When David Cameron said “it’s great to be here in Slough” at the start of his pro-EU campaign, he was interrupted by hoots of laughter.

Sir John Betjeman Photograph: Ian Dickson/Rex/Shutterstock

Such is the effect of the town’s name, made famous – or infamous – by the former poet laureate Sir John Betjeman and the Ricky Gervais television comedy The Office. Now Slough is going through one of its periodic debates about whether to change its unloved name.



The latest name-changing initiative comes from Hamzah Ahmed, an 18-year-old resident and member of the UK youth parliament. “After the EU referendum, I think the council should give people a choice of whether they agree that the town’s name should be changed,” he told the Slough Express.



Ahmed believes the “social stigma” attached to the town’s name is holding it back. “The council is investing millions of pounds into regeneration projects so I was wondering whether it is something Slough borough council is considering.”

The stigma has persisted for decades. In 1937, Betjeman heaped abuse on the town with his poem Slough, which began: “Come friendly bombs and fall on Slough!”

But the council has brushed off the idea of a renaming, saying the town’s name has done it no harm at all.

“We have more corporate headquarters here than Wales and Scotland put together,” said Kate Pratt, a spokeswoman for the council who has lived in Slough since 2000. “People come to Slough from across the world and the name doesn’t make it difficult at all.”

Pratt also pointed out that changing the names of the town and the borough would be a “colossal expense” at a time of austerity. “We’d rather invest in infrastructure than in changing the name,” she said.

An online poll revealed that local opinion was split, with 42% of people backing the bid to change the town’s name. Hamzah has put forward Upton as an alternative – the name of one of the oldest parts of the town.

Originally recorded as Slo in 1196, the town was also known as Le Slowe, Slowe or Slow. The first references to Slough appeared in the mid-15th century. The name is thought to be derived from part of the parish called the Slow field, or slough (a mire or morass) because of the wet soil.

If Slough renames itself, it would be following the example of Staines-upon-Thames, which changed its name from Staines in 2012 after it became indelibly associated with Sacha Baron Cohen’s comic creation Ali G.

Slough borough council, however, was proudly defiant. “We are Slough, fame and infamy alike. And, as is often quoted, ‘it is better to be talked about than not talked about’.”