Parliamentary constituencies in Cambridgeshire
The ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire (which includes the area of the Peterborough unitary authority) is divided into seven parliamentary constituencies. There are two borough constituencies and five county constituencies, which each elect one Member of Parliament to represent it in the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
Constituencies
† Conservative ‡ Labour ¤ Liberal Democrat
| Constituency[nb 1] | Electorate[1] | Majority[nb 2][2] | Member of Parliament | Nearest opposition[nb 3] | Electoral wards[3][4] | Map | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cambridge BC | 83,384 | 599 | bgcolor=Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color| | Daniel Zeichner ‡ | bgcolor=Template:Liberal Democrats/meta/color| | Julian Huppert ¤ | Cambridge City Council: Abbey, Arbury, Castle, Cherry Hinton, Coleridge, East Chesterton, King’s Hedges, Market, Newnham, Petersfield, Romsey, Trumpington, West Chesterton. |  |
| Huntingdon CC | 82,593 | 19,403 | bgcolor=Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color| | Jonathan Djanogly † | bgcolor=Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color| | Nik Johnson ‡ | Huntingdonshire District Council: Alconbury and The Stukeleys, Brampton, Buckden, Fenstanton, Godmanchester, Gransden and The Offords, Huntingdon East, Huntingdon North, Huntingdon West, Kimbolton and Staughton, Little Paxton, St Ives East, St Ives South, St Ives West, St Neots Eaton Ford, St Neots Eaton Socon, St Neots Eynesbury, St Neots Priory Park, The Hemingfords. |  |
| North East Cambridgeshire CC | 82,999 | 16,874 | bgcolor=Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color| | Stephen Barclay † | bgcolor=Template:United Kingdom Independence Party/meta/color| | Andrew Charalambous | East Cambridgeshire District Council: Downham Villages, Littleport East, Littleport West, Sutton. Fenland District Council: Bassenhally, Benwick, Coates and Eastrea, Birch, Clarkson, Delph, Doddington, Elm and Christchurch, Hill, Kingsmoor, Kirkgate, Lattersey, Manea, March East, March North, March West, Medworth, Parson Drove and Wisbech St Mary, Peckover, Roman Bank, St Andrews, St Marys, Slade Lode, Staithe, The Mills, Waterlees, Wenneye, Wimblington. |
 |
| North West Cambridgeshire CC | 92,159 | 19,795 | bgcolor=Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color| | Shailesh Vara † | bgcolor=Template:United Kingdom Independence Party/meta/color| | Peter Reeve | Peterborough City Council: Barnack, Fletton, Glinton and Wittering, Northborough, Orton Longueville, Orton Waterville, Orton With Hampton, Stanground Central, Stanground East. Huntingdonshire District Council: Earith, Ellington, Elton and Folksworth, Ramsey, Sawtry, Somersham, Stilton, Upwood and The Raveleys, Warboys and Bury, Yaxley and Farcet. |
 |
| Peterborough BC | 72,530 | 1,925 | bgcolor=Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color| | Stewart Jackson † | bgcolor=Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color| | Lisa Forbes ‡ | Peterborough City Council: Bretton North, Bretton South, Central, Dogsthorpe, East, Eye and Thorney, Newborough, North, Park, Paston, Ravensthorpe, Walton, Werrington North, Werrington South, West. |  |
| South Cambridgeshire CC | 84,132 | 20,594 | bgcolor=Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color| | Heidi Allen † | bgcolor=Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color| | Dan Greef ‡ | Cambridge City Council: Queen Edith’s. South Cambridgeshire District Council: Bar Hill, Barton, Bassingbourn, Bourn, Caldecote, Comberton, Cottenham, Duxford, Fowlmere and Foxton, Gamlingay, Girton, Hardwick, Harston and Hauxton, Haslingfield and The Eversdens, Longstanton, Melbourn, Meldreth, Orwell and Barrington, Papworth and Elsworth, Sawston, Swavesey, The Abingtons, The Mordens, The Shelfords and Stapleford, Whittlesford. |
 |
| South East Cambridgeshire CC | 84,570 | 16,837 | bgcolor=Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color| | Lucy Frazer † | bgcolor=Template:Liberal Democrats/meta/color| | Jonathan Chatfield ¤ | East Cambridgeshire District Council: Bottisham, Burwell, Cheveley, Dullingham Villages, Ely East, Ely North, Ely South, Ely West, Fordham Villages, Haddenham, Isleham, Soham North, Soham South, Stretham, The Swaffhams. South Cambridgeshire District Council: Balsham, Fulbourn, Histon and Impington, Linton, Milton, Teversham, The Wilbrahams, Waterbeach, Willingham and Over. |
 |
Boundary changes
The 2007 report of the Boundary Commission for England retained the same seven constituencies that had existed since the 1997 election, with minor boundary changes to align with current local government wards and to better equalise the electorates. These changes were implemented at the United Kingdom general election, 2010.
| Name | Boundaries 1997 – 2010 | Boundaries 2010 – present | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cambridge BC |  |
 |
| 2 | Huntingdon CC | ||
| 3 | North East Cambridgeshire CC | ||
| 4 | North West Cambridgeshire CC | ||
| 5 | Peterborough BC | ||
| 6 | South Cambridgeshire CC | ||
| 7 | South East Cambridgeshire CC |
Election results
| 1997 | 2001 | 2005 | 2010 | 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
|
The total number of votes cast for each political party or individual candidate who fielded candidates in constituencies within Cambridgeshire in the 2010 general election were as follows;
| Party | Votes | Votes% | Seats |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conservatives | 169,389 | 45.0 | 6 |
| Liberal Democrats | 109,159 | 29.0 | 1 |
| Labour | 60,983 | 16.2 | |
| UKIP | 19,288 | 5.1 | |
| Greens | 6,784 | 1.8 | |
| Independents | 5,034 | 1.3 | |
| English Democrats | 2,564 | 0.7 | |
| BNP | 1,747 | 0.5 | |
| Monster Raving Loony | 548 | 0.1 | |
| Christian Peoples Alliance | 489 | 0.1 | |
| TUSC | 362 | 0.1 | |
| Animal Protection Party | 181 | 0.0 | |
| Total | 376,528 | 100.0 | 7 |
Former constituencies
Cambridge has been continuously represented in Parliament since 1295. The remainder of the county was represented by Cambridgeshire from 1290 to 1885, returning two members prior to 1832 and three members from 1832 to 1885. The county was divided in 1885 between the single member divisions of Chesterton, Newmarket and Wisbech. Cambridgeshire was recreated as a single member constituency in 1918 but did not cover the administrative county of Isle of Ely, which was now represented by the Isle of Ely constituency. Both Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely were abolished in 1983, and replaced with North East Cambridgeshire, South East Cambridgeshire and South West Cambridgeshire. The latter was abolished in 1997 to form the new constituency of South Cambridgeshire.
Additionally, Cambridge University returned two Members of Parliament from 1603 to 1950. However it was not a geographic area and instead represented the graduates of the university.
Huntingdonshire, historically a county in its own right, returned two members from the Huntingdonshire constituency from 1290 and two members from Huntingdon from 1295 until 1868 when representation from the latter was reduced to one member. In 1885 the county was divided between the two single member divisions of Huntingdon and Ramsey. Huntingdonshire was recreated in 1918 as a single member constituency and was renamed Huntingdon in 1983. The historic county was again divided in 1997 when North West Cambridgeshire was created.
Peterborough was historically a part of Northamptonshire. Some parts of the modern-day constituencies of North West Cambridgeshire and Peterborough were represented as part of Northamptonshire prior to 1832, followed by North Northamptonshire until 1918 when that constituency was abolished and merged into the Peterborough constituency.
| 1290 – 1295 | 1295 – 1541 | 1541 – 1603 | 1603 – 1885 | 1885 – 1918 | 1918 – 1950 | 1950 – 1983 | 1983 – 1997 | 1997 – present | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cambridgeshire | 1290 – 1885 | 1918 – 1983 | |||||||
| Huntingdonshire | 1290 – 1885 | 1918 – 1983 | |||||||
| Cambridge | 1295 – present | ||||||||
| Huntingdon | 1295 – 1918 | 1983 – present | |||||||
| Peterborough | 1541 – present | ||||||||
| Cambridge University | 1603 – 1950 | ||||||||
| Chesterton | 1885 – 1918 | ||||||||
| Newmarket | 1885 – 1918 | ||||||||
| Ramsey | 1885 – 1918 | ||||||||
| Wisbech | 1885 – 1918 | ||||||||
| Isle of Ely | 1918 – 1983 | ||||||||
| South West Cambridgeshire | 1983 – 1997 | ||||||||
| North East Cambridgeshire | 1983 – present | ||||||||
| South East Cambridgeshire | 1983 – present | ||||||||
| North West Cambridgeshire | 1997 – present | ||||||||
| South Cambridgeshire | 1997 – present | ||||||||
Historical representation by party
Where a cell is marked --> (with a different colour background to the preceding cell) it indicates that the previous MP continued to sit under a new party name.
1885 to 1918 (6 MPs)
1918 to 1983 (4 MPs)
1983 to present (6, then 7 MPs)
Notes
- ^ BC denotes borough constituency, CC denotes county constituency.
- ^ The majority is the number of votes the winning candidate receives more than their nearest rival.
- ^ As of the 2010 general election.
References
- ^ "2015 Electorates".
- ^ Results of the 2010 general election, BBC News
- ^ "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 2007, page 4". Office of Public Sector Information. Crown copyright. 13 June 2007. Retrieved 7 November 2009.
- ^ Boundary Commission for England pp. 1004–1007