Slough Borough Council elections

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Slough is a district in the South East England Region. Slough Borough Council is normally elected by thirds, with Councillors serving a four-year term. The Borough Council is a unitary authority.

Slough local government historical summary

Slough has been a local government area since 1863.

  1. Local board of health 1863 – 1894 (a)
  2. Urban District Council 1894 – 1938
  3. Municipal Borough Council 1938 – 1974
  4. Borough Council: (Non-metropolitan district) 1973 – 1998 (b)
  5. Borough Council: (Unitary authority) 1997 – (c)

Notes:-

  • (a) Became an urban sanitary authority in 1875.
  • (b) Shadow authority 1973–1974.
  • (c) Shadow authority 1997–1998.

The Borough is currently divided into fourteen wards of which thirteen elect three members and one returns two. The area was last re-warded in 2004.

Other local elections in Slough

Eton Union Board of Guardians

The parish of Upton-cum-Chalvey was, for poor law purposes, included in the Eton Poor Law Union and represented on its Board of Guardians from 1835. This was the first partially elected local government body including a portion of the area which now forms the modern Borough. The whole parish (which included roughly the modern wards of Central, Chalvey and Upton) elected one Guardian, later rising to two (until 1874) and three thereafter.

Some other parishes, now wholly or partially in the present Borough, were also part of the Eton Union. Langley Marish, to the east of Upton-cum-Chalvey, elected two Guardians in 1835. Wexham to the north had one representative on the Board, as did Stoke Poges (to the north-west), Farnham Royal and Burnham (both to the west).

In 1894, with the establishment of civil parishes and Urban District Councils, Upton-cum-Chalvey was for civil purposes reduced to the part of the traditional parish not then included in Slough (approximately the modern Chalvey ward). It continued to send two members to the Board of Guardians, who also served on the Eton Rural District Council (the part of Eton Union not included in an Urban District Council), until the area was incorporated in Slough Urban District in 1900.

The Slough Urban District area elected two members of the Board of Guardians from 1894 until 1901, when the expanded Urban District returned four Guardians. In 1907 Slough was given six seats on the Board. This representation continued until 1930, when the poor law Unions and Boards of Guardians were abolished and their functions transferred to County Councils.

Buckinghamshire County Council

When elected County Councils were introduced in 1889 Slough returned one County Councillor. In 1904 the enlarged Slough was split into three single-member County Electoral Divisions.

Following the expansion of Slough in 1930–1931 (incorporating approximately the modern Baylis & Stoke ward to the north and the modern Farnham, Haymill, Cippenham Green and Cippenham Meadows wards to the west) the Urban District (from 1938 the Municipal Borough) of Slough continued to be represented in the County Council until the reorganisation of local government led to the abolition of the first Buckinghamshire County Council in 1974.

Buckinghamshire County Electoral Divisions in Slough 1889–1974

  • 1889–1904 1
  • 1904–1931 3
  • 1931–1934 4
  • 1934–1952 6
  • 1952–1974 9

Slough and Upton-cum-Chalvey civil parishes

In 1894 the Slough urban sanitary district became a distinct civil parish, as did the rest of Upton-cum-Chalvey. The civil parish of Slough was the same year converted to Slough Urban District.

Upton-cum-Chalvey civil parish elected an eleven-member Parish Council, which administered the area until the merger with Slough in 1900. The western part of the Langley Marish area (the whole of which is now approximately the three wards of Foxborough, Kedermister and Langley St Mary's) was also incorporated in the expanded Urban District. The rest of Langley was not added to Slough until the 1930–31 boundary changes.

Berkshire County Council

From 1973 (on a shadow basis) and 1 April 1974 (All Fools Day) (as the substantive County Council) until it was abolished in 1998, Slough was represented on Berkshire County Council. The Borough had expanded again in 1973, to incorporate Britwell and Wexham Court parishes.

Berkshire County Electoral Divisions in Slough 1973–1998

  • 1973–1985 12 (including one three-member division)
  • 1985–1998 11

Modern Parishes in Slough

Slough includes three parish areas within its territory, although most of the borough is unparished.

The parishes of Britwell (the north-west of the Borough, forming part of Britwell ward) and Wexham Court (in the north-east of the Borough, comprising part of Wexham Lea ward) were incorporated in Slough from 1973.

The parish of Colnbrook with Poyle, in the east of the Borough, was the last addition to the Slough local government area from 1 April 1995. The parish and the borough ward of the same name have identical boundaries.

Borough elections from 1997

All English local elections to fill one seat are conducted by the first past the post system. Polls to fill two or more places use the bloc vote method, where each elector has the same number of votes as the vacancies to be filled. The voter is free to cast one vote for each of a number of individual candidates equal to the number of vacancies or fewer if preferred.

The Slough Council election, 1997 was a whole Council election for a new authority. It was the 114th Slough General local council election (including both elections by thirds and whole Council elections).

Fourteen members (who received the highest vote in each ward) were elected for a full four-year term, fourteen members (who finished second in each ward) were to serve for three years and the remaining thirteen Councillors (who had finished third in all the wards except for the two member Colnbrook with Poyle ward) were given two-year terms.

The 1997 election took place at the "wrong" point in the normal Borough election cycle. Special arrangements were needed to preserve the usual pattern of a third of the Council being elected for four-year terms in each of the non-County Council election years. 1997 was a year when English County Council elections took place. To put Slough back on the normal election cycle it was intended that Councillors elected in 1999, 2000 and 2001 should serve three-year terms and their successors be elected for four years. This plan was disrupted by the re-warding of Slough.

The whole Council election in 2004 (which followed the re-warding of the town as proposed by a report to the Electoral Commission of June 2002) was the 120th Slough General local council election. The 121st election took place on 4 May 2006, electing a third of the Council for a four-year term.

Political control

Party in control Years
Independent 1863–1946
No overall control 1946–1952
Labour 1952–1955
No overall control 1955–1956
Labour 1956–1967
Conservative 1967–1972
Labour 1972–1976
Conservative 1976–1979
No overall control 1979–1983
Labour 1983–2004
No overall control 2004–2008
Labour 2008–present

Election results by party from 1997

Election Results 1997–2008
Party 1997 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008
Conservative 4 4 (6) 3 (8) 1 (7) 1 (6) 4 (6) 9 1 (5) 3 (7) 3 (6)
Labour 34 9 (32) 6 (26) 12 (27) 10 (27) 6 (26) 15 8 (18) 7 (19) 8 (23)
Liberal Democrat 0 0 (0) 1 (1) 0 (1) 0 (1) 1 (1) 6 1 (5) 1 (4) 1 (3)
Others 3 1 (3) 4 (6) 1 (6) 3 (7) 3 (8) 11 3 (13) 3 (11) 3 (9)
Total Seats 41 14 (41) 14 (41) 14 (41) 14 (41) 14 (41) 41 13 (41) 14 (41) 15 (41)

Note: The 1997 and 2004 elections were for the whole Council. For other elections the overall total, after the election, is given in brackets.

Slough Council elections links from 1997

By-election results from 1997

For elections to fill casual vacancies held at the same time as a general election of a third of Councillors see the relevant Council election article.

  • Resignation of Mrs B.L. Lopez (Labour)
Kedermister By-Election 7 December 1997
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour D.A. Hewitt 442 60.22 N/A
Conservative Mrs M.E. Collins 206 28.07 N/A
Liberal Democrat P.L. Bayliss 86 11.72 N/A
Majority 236 32.15 N/A
Turnout 4,858 15.11 N/A
Labour hold Swing N/A
  • Death of M.G. Long (Conservative)
Upton By-Election 4 February 1999
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Mrs J.T. Long 799 59.85 N/A
Labour B.B. Mittal 352 26.37 N/A
Liberal Democrat Mrs S.A. Jenkins 68 5.09 N/A
P.P. Whitmore 60 4.49 N/A
Independent Labour D.A.J. Alford 36 2.70 N/A
Liberal P.E. Bradshaw 20 1.50 N/A
Majority 447 33.48 N/A
Turnout 4,931 27.07 N/A
Conservative hold Swing N/A
  • Death of Mrs Mavis L. Gallick (Britwellian)
Britwell By-Election 18 October 2002
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Britwellian Patrick Shine 488 53.80 N/A
Labour Ms May Dodds 262 28.89 N/A
Britwellian O. Isemia 157 24.92 N/A
Majority 226 32.15 N/A
Turnout 6,376 14.26 N/A
Britwellian gain from Britwellian Swing N/A
  • Death of Dennis McCarthy (Labour)
Britwell By-Election 13 February 2003
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Britwellian Paul Janik 539 63.49 +9.69
Labour Ms J.R. Rock 310 36.51 +7.62
Majority 229 26.97 -5.18
Turnout 6,319 13.50 -0.76
Britwellian gain from Labour Swing N/A
  • Resignation of Mrs P.F. Key (Independent Langley Residents)
Langley St. Mary's By-Election 16 November 2006
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Diana Victoria Coad 805 50.50 +13.79
Labour Sharanjeet Kaur Sandhu 682 42.79 +6.42
Independent Dominic James Ashford 107 6.71 +0.72
Majority 123 7.72 +7.37
Turnout ... 29.97 -8.49
Conservative gain from Ind. Langley Res. Swing N/A

References

  • Local newspapers (1863-date) and Slough Borough Council documents at the Robert Taylor Library in Slough

External links

  • [1] link to Slough Borough Council site
  • [2] The Boundary Committee for England page about Slough Unitary Authority, with links to pre and post 2004 ward maps
  • [3] Eton Poor Law Union
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