98,455 people in the source baseCensus 2021Source comparison: England & Wales
Day-to-day activities limited a lot8.9% · 8,802 people
Day-to-day activities limited a little13.0% · 12,846 people
Not disabled under the Equality Act78.0% · 76,807 people
Comparison note: the workbook uses different source terminology across the UK: England & Wales uses “Disabled under the Equality Act”, while Scotland and Northern Ireland use “Disabled” / “Non-disabled”. Project Open Gov therefore preserves the source categories and does not present them as one single like-for-like UK legal definition.
Disability figures come from the Commons Library constituency workbook. This profile uses the person-level tables only; the workbook also contains separate household-level disability tables which are not used here. View disability source ↗
This constituency in Parliament
A high-confidence subset of current-session parliamentary records from this constituency's current MP where the full constituency name is stated explicitly in the written question, debate title or recorded section.
This is not a complete record of every local issue raised in Parliament. Project Open Gov does not currently infer a constituency connection from the MP relationship alone, speech text, nearby place names or other local entities.
Written question30 June 2026
Veterans: Government Assistance
Raised by Lloyd Hatton MP
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to support veterans in South Dorset constituency.
Open UK Government and Parliament petitions that have reached at least 10,000 signatures nationally, ranked here by the number of signatures recorded in this constituency.
Petition signatures are not a poll and do not show what the constituency as a whole thinks. A person can also sign more than one petition.
Open petitionCloses 13 October 2026
Introduce legislation to make it possible to renumerate emergency volunteers
Signature counts come from the official UK Government and Parliament petitions data and may change while a petition remains open. Browse official petitions ↗
Funding and local projects
National Lottery grants awarded to organisations recorded in this parliamentary constituency since 4 July 2024.
The constituency is based on the recipient organisation recorded in the source data. The funded activity may sometimes take place across a wider area.
Grants recorded34
Total awarded£1,461,061
Most recent awards
National Lottery grantAwarded 25 June 2026
Read Easy South Dorset; five more reading coaches for Weymouth.
Read Easy South Dorset
£2,768
The National Lottery Community Fund · Charitable and Community including Health, Education and Environment
About this award
Read Easy South Dorset - Other - National Lottery Awards for All England
National Lottery grantAwarded 11 June 2026
Creating a Community Museum for Weymouth
Weymouth Museum Trust
£136,161
The National Lottery Heritage Fund · Heritage
About this award
We want to establish a sustainable and successful museum for Weymouth, based in the historic heart of our vibrant town. The museum will showcase our rich and diverse social history, fine art, textile and maritime collections, which are currently at significant risk. We will create immersive and accessible interpretation within a landmark heritage building, which has previously been in a state of dereliction and is currently benefitting from £28 million of private sector investment. We will deliver an exciting visitor offer and community curated spaces which truly reflect, represent and celebrate the lived experiences of local people. Our legacy will be to establish Weymouth’s first, designed for purpose, community museum with cultural facilities and programming predicated on enriching the lives of our local residents to foster pride and belonging in Dorset Council’s largest and most demographically diverse urban conurbation.
National Lottery grantAwarded 9 June 2026
Extension 2027-28: b-side Multimedia Festival CIC
B-Side Multi Media Festival Community Interest Company
£143,906
Arts Council England · Arts
About this award
Extension 2027-28: b-side Multimedia Festival CIC - Combined arts - NPO 2023-26
National Lottery grantAwarded 22 May 2026
Family Matters Baby Bank (Refresh)
Refresh - Weymouth and Portland
£19,950
The National Lottery Community Fund · Charitable and Community including Health, Education and Environment
About this award
Refresh - Weymouth and Portland - Children & Young People - National Lottery Awards for All England
National Lottery grantAwarded 19 May 2026
Resurfacing of courts 3 and 4
Weymouth Lawn Tennis Club
£15,000
Sport England · Sport
About this award
The project will resurface two courts to increase and retain participation in tennis. When completed, the courts will be used for a range of activity for all ages, including walking tennis, coaching and matches. Funding will contribute to the total costs of the works.
29 more awards are available.
Source: DCMS National Lottery Grants Database. The figures shown cover awards from 4 July 2024 to 1 July 2026. View official grants data ↗
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