Coordinates: 50°43′N 1°59′W / 50.717°N 1.983°W / 50.717; -1.983

Poole ⁱ/puːl/ is a large coastal town and seaport in the county of Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is 33 kilometres (21 mi) east of Dorchester, and Bournemouth adjoins Poole to the east. The local council is Borough of Poole and was made a unitary authority in 1997, gaining administrative independence from Dorset County Council. The borough had a population of 147,645 according to the 2011 census, making it the second largest settlement in Dorset. Together with Bournemouth and Christchurch, the town forms the South East Dorset conurbation with a total population of over 465,000.

Human settlement in the area dates back to before the Iron Age. The earliest recorded use of the town's name was in the 12th century when the town began to emerge as an important port, prospering with the introduction of the wool trade. In later centuries the town had important trade links with North America and at its peak in the 18th century it was one of the busiest ports in Britain. During the Second World War, the town was one of the main departing points for the D-Day landings of the Normandy Invasion.

Poole is a surname, and may refer to:

Poole is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 1997 by Robert Syms, a Conservative.

History

The first version of the Poole constituency existed from 1455 until 1885. During this period its exact status was a parliamentary borough, sending two burgesses to Westminster per year, except during its last 17 years when its representation was reduced to one member.

During its abeyance most of Poole was in the East Dorset seat and since its recreation in 1950 its area has been reduced as the harbour town's population has increased.

Boundaries

Parliament accepted the Boundary Commission's Fifth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies which slightly altered this constituency for the 2010 general election since which it has electoral wards:

Constituency profile

The borough is an economically very diverse borough. In the centre and north are a significant minority of Output Areas which in 2001 had high rankings in the Index of Multiple Deprivation, contributing in 2012 with the remainder to producing for Poole the highest unemployment of the constituencies in the county. However, Canford Cliffs is epitomised by one sub-neighbourhood, Sandbanks with its multi-million pound properties, the coastline area has been dubbed as "Britain's Palm Beach" by the national media. Alongside oil extraction, insurance, care, retail and customer service industries choosing the town as their base tourism contributes to overall a higher income than the national average, however the divergence is not statistically significant and the size of homes varies extensively.