Christchurch, previously one of the 10 safest Conservative seats in Britain, made its mark on electoral history in a by-election on 29 July 1993 in which a Conservative majority of 23,000 was turned into a Liberal Democrat one of over 16,000 votes.
Although the Conservatives failed to regain by-election losses such as Newbury and Eastleigh, former minister Christopher Chope beat Diana Maddock here by 2,165 votes.
The constituency covers much more than the town of Christchurch itself.
To the north west of the town are such centres as Hurn, Ferndown and Verwood on the northern boundary. The seat includes Bournemouth's International Airport and there are some defence-related industries based here.
It is predominantly a retirement area, over one third of the population was of retirement age in the 1991 census. Owner occupation is over 85%, a proportion only exceeded by six constituencies.
As part of an earlier Bournemouth seat, it was represented by Nigel Nicholson during the 1950s.
From February 1974 the constituency was represented by Sir Robert Adley, his sudden death in May 1993 causing the by-election.