With the UK heading back to the polls on December 12, we have taken a look at what has happened in recent votes in Bournemouth.

We will be running profiles on Poole, Christchurch and South Dorset this week as well.

How many constituencies are there?

There are two parliamentary constituencies which are in or cross over into Bournemouth: Bournemouth East and Bournemouth West. They both elected Conservative MPs in the last general election, held in June 2017, Tobias Ellwood in Bournemouth East and Conor Burns in Bournemouth West.

The Conservatives took the largest share of the vote; 52.7% in total, ahead of Labour with 35.8% and the Lib Dems with 6.5%.

This contrasted with the picture in the European Parliament elections this May, the most recent occasion on which the country went to the polls, when the Brexit Party took 42.0% of the vote in Bournemouth's local authority area, the largest share.

The Lib Dems finished second, with 21.3%, and the Greens third with 15.1%.

The South West – the EU constituency in which Bournemouth lies – returned three Brexit Party MEPs, two Liberal Democrat and one Green to Brussels in May.

Bournemouth Echo:

Are people in Bournemouth actually voting?

Turnout was much lower in those elections – while 63.0% of the electorate came out to vote across the two constituencies in 2017, just 35.9% did in the local authority for the European Parliament elections this year.

So what about Brexit?

Well, many commentators think that a decision between leaving and remaining in the European Union will form the basis for many voters’ choices in polling booths this year, rather than traditional party lines.

The Brexit referendum in 2016 brought more voters to the polls across the UK than any referendum or general election in 24 years. In Bournemouth, 69.3% of the electorate voted, with a majority in favour of leaving the EU, with 54.9% of the vote.

The EU Referendum result in Bournemouth in June 2016

Remain: 41,473 (45.1%)

Leave: 50,453 (54.9%)

Bournemouth Echo:

The vote share for the top three parties in each constituency in June 2017

Bournemouth East

Conservative: 25,221 votes (51.9%)

Labour: 17,284 (35.6%)

Liberal Democrats: 3,168 (6.5%)

The vote share for the top three parties in each constituency in June 2017

Bournemouth West

Conservative: 23,812 (53.5%)

Labour: 16,101 (36.2%)

Liberal Democrats: 2,929 (6.6%)

Top three parties in Bournemouth for the European Parliament in May

The Brexit Party: 42.0%

The Lib Dems: 21.3%

The Greens: 15.1%