| Honorific Prefix: | Councillor |
| Sam Carling | |
| Parliament: | United Kingdom |
| Constituency Mp: | North West Cambridgeshire |
| Term Start: | 4 July 2024 |
| Predecessor: | Shailesh Vara |
| Majority: | 39 (0.1%) |
| Office2: | Member of Cambridge City Council for West Chesterton |
| Term Start2: | 9 May 2022 |
| Birth Name: | Samuel Carling |
| Birth Place: | County Durham, England |
| Party: | Labour |
| Alma Mater: | Christ's College, Cambridge (BA) |
Samuel Carling (born 2002) is a British politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for North West Cambridgeshire since 2024. He is the first British parliamentarian to be born in the 21st century. By convention, as the youngest member of Parliament, he is accorded the honorary style of Baby of the House.[1] Carling has represented the ward of West Chesterton on Cambridge City Council since 2022.
Samuel Carling was born in 2002[2] and raised in Crook, County Durham. He described his background as being from "a totally apolitical family, in quite a deprived part of the north east of England".
Originally from Bishop Auckland, Carling completed his GCSEs at Wolsingham School before attending sixth form at Barnard Castle School, an independent boarding school in County Durham, with an academic scholarship.[3] He achieved five A* A-level grades and an Extended Project Qualification.[4] The cancellation of some A-level exams during the COVID-19 pandemic sparked Carling's interest in politics,[5] which developed at university and inspired him to run for elected office.[6]
While at Barnard Castle School, Carling received the Salters–Nuffield Prize[7] for "exceptional performance in biology" from the Worshipful Company of Salters with an essay entitled "Could carbon quantum dots have applications in bioimaging?"
Aged 18, Carling then went up to read natural sciences at Christ's College, where he became actively involved in Cambridge University politics. A staff writer for Varsity,[8] Carling served as president of Cambridge Students' Union and co-chairman of the Cambridge University Labour Club, before being elected an Officer of the Cambridge Union[9] and then as a member of the Cambridge University Council.[10] In 2023, he graduated with first-class honours and became an undergraduate tutor.[11]
While studying for a Master of Philosophy (MPhil) postgraduate degree at Cambridge,[12] Carling was elected to Parliament in 2024,[13] the academic year having only just ended. Carling remains a student in the Department of Pathology as a biomedical researcher.[14] [15]
In 2022, while still a second-year undergraduate, Carling ran on the Labour slate for election to Cambridge City Council to represent the ward of West Chesterton.[13] At the local elections held on 5 May 2022, Carling narrowly defeated incumbent Liberal Democrat councillor Jamie Dalzell,[16] increasing Labour's majority on Cambridge City Council with the Liberal Democrats losing three seats and the Greens gaining one. Carling became the first Cambridge student in memory to successfully contest a City Council seat.[17] He was re-elected at the 2024 Cambridge City Council election. During his tenure, Carling held the office of Executive Councillor for Open Spaces and City Services,[18] and was a member of the Skills Committee of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority for two years. He was an advocate of improvements to adult education and transport throughout Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.[19]
At the 2024 general election, Carling successfully contested the constituency of North West Cambridgeshire for the Labour Party. Campaigning for better public services,[20] he defeated incumbent Conservative MP Shailesh Vara being returned to Parliament by a narrow margin of 39 votes, verified by a recount.[21] [22] The seat had been held by the Conservatives since its creation in 1997.[23] At the age of 22, he was the youngest MP elected at the 2024 election and became Baby of the House.[2] [23] Carling is the first British MP to be born in the 21st century.[24] He is the Labour Party's joint-youngest MP, tied with Malcolm Macmillan, who was elected at the same age in 1935.[25] Carling announced his intention to step down as a Cambridge city councillor as soon as a by-election could reasonably be held and, in the following week on 18 July, he resigned from the council's cabinet.[26] On 24 July 2024, Carling made his maiden speech in a debate on education and opportunity.[27]
In an interview with The Times, Carling described himself as a member of the LGBT community. He further stated: "I don't see any reason why I won't re-stand. But I'm 22, and I don't intend to be in the House of Commons for 40 years. I will come out and do something else eventually."[28]