Acton was a

constituency An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

of the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace ...

, created for the 1918 general election. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the

first-past-the-post First-past-the-post (FPTP)—also called choose-one, first-preference plurality (FPP), or simply plurality—is a single-winner voting rule. Voters mark one candidate as their favorite, or First-preference votes, first-preference, and the cand ...

system of

election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...

Boundaries and boundary changes

1918–1945

''The constituency was formed entirely from the existing constituency of

Ealing Ealing () is a district in west London (sub-region), west London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. It is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Pl ...

1945–1974

''The constituency was subject to minor boundary changes.''

1974–1983

''Wards to the west were transferred from the abolished constituency of Ealing South as well as minor parts of Ealing North.''

History

The seat was created by the

Representation of the People Act 1918 The Representation of the People Act 1918 ( 7 & 8 Geo. 5. c. 64) was an act of Parliament passed to reform the electoral system in Great Britain and Ireland. It is sometimes known as the Fourth Reform Act. The act extended the franchise in pa ...

which increased the number of seats where population had expanded such as in

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

due to the conurbation growing around the

County of London The County of London was a county of England from 1889 to 1965, corresponding to the area known today as Inner London. It was created as part of the general introduction of elected county government in England, by way of the Local Government A ...

. It was based on the town of Acton. The seat consisted of the Acton Urban District which became a

Municipal Borough A municipal borough was a type of local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of ...

in 1921. A redistribution of Parliamentary seats, which took effect at the

1950 United Kingdom general election The 1950 United Kingdom general election was the first to be held after a full term of a majority Labour Party (UK), Labour government. The general election was held on Thursday 23 February 1950, and was also the first to be held following the a ...

made no change to the boundaries; its legislation, affecting election expenses and returning officer re-classified, the seat as a borough constituency. In 1965 the area became part of the

London Borough of Ealing The London Borough of Ealing () is a London boroughs, London borough in London, England. It comprises the districts of Acton, London, Acton, Ealing, Greenford, Hanwell, Northolt, Perivale and Southall. With a population of 367,100 inhabitants, i ...

and

Greater London Greater London is an administrative area in England, coterminous with the London region, containing most of the continuous urban area of London. It contains 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs, which form a Ceremonial count ...

. In the redistribution which took effect at the February 1974 general election, the seat to the west, Ealing South, was abolished and this seat absorbed most of its area to reach the electoral quota, it having been heavily

underweight An underweight person is a person whose body weight is considered too low to be healthy. A person who is underweight is malnourished. Assessment The body mass index, a ratio of a person's weight to their height, has traditionally been used t ...

in electorate. The seat in statute and statutory instrument became variously Ealing: Acton and/or simply Acton where under a heading of London Borough of Ealing. From the review effective from the election of 1983 it became Ealing Acton. ;Components *1918–74: Acton M.B. Note per the

London Government Act 1963 The London Government Act 1963 (c. 33) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which created Greater London and a new local government structure within it. The Act significantly reduced the number of local government districts in the ...

the Metropolitan Borough ceased to exist in 1965, its functions being replaced by the larger London Borough of Ealing. *1974–83: Six wards (the old area plus the centre of the new larger borough, further west), namely: **The London Borough of Ealing wards: Central, East, Hanger Hill, Heathfield, Southfield and Springfield.Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1970 (S.I. 1970 number 1674), Sch 2 (list of contents of new seats) at page 5491 (or 48 of 76) The change was extension, along all of the former western edge.

Members of Parliament

Elections

Elections in the 1910s

Elections in the 1920s

Elections in the 1930s

Elections in the 1940s

Elections in the 1950s

Elections in the 1960s

Elections in the 1970s

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Acton (Uk Parliament Constituency) Parliamentary constituencies in London (historic) Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1918 Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 1983 History of the London Borough of Ealing Politics of the London Borough of Ealing Acton, London