# 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 |
| 1945 | Benn Levy | Labour |
| 1950 | Fenner Brockway | Labour |
| 1964 | Sir Anthony Meyer | Conservative |
| 1966 | Joan Lestor | Labour |
| 1983 | constituency abolished | constituency abolished |

## Elections
### Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Eton and Slough :
| Party | 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 | Majority | Majority | 2,424 | 4.3 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 56,485 | 71.9 | |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 78,512 | | |
| | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) |

### Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Eton and Slough :
| Party | 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 | 614 | 1.5 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 4,393 | 10.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 41,221 | 85.7 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 48,401 | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Labour hold | Labour hold |
* This constituency underwent boundary changes between the 1945 and 1950 general elections and thus calculation of change in vote share is not meaningful.
General election 1951: Eton and Slough :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Fenner Brockway | 22,732 | 55.0 | +6.5 |
| | Conservative | Victor R Rees | 18,648 | 45.0 | +7.2 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 4,084 | 10.0 | −0.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 41,380 | 84.3 | −1.4 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 49,071 | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
General election 1955: Eton and Slough :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Fenner Brockway | 20,567 | 53.2 | −1.8 |
| | Conservative | John Grant | 18,124 | 46.8 | +1.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,443 | 6.4 | −3.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 38,691 | 79.8 | −4.5 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 48,459 | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | -1.8 | |
General election 1959: Eton and Slough :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Fenner Brockway | 20,851 | 50.1 | −3.1 |
| | Conservative | John Page | 20,763 | 49.9 | +3.1 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 88 | 0.21 | −6.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 41,614 | 79.9 | +0.1 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 52,114 | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | -3.1 | |

### Elections in the 1960s

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

### Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Eton and Slough :
| Party | 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 | Majority | Majority | 2,667 | 5.4 | −4.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 48,946 | 77.9 | −7.4 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 62,875 | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | -1.5 | |
General election February 1974: Eton and Slough :
| Party | 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 | Majority | Majority | 6,891 | 13.5 | +8.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 50,883 | 80.6 | +2.7 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 63,167 | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
General election October 1974: Eton and Slough :
| Party | 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 | Majority | Majority | 7,663 | 16.5 | +3.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 46,387 | 72.7 | −7.9 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 63,794 | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
General election 1979: Eton and Slough :
| Party | 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 | Majority | Majority | 1,340 | 2.8 | −13.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 48,636 | 74.9 | +2.2 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 64,916 | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |