Slough

[Merseymike]

Ok. I'll do Slaaaaagh. My sister lives there and I know it reasonably well.

[Merseymike]

On being selected for Eccles for the 1987 election after losing the marginal Slough seat where she had been MP, Joan Lestor remarked that Eccles was a safe seat, something ‘Slough could never be’. Yet now, Slough is remarkable in being a safe Labour seat in one of the Home Counties, albeit far from the bucolic image that might be formed from that location. Amusingly, Slough had remained a Labour seat for most of the post-war era when paired with Eton, but when the stand-alone seat based just on the borough was created in 1983, the Conservatives won, and continued to hold the seat until 1997. But since then Labour have never looked like losing – their weakest result was in 2010 where the majority slipped to 5,523, but the last two elections have seen five figure majorities and 63 and 57 % vote shares for Labour and its MP, Tan Dhesi, the first turbaned Sikh in the House of Commons.

Slough’s population, though not yet its electorate, sees it classed as a ‘minority-majority’ seat, and with the Sikh population at 10% of the population, is one of the highest concentrations of Sikhs outside the Punjab. The Muslim, mostly British-born population is the fastest growing. The seat consists of wards entirely within the borough of Slough, and all but one ward of the borough are in this seat. The changing ethnic mix of the borough has meant that some of the central wards which were once Tory-leaning, are now strongly Labour, and other wards with large ethnic minority populations are also safely Labour at local level. The wards where the Conservatives are most competitive are the safe Haymill and Lynch Hill ward, where they hold all three councillors and the two Langley wards and Upton, which are nevertheless Labour other than in a good year for the Tories. All of those wards are whiter, though in the case of Langley, not necessarily more middle class. The remainder of the wards are effectively safe Labour at a local level, and in recent elections, nationally as well.

Undoubtedly the changing ethnic make-up of Slough has had an influence on its politics. Its days as a marginal suggested that there was a strong presence of working class Conservatives in the seat, and the wards where they remain in contention suggest that has not changed, but that the greater propensity of the BME population to vote Labour both locally and nationally has and continues to provide Labour with its comfortable majority. Slough is not a pretty place – it is one of the few places whose industrial estate runs through the centre of the town – and it has a very workmanlike and functional ‘feel’. Indeed, it is far more like some of its nearby London seats in its composition. Its politics are likely to be closer to the Labour seats of west London, than the nearby Berks and Bucks seats , for the foreseeable future

[bjornhattan]

May 20, 2020 12:40:13 GMT Merseymike said:

On being selected for Eccles for the 1987 election after losing the marginal Slough seat where she had been MP, Joan Lestor remarked that Eccles was a safe seat, something ‘Slough could never be’. Yet now, Slough is remarkable in being a safe Labour seat in one of the Home Counties, albeit far from the bucolic image that might be formed from that location. Amusingly, Slough had remained a Labour seat for most of the post-war era when paired with Eton, but when the stand-alone seat based just on the borough was created in 1983, the Conservatives won, and continued to hold the seat until 1997. But since then Labour have never looked like losing – their weakest result was in 2010 where the majority slipped to 5,523, but the last two elections have seen five figure majorities and 63 and 57 % vote shares for Labour and its MP, Tan Dhesi, the first turbaned Sikh in the House of Commons.

Slough’s population, though not yet its electorate, sees it classed as a ‘minority-majority’ seat, and with the Sikh population at 10% of the population, is one of the highest concentrations of Sikhs outside the Punjab. The Muslim, mostly British-born population is the fastest growing. The seat consists of wards entirely within the borough of Slough, and all but one ward of the borough are in this seat. The changing ethnic mix of the borough has meant that some of the central wards which were once Tory-leaning, are now strongly Labour, and other wards with large ethnic minority populations are also safely Labour at local level. The wards where the Conservatives are most competitive are the safe Haymill and Lynch Hill ward, where they hold all three councillors and the two Langley wards and Upton, which are nevertheless Labour other than in a good year for the Tories. All of those wards are whiter, though in the case of Langley, not necessarily more middle class. The remainder of the wards are effectively safe Labour at a local level, and in recent elections, nationally as well.

Undoubtedly the changing ethnic make-up of Slough has had an influence on its politics. Its days as a marginal suggested that there was a strong presence of working class Conservatives in the seat, and the wards where they remain in contention suggest that has not changed, but that the greater propensity of the BME population to vote Labour both locally and nationally has and continues to provide Labour with its comfortable majority. Slough is not a pretty place – it is one of the few places whose industrial estate runs through the centre of the town – and it has a very workmanlike and functional ‘feel’. Indeed, it is far more like some of its nearby London seats in its composition. Its politics are likely to be closer to the Labour seats of west London, than the nearby Berks and Bucks seats , for the foreseeable future

The only thing that might be worth mentioning is that the whitest ward in the borough is actually fairly safely Labour - this is Britwell (or Britwell and Northborough). They don't just have strength in the town's more diverse areas.

It might also be worth mentioning the Leave vote - not huge by any stretch of the imagination but larger than any other seat in Berkshire or Buckinghamshire (except possibly for Bracknell).

[Merseymike]

May 20, 2020 16:08:19 GMT bjornhattan said:

May 20, 2020 12:40:13 GMT Merseymike said:

On being selected for Eccles for the 1987 election after losing the marginal Slough seat where she had been MP, Joan Lestor remarked that Eccles was a safe seat, something ‘Slough could never be’. Yet now, Slough is remarkable in being a safe Labour seat in one of the Home Counties, albeit far from the bucolic image that might be formed from that location. Amusingly, Slough had remained a Labour seat for most of the post-war era when paired with Eton, but when the stand-alone seat based just on the borough was created in 1983, the Conservatives won, and continued to hold the seat until 1997. But since then Labour have never looked like losing – their weakest result was in 2010 where the majority slipped to 5,523, but the last two elections have seen five figure majorities and 63 and 57 % vote shares for Labour and its MP, Tan Dhesi, the first turbaned Sikh in the House of Commons.

Slough’s population, though not yet its electorate, sees it classed as a ‘minority-majority’ seat, and with the Sikh population at 10% of the population, is one of the highest concentrations of Sikhs outside the Punjab. The Muslim, mostly British-born population is the fastest growing. The seat consists of wards entirely within the borough of Slough, and all but one ward of the borough are in this seat. The changing ethnic mix of the borough has meant that some of the central wards which were once Tory-leaning, are now strongly Labour, and other wards with large ethnic minority populations are also safely Labour at local level. The wards where the Conservatives are most competitive are the safe Haymill and Lynch Hill ward, where they hold all three councillors and the two Langley wards and Upton, which are nevertheless Labour other than in a good year for the Tories. All of those wards are whiter, though in the case of Langley, not necessarily more middle class. The remainder of the wards are effectively safe Labour at a local level, and in recent elections, nationally as well.

Undoubtedly the changing ethnic make-up of Slough has had an influence on its politics. Its days as a marginal suggested that there was a strong presence of working class Conservatives in the seat, and the wards where they remain in contention suggest that has not changed, but that the greater propensity of the BME population to vote Labour both locally and nationally has and continues to provide Labour with its comfortable majority. Slough is not a pretty place – it is one of the few places whose industrial estate runs through the centre of the town – and it has a very workmanlike and functional ‘feel’. Indeed, it is far more like some of its nearby London seats in its composition. Its politics are likely to be closer to the Labour seats of west London, than the nearby Berks and Bucks seats , for the foreseeable future

The only thing that might be worth mentioning is that the whitest ward in the borough is actually fairly safely Labour - this is Britwell (or Britwell and Northborough). They don't just have strength in the town's more diverse areas.

It might also be worth mentioning the Leave vote - not huge by any stretch of the imagination but larger than any other seat in Berkshire or Buckinghamshire (except possibly for Bracknell).

Indeed - and for quite a few years that ward was represented by Independent councillors as well. Until 1983 it was actually in the Beaconsfield constituency making up much of that seats Labour vote nationally

[Merseymike]

May 20, 2020 20:28:57 GMT @barnabymarder said:

Also some mention of industry might be good - it is quite an industrial seat especially by southern standards.

I mentioned the industrial estate running through the town...thing is it doesn't have any one dominant industry. The local rag used to use a strapline for prospective advertisers of "prosperous industrial Slough"

[Adam in Stroud]

May 20, 2020 23:31:47 GMT @barnabymarder said:

true enough. I actually picketed a bubble gum factory when Joan Lestor was the MP, they were striking for union recognition (they won). I think at the time confectionary was quite a big thing in the town, perhaps it's less so now.

You used to be able to smell the (Slough) Mars factory in Uxbridge when I was a kid (1970s), when the wind was in the right direction. A friend of mine still cannot face a Waggon Wheel as his mum worked in the factory and free ones were a staple part of his childhood diet.

Maybe we should have a thread for constituencies with famous/notorious confectionery factories - Mars in Slough, Swizzells Matlow in High Peak, and UmBongo in Westmoreland and Lonsdale spring to mind

[Adam in Stroud]

Is it worth mentioning that Alan Johnson was a former resident of Slough, not so much for himself but because he was typical of a migration of white working class residents of the poorer parts of West London (North Kensington, Paddington etc) to the council estates of Britwell etc in Slough?

I've always presumed that the strong Sikh presence is the result of a similar migration from Southall

[Merseymike]

May 21, 2020 7:28:49 GMT Adam in Stroud said:

Is it worth mentioning that Alan Johnson was a former resident of Slough, not so much for himself but because he was typical of a migration of white working class residents of the poorer parts of West London (North Kensington, Paddington etc) to the council estates of Britwell etc in Slough?

I've always presumed that the strong Sikh presence is the result of a similar migration from Southall

You are right about the Britwell ( it's always 'the')
But no, it's the proximity of the airport which made Slough a home for Sikh immigrants, every bit as much as Southall.

[Delighted Of Tunbridge Wells]

Stats update :
Owner-occupied - 53.0%, 560/650
Private rented - 23.7%, 77/650
Social rented - 21.0%, 189/650
White - 45.1%, 631/650
Black - 8.7%, 54/650
Asian - 40.3%, 14/650
Managerial & professional - 26.0%
Routine & Semi-routine - 26.7%
Degree level - 25.9%, 319/650
No qualifications - 20.3%, 447/650
Students - 9.6%, 158/650
Age 65+ - 9.2%, 623/650

[Robert Waller]

2021 Census

Owner occupied 49.6% 498/573
Private rented 30.6% 63/573 large increase since 2011
Social rented 19.8% 159/573
White 35.5%
Black 7.6%
Asian 47.2%
White British 23.6%
'White Other' 10.8%
Muslim 30.1% 19/650
(2011 Muslim 23.8% 18/650)
Managerial & professional 27.3% 431/573
Routine & Semi-routine 24.8% 252/573
Degree level 34.9% 203/573
No qualifications 20.3% 184/573

[Pete Whitehead]

Berkshire is entitled to nine seats and a new seat is created in the centre of the county, in the Reading suburbs. Most of the remaining constituencies remain more or less intact but with varying degrees of changes to accomodate the new seat.
Slough itself is well over-quota and donates two wards to Windsor in the form of Foxborough and Langley Kederminster. These wards are, on aggregate, a little whiter and a little more Conservative than Slough as a whole but still would have put Labour clearly ahead. Thus the result is a reduced numberical majority but a slightly increased percentage lead


Notional result 2019 on the proposed new boundaries

Lab	26677	58.1%
Con	14081	30.7%
LD	2925	6.4%
BxP	1302	2.8%
Grn	942	2.1%
Oth		0.0%
Majority	12596	27.4%