Eton and Slough (UK Parliament constituency)

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. 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:

• The Municipal Borough of Slough;
• The Urban District of Eton; and
• The Rural District of Eton.

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. 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	Party
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1945	Benn Levy	Labour
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1950	Fenner Brockway	Labour
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1964	Sir Anthony Meyer	Conservative
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1966	Joan Lestor	Labour
	1983	constituency abolished

Elections

Elections in the 1940s

Template:Election box winning candidate with party link

General election 1945: Eton and Slough

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Edward Cobb	23,287	41.2
		Aubrey Ward	7,487	13.3
Majority			2,424	4.3
Turnout			56,485	71.9
Registered electors			78,512
	win (new seat)

Elections in the 1950s

Template:Election box majority no changeTemplate:Election box registered electors no change

General election 1950: Eton and Slough

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
		Fenner Brockway		48.5
		Edward Cobb		37.8
		Sinclair Charles Wood		12.2
		Peter Smith		1.5
Turnout			41,221	85.7
	hold

• This constituency underwent boundary changes between the 1945 and 1950 general elections and thus calculation of change in vote share is not meaningful.

Template:Election box winning candidate with party linkTemplate:Election box Registered electors

General election 1951: Eton and Slough

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Victor R Rees	18,648	45.0
Majority			4,084	10.0
Turnout			41,380	84.3
	hold		Swing

Template:Election box winning candidate with party linkTemplate:Election box Registered electors

General election 1955: Eton and Slough

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		John Grant	18,124	46.8
Majority			2,443	6.4
Turnout			38,691	79.8
	hold		Swing	-1.8

Template:Election box winning candidate with party linkTemplate:Election box Registered electors

General election 1959: Eton and Slough

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		John Page	20,763	49.9
Majority			88	0.21
Turnout			41,614	79.9
	hold		Swing	-3.1

Elections in the 1960s

Template:Election box winning candidate with party linkTemplate:Election box Registered electors

General election 1964: Eton and Slough

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Fenner Brockway	22,670	49.9
Majority			11	0.2
Turnout			45,351	80.0
	gain from Template:Yesno		Swing	+0.1

Template:Election box winning candidate with party linkTemplate:Election box Registered electors

General election 1966: Eton and Slough

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Anthony Meyer	21,890	45.2
Majority			4,663	9.6
Turnout			48,443	85.3
	gain from Template:Yesno		Swing	+4.9

Elections in the 1970s

Template:Election box winning candidate with party linkTemplate:Election box Registered electors

General election 1970: Eton and Slough

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Nigel Lawson	21,436	43.8
		Peter G. D. Naylor	3,407	7.0
Majority			2,667	5.4
Turnout			48,946	77.9
	hold		Swing	-1.5

Template:Election box winning candidate with party linkTemplate:Election box Registered electors

General election February 1974: Eton and Slough

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		S. Dolland	16,028	31.5
		Philip Goldenberg	10,051	19.8
		A. P. Coniam	1,541	3.0
		S. H. Crevald	344	0.7
Majority			6,891	13.5
Turnout			50,883	80.6
	hold		Swing

Template:Election box winning candidate with party linkTemplate:Election box Registered electors

General election October 1974: Eton and Slough

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		S. Dolland	14,575	31.4
		Philip Goldenberg	8,213	17.7
		A. P. Coniam	1,241	2.7
		John E. Renton	120	0.3
Majority			7,663	16.5
Turnout			46,387	72.7
	hold		Swing

Template:Election box winning candidate with party linkTemplate:Election box Registered electors

General election 1979: Eton and Slough

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Christopher Ward	19,370	39.8
		Philip Goldenberg	5,254	10.8
		George Brooker	2,359	4.9
		D. Jones	943	1.9
Majority			1,340	2.8
Turnout			48,636	74.9
	hold		Swing

References

• Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885–1972, compiled and edited by F. W. S. Craig (Political Reference Publications, 1972) Template:ISBN
• British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (The Macmillan Press, revised edition, 1977) Template:ISBN
• British Parliamentary Election Results 1950–1973, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Research Services, 2nd edition, 1983) Template:ISBN
• British Parliamentary Election Results 1974–1983, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Research Services 1984) Template:ISBN