THE Bournemouth West constituency has been in existence since 1950, yet in that time has had just four Members of Parliament – all of them Conservative.

Viscount Cranborne held the newly-created seat from 1950-1954, before two long-serving incumbents spanned the next 56 years.

John Eden, now Lord Eden, held the seat for the Tories from 1954 until 1983. Sir John Butterfill was then Bournemouth West’s representative until 2010.

Five years ago, Conor Burns again kept the seat for the Conservatives and is hoping to be returned once more in May.

He went to Westminster in 2010 with a 5,583 majority.

Five years ago the boundaries were changed and the constituency currently includes areas that fall under both Bournemouth Borough Council and Borough of Poole.

Along with Bournemouth town centre, Kinson, Redhill and Northbourne, Talbot and Branksome Woods, Wallisdown and Winton, Westbourne and the West Cliff, Alderney and Branksome East all fall into its boundaries.

That means it is a patch of contrasts, from leafy areas such as Talbot Woods to areas of deprivation such as Rossmore.

According to the Office for National Statistics, the average house price in Bournemouth West is £190,000 and 69.1 per cent of those aged 16-64 are employed.

The unemployment rate among over-16s is 6.1 per cent and the average personal income is £19,100.

Of the total population, 18.9 per cent is aged over 65 and 20.1 per cent of people claim a state pension.

And most people are healthy – 80.1 fall into the ‘general good health’ category.

Bournemouth University, which has around 17,000 students, also falls into the constituency, making it a seat with one of the higher proportions of students in the country.

At the 2011 census, the seat’s population was 98,968 and the latest electorate figure is 72,714.

Probably the biggest issue in the constituency is the planned Navitus Bay wind farm development.

The council, along with Conor Burns, has come out strongly against the development, fearing a huge impact on tourism.

The possible impacts of the scheme have come to the fore more and more during the last Parliament and a decision is due to be made later this year.

Among the other local issues at the moment is development, with Bournemouth town centre seeing plenty of it – including the new Hilton hotels, the Citrus building at Horseshoe Common and new student blocks at Madeira Road.

The university continues to expand as well, with new buildings going up at the Wallisdown campus.