and boundary changes The constituency covers the town of Windsor and various portions of the surrounding area, in Berkshire. Before 1868: The parliamentary borough of New Windsor was based upon the easternmost town in Berkshire in South East England, which grew up around Windsor Castle and the narrowly defined electorate could also vote for the county representatives. The north boundary of the constituency was on the River Thames, which was then the border between Buckinghamshire which had a seat of the same name and Berkshire, likewise the rest of the borough adjoined the Berkshire county constituency. 1868–1918: The boundaries of the parliamentary borough were extended by the Parliamentary Boundaries Act 1868 (31 & 32 Vict., c. 46) to include the villages of Clewer and Eton (the latter being in Buckinghamshire, north of the Thames). Between 1885 and 1918 the seat to the north of the Thames was the Wycombe division of Buckinghamshire and the other neighbouring constituency was the Wokingham division of Berkshire. 1918–1950: The parliamentary borough was abolished by the Representation of the People Act 1918 and replaced by a county division named Windsor. The local government areas (as they existed in 1918) which comprised the constituency were the Municipal Boroughs of New Windsor and Maidenhead, with the Rural Districts of Cookham, Easthampstead, Windsor and a part of Wokingham. The new constituency comprised the bulk of the abolished Wokingham division, including Maidenhead and rural areas surrounding Windsor and Maidenhead, but excluding the Municipal Borough of Wokingham itself, and incorporating the abolished Borough, with the exception of Eton, which was added to the Wycombe division of Buckinghamshire. 1950–1974: The constituency was reduced in size by the Representation of the People Act 1948, comprising the Municipal Boroughs of New Windsor and Maidenhead, with the Rural Districts of Cookham and Windsor. Rural areas, including the Rural District of Easthampstead (which incorporated Bracknell) were transferred to the re-established County Constituency of Wokingham. For the February 1974 general election, the constituency was abolished and renamed Windsor and Maidenhead, with no changes to its boundaries; this area plus Eton, which was transferred from Buckinghamshire, became the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead established under the Local Government Act 1972. 1997–2010: For the 1997 general election, in order to effect an increase in Berkshire's representation from 7 to 8 MPs in accordance with the Fourth Periodic Review of Westminster Constituencies, the Windsor and Maidenhead constituency was