| North West Cambridgeshire | |
| Electorate: | 73,556 (2023)[1] |
| Parliament: | uk |
| Type: | County |
| Region: | England |
| Year: | 1997 |
| County: | Cambridgeshire |
| Previous: | Huntingdon, Peterborough |
North West Cambridgeshire is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom since 2024 by Sam Carling of the Labour Party. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.
This seat includes a substantial part of the cathedral city of Peterborough, specifically the suburban areas to the south of the river Nene and west of the Soke Parkway, as well as several rural wards from the historic county of Huntingdonshire.
The London Road home of Peterborough United F.C. is located within the seat.
The seat was won upon its creation in 1997 by Sir Brian Mawhinney, former Conservative MP for Peterborough (which was gained at the same election by the Labour Party). He retired from the House of Commons in 2005 and was created Baron Mawhinney, of Peterborough in the county of Cambridgeshire. The Conservative Shailesh Vara represented the constituency since the 2005 general election until 2024. The seat changed hands to Labour's Sam Carling in the 2024 United Kingdom general election. [2]
Liam Round was selected to be the Brexit Party candidate, but he withdrew on 10 November.[3] Peterborough City Councillor Ed Murphy was chosen as the Labour Party candidate, but was deselected by the party on 14 November after it was alleged, but not proven, that he had published tweets vilifying Israel.[4]
The constituency was formed primarily from northern, rural parts of the Huntingdon constituency, including Ramsey, together with parts of Peterborough, comprising residential areas to the south of the River Nene (wards of Fletton, Orton Longueville, Orton Waterville and Stanground).
Following their review of parliamentary representation in Cambridgeshire in 2005, the Boundary Commission for England made minor alterations to the existing constituencies to deal with population changes, including a small further gain from Huntingdon. There were also marginal changes to take account of the redistribution of City of Peterborough wards. These changes increased the electorate from 69,082 to 73,648.[7] On the enumeration date of 17 February 2000, the electoral quota for England was 69,934 voters per constituency.
Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the constituency, previously the highest populated in the United Kingdom, was downsized. This was also due to population growth in the middle and south of Cambridgeshire, necessitating the creation of the new St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire seat, with the Huntingdon constituency absorbing many of Huntingdonshire District Council wards.[8]
From the 2024 United Kingdom general election, the constituency will be composed of the following wards (as they existed on 1st December 2020):
There are 33 council seats across the new constituency, 25 Unitary Authority Councillors (Peterborough), 8 Huntingdonshire Councillors.
Conservative 17 (9 in Peterborough, 8 in Huntingdonshire); Labour 2 (both in Peterborough); Liberal Democrat 3 (all in Peterborough); Green 3 (all in Peterborough); Independent 9 (8 in Peterborough, 1 in Huntingdonshire).
| Election | Member | Party | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| part of Huntingdon and Peterborough prior to 1997 | ||||
| 1997 | Sir Brian Mawhinney | Conservative | ||
| 2005 | Shailesh Vara | Conservative | ||
| 2024 | Sam Carling | Labour | ||
| 2019 notional result[11] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Vote | % | |
| 28,201 | 60.0 | ||
| 11,169 | 23.7 | ||
| 5,173 | 11.0 | ||
| 2,464 | 5.2 | ||
| 25 | 0.1 | ||
| Turnout | 47,032 | 63.9 | |
| Electorate | 73,556 | ||