Eton and Slough
Former Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
Outline map
Boundary of Eton and Slough in Buckinghamshire, boundaries 1974-83
CountyBuckinghamshire
1950–1983
SeatsOne
Replaced bySlough, and Windsor and Maidenhead
1945–1950
SeatsOne
Type of constituencyCounty constituency
Created fromWycombe

Eton and Slough was a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first-past-the-post voting system.

History

The House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1944 set up Boundaries Commissions to carry out periodic reviews of the distribution of parliamentary constituencies. It also authorised an initial review to subdivide abnormally large constituencies in time for the 1945 election.[1] This was implemented by the Redistribution of Seats Order 1945 under which Buckinghamshire was allocated an additional seat. As a consequence, the new County Constituency of Eton and Slough was formed from the Wycombe constituency, comprising the Municipal Borough of Slough and the Urban and Rural Districts of Eton.

The constituency had some nationally known MPs: Fenner Brockway was a noted internationalist; Anthony Meyer, who later became MP for a constituency in Flintshire, Wales, challenged Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher as a "stalking horse" leadership candidate in 1989; and Joan Lestor, who later served as MP for Eccles, Greater Manchester, was a government minister and a founder of the anti-fascist newsletter Searchlight. The seat contained a prestigious public school (Eton College), yet had Labour MPs for most of its history, mostly because of the inclusion of the new town of Slough, which mainly voted for Labour. The sole occasion a Conservative MP won the seat, in 1964, it was represented by an Old Etonian, Anthony Meyer.

Boundaries and boundary changes

1945–1950

Eton and Slough was established as a county division of the administrative county of Buckinghamshire. It comprised the southernmost part of that county, consisting of:

1950–1983

Under the Representation of the People Act 1948, Eton and Slough became a borough constituency. The Municipal Borough of Slough and the Eton Urban District were retained, but Eton Rural District was transferred to the new South Buckinghamshire constituency.[2] There were no changes to the boundaries at the First or Second Periodic Reviews of Westminster constituencies.

There were considerable changes in English local government in 1974 with the areas forming the constituency being transferred from Buckinghamshire to Berkshire. However, there were no changes to parliamentary boundaries until 1983. In that year the constituency was abolished, with Eton becoming part of the Windsor and Maidenhead seat and Slough forming the new Slough constituency.

Members of Parliament

Election Member[3] Party
1945 Benn Levy Labour
1950 Fenner Brockway Labour
1964 Sir Anthony Meyer Conservative
1966 Joan Lestor Labour
1983 constituency abolished

Elections

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Eton and Slough[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Benn Levy 25,711 45.5
Conservative Edward Cobb 23,287 41.2
Liberal Aubrey Ward 7,487 13.3
Majority 2,424 4.3
Turnout 56,485 71.9
Registered electors 78,512
Labour win (new seat)

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Eton and Slough[5]
Party Candidate Votes %
Labour Fenner Brockway 19,987 48.5
Conservative Edward Cobb 15,594 37.8
Liberal Sinclair Charles Wood 5,026 12.2
Communist Peter Smith[6] 614 1.5
Majority 4,393 10.7
Turnout 41,221 85.7
Registered electors 48,401
Labour hold
General election 1951: Eton and Slough[5][7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Fenner Brockway 22,732 55.0 +6.5
Conservative Victor R Rees 18,648 45.0 +7.2
Majority 4,084 10.0 -0.7
Turnout 41,380 84.3 -1.4
Registered electors 49,071
Labour hold Swing
General election 1955: Eton and Slough[5][8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Fenner Brockway 20,567 53.2 -1.8
Conservative John Grant 18,124 46.8 +1.8
Majority 2,443 6.4 -3.6
Turnout 38,691 79.8 -4.5
Registered electors 48,459
Labour hold Swing -1.8
General election 1959: Eton and Slough[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Fenner Brockway 20,851 50.1 -3.1
Conservative John Page 20,763 49.9 +3.1
Majority 88 0.21 -6.2
Turnout 41,614 79.9 +0.1
Registered electors 52,114
Labour hold Swing -3.1

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Eton and Slough[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Anthony Meyer 22,681 50.1 +0.1
Labour Fenner Brockway 22,670 49.9 -0.1
Majority 11 0.2 N/A
Turnout 45,351 80.0 +0.1
Registered electors 56,725
Conservative gain from Labour Swing +0.1
General election 1966: Eton and Slough[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Joan Lestor 26,553 54.8 +4.9
Conservative Anthony Meyer 21,890 45.2 -4.9
Majority 4,663 9.6 N/A
Turnout 48,443 85.3 +5.3
Registered electors 56,795
Labour gain from Conservative Swing +4.9

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Eton and Slough[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Joan Lestor 24,103 49.2 -5.6
Conservative Nigel Lawson 21,436 43.8 -1.4
Liberal Peter G. D. Naylor 3,407 7.0 New
Majority 2,667 5.4 -4.2
Turnout 48,946 77.9 -7.4
Registered electors 62,875
Labour hold Swing -1.5
General election February 1974: Eton and Slough[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Joan Lestor 22,919 45.0 -4.2
Conservative S. Dolland 16,028 31.5 -12.3
Liberal Philip Goldenberg 10,051 19.8 +12.8
National Front A. P. Coniam 1,541 3.0 New
Ind. Conservative S. H. Crevald 344 0.7 New
Majority 6,891 13.5 +8.1
Turnout 50,883 80.6 +2.7
Registered electors 63,167
Labour hold Swing
General election October 1974: Eton and Slough[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Joan Lestor 22,238 47.9 +2.9
Conservative S. Dolland 14,575 31.4 -0.1
Liberal Philip Goldenberg 8,213 17.7 -2.1
National Front A. P. Coniam 1,241 2.7 -0.3
Independent John E. Renton 120 0.3 New
Majority 7,663 16.5 +3.0
Turnout 46,387 72.7 -7.9
Registered electors 63,794
Labour hold Swing
General election 1979: Eton and Slough
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Joan Lestor 20,710 42.6 -5.3
Conservative Christopher Ward 19,370 39.8 +8.4
Liberal Philip Goldenberg 5,254 10.8 -6.9
Ind. Conservative George Brooker 2,359 4.9 New
National Front D. Jones 943 1.9 -0.8
Majority 1,340 2.8 -13.7
Turnout 48,636 74.9 +2.2
Registered electors 64,916
Labour hold Swing

References

  1. ^ Gay, Oonagh (28 July 2010). "The Rules for the Redistribution of Seats- history and reform". ((cite journal)): Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  2. ^ a b Youngs, Frederic A Jr. (1979). Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Vol.I: Southern England. London: Royal Historical Society. pp. 714–715. ISBN 0-901050-67-9.
  3. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "E" (part 2)
  4. ^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i British Parliamentary Election Results 1950–1974
  6. ^ Walker, Michael. "Peter Leonard Niall Smith". Hayes People History. Archived from the original on 20 April 2017. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
  7. ^ The Times Guide to the House of Commons. 1951.
  8. ^ The Times Guide to the House of Commons. 1955.
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