Voter power index for Dorset West
Rank #168 of 650
Voter power in Dorset West
0.486
Constituency marginality
Marginal
In Dorset West, one person does not really have one vote, they have the equivalent of 0.486 votes.
The power of voters in this constituency is based on the probability of the seat changing hands and its size.
While you might think that every vote counts equally, where you live in the UK has a huge effect on your power to influence the election.
How does Dorset West compare?
Voters in Dorset West have 1.59x more voting power than the UK average.
Average UK voter power
0.305
The average UK voter only has the power of 0.305 votes. This is because most of us live in safe seats, where the outcome is pretty much certain regardless of how we vote.
Dorset West ranks #168 out of 650 constituencies in the Voter Power Index.
UK constituency marginality
We can be almost certain that 60% of seats will NOT change hands in the general election (very safe or ultra safe seats).
Further information
Marginality
The more times a seat changes hands, the more marginal it is deemed to be.
- 1997 Con
- 2001 Con
- 2005 Con
- 2010 Con
Constituency size
+11.34%
This constituency is bigger than average, which means a voter here is less likely to affect the national result.
Number of voters: 77,624
Average constituency: 69,718
2010 election data
52% of votes discarded
52.40% of those who voted in Dorset West in 2010 did not vote for the winning candidate. These votes count for nothing in the First Past the Post system.
2010 General Election result
Winner takes all
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The Voter Power Index is based on research by NEF (the New Economics Foundation)
If the UK had a proportional voting system:
- We would no longer have safe seats
- The power of votes would be much more equal
- All areas of the UK would have equal power to decide the outcome of the election
- Politicians would not be able to win an election by tailoring all their policies to a narrow section of the population