Cambridge (UK Parliament constituency)

Cambridge is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Daniel Zeichner of the Labour Party.

Centred on the university city of Cambridge, it is one of the country's oldest continuously constituted constituencies. It was created in 1295 and returned two Members of Parliament (MPs) and was represented in the House of Commons of England until 1707, then in the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800, and then in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1885. From 1885 onwards, the seat has elected one MP.

It was held by the Conservatives from 1967 to 1992, since which time it has been represented alternately by both Labour and the Liberal Democrats.

In the 2016 referendum to leave the European Union, the constituency voted 73.8% to remain.

Constituency profile

The Cambridge constituency covers the majority of the city of Cambridge in the East of England, except some outlying suburbs. Cambridge is a historic settlement dating back to Roman times and was traditionally an important market town supporting trade between London and East Anglia. The city is a popular tourist destination and was described by Forbes as one of the "most beautiful cities in the world". It is known for the University of Cambridge, which consistently ranks as one of the best universities in the world.

Compared to national averages, residents of Cambridge are considerably younger and have low levels of marriage and homeownership. Residents are highly educated and more likely to work in professional jobs. Income and house prices are high. Parts of the city are in the 10% least-deprived areas in England, although there is some deprivation in the Chesterton suburban area. White people make up 75% of the population with Asians being the largest ethnic minority group at 14%. Cambridge has the highest proportion of Chinese people (4.3%) in the country outside the City of London. At the county and city council levels, the city is represented by a mixture of Liberal Democrat, Labour Party and Green Party councillors. In the 2016 referendum on European Union membership, an estimated 75% of voters in the constituency supported remaining in the European Union, one of the top 20 highest rates out of 650 constituencies nationwide. These were generally townsmen who were involved in local government, with at least sixty mayors of Cambridge having served as MP by 1621. Zeichner went on to hold the seat at the 2017 and 2019 elections with comfortable majorities.

;Most recent results of other parties

In 2015, three other parties' candidates kept their deposits, by winning more than 5% of the vote. In order of public preference, these candidates stood for the Conservatives, Green Party and UKIP, respectively.

;Turnout since 1918

Turnout at general elections has ranged between 86.48% in 1950 to 60.6% in 2001.

Boundaries and boundary changes

1868–1918

The Borough of Cambridge, plus the village of Chesterton.

1918–1950

The Borough of Cambridge.

Under the Representation of the People Act 1918, the boundaries were expanded to align with those of the Municipal Borough, incorporating further parts of the former Urban District of Chesterton to the north, and the parish of Cambridge Without to the south.

1950–1983

The Borough of Cambridge, but with redrawn boundaries.

The Queen Edith's and Trumpington wards were included in South West Cambridgeshire (South Cambridgeshire from 1997).

2010–2024

The City of Cambridge wards of Abbey, Arbury, Castle, Cherry Hinton, Coleridge, East Chesterton, King's Hedges, Market, Newnham, Petersfield, Romsey, Trumpington, and West Chesterton.

Trumpington ward returned from South Cambridgeshire.

2024–present

Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, which came into effect for the 2024 general election, the composition of the constituency was reduced in size with the transfer of the Cherry Hinton ward to South Cambridgeshire.

Members of Parliament

Constituency created (1295)

MPs 1386–1660

Elections in (brackets) are by-elections.

{| class="wikitable"

!Parliament!!First member!!Second member

|1386|| Robert Brigham|| John Herries

|Feb 1388|| John Cotton|| John Camp

|1515||

|1523||

|1529|| rowspan="4" | Thomas Brakyn|| rowspan="3" | Robert Chapman

|1562–1563|| Henry Serle

|!!1st Party!!colspan="2"|2nd Member

| 1754

|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |

| Hon. Thomas Bromley

| Whig

| 1755

|rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background-color: " |

|rowspan="2"| Charles Cadogan

|rowspan="2"| Tory

|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |

| Thomas Spring Rice

| Whig

| 1852

|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |

| Kenneth Macaulay

| Conservative

|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |

| John Harvey Astell

| Conservative

| March 1853

|colspan="6" | Writ suspended

| 1854

|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |

| Robert Adair

| Radical

|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |

| Francis Mowatt

| Radical

| 1857

|rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background-color: " |

|rowspan="2"| Kenneth Macaulay

|rowspan="2"| Conservative

|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |

| Andrew Steuart

| Conservative

| 1863

|rowspan="3" style="color:inherit;background-color: " |

|rowspan="3"| Francis Powell

|rowspan="3"| Conservative

| 1865

|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |

| William Forsyth

| Conservative

| 1866

|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |

| John Eldon Gorst

| Conservative

| 1868

|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |

| Robert Torrens

| Liberal

|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |

| William Fowler

| Liberal

| 1874

|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |

| Alfred Marten

| Conservative

|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |

| Patrick Smollett

| Conservative

| 1880

|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |

| William Fowler

| Liberal

|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |

| Hugh Shield

| Liberal

| 1885

|colspan="6"| representation reduced to one member

MPs since 1885

{| class="wikitable"

!colspan="2"|Election!!Member!!Party

|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |

| 1885

| Robert Uniacke-Penrose-Fitzgerald

| Conservative

|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |

| 1906

| Stanley Buckmaster

| Liberal

|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |

| Jan 1910

| Almeric Paget

| Conservative

|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |

| 1917 by-election

| Sir Eric Geddes

| Coalition Conservative

|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |

| 1922 by-election

| Sir George Newton

| Conservative

|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |

| 1934 by-election

| Richard Tufnell

| Conservative

|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |

| 1945

| Arthur Symonds

| Labour

|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |

| 1950

| Sir Hamilton Kerr, Bt.

| Conservative

|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |

| 1966

| Robert Davies

| Labour

|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |

| 1967 by-election

| David Lane

| Conservative

|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |

| 1976 by-election

| Robert Rhodes James

| Conservative

|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |

| 1992

| Anne Campbell

| Labour

|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |

| 2005

| David Howarth

| Liberal Democrat

|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |

| 2010

| Julian Huppert

| Liberal Democrat

|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |

| 2015

| Daniel Zeichner

| Labour

Elections

{| class="toccolours" align="left"

2010s – 2000s – 1990s – 1980s – 1970s – 1960s – 1950s – 1940s – 1930s – 1920s – 1910s – 1900s – 1890s – 1880s – 1870s – 1860s– 1850s– 1840s– 1830s– 1820s– 1810s– 1800s– 1790s– 1780s– 1770s– 1760s– 1750s– Back to Top

thumb|centre|upright=2.5|Cambridge election results 1900-2024

Performance of political parties in graphical format

This table shows parties' election performance in this seat in graphical format. Cells are shaded by party. The percentage share of the vote that each party gained is indicated by the number in each cell and is also proportional to the height of each cell. The winning party in each election is indicated by a percentage score in bold and by a shaded cell (corresponding to that party's colour) above the header row.

{| class="wikitable"

| style="color:inherit;background:" |

!64

!66

!67

!70

! 74

! 76

! 79

! 83

! 87

! 92

! 97

! 01

! 05

! 10

! 15

! 17

! 19

! 24

| rowspan="43" bgcolor="" |43

| rowspan="52" bgcolor="" |52

| rowspan="55" bgcolor="" |55

| rowspan="40" bgcolor="" |40

| rowspan="41" bgcolor="" |41

| rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background:" |

| rowspan="46" bgcolor="" |46

| rowspan="42" bgcolor="" |42

| rowspan="40" bgcolor="" |40

| rowspan="39" bgcolor="" |39

| style="color:inherit;background:" |

| rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background:" |

| rowspan="5" bgcolor="" | 5

| rowspan="16" bgcolor="" |16

| rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background:" |

| rowspan="12" bgcolor="" |12

| rowspan="3" style="color:inherit;background:" |

| style="color:inherit;background:" |

| rowspan="17" bgcolor="" |17

| rowspan="51" bgcolor="" |51

| rowspan="23" bgcolor="" |23

| rowspan="26" bgcolor="" |26

| rowspan="16" bgcolor="" |16

| rowspan="26" bgcolor="" |26

| rowspan="16" bgcolor="" |16

| rowspan="20" bgcolor="" |20

| rowspan="30" bgcolor="" |30

| rowspan="44" bgcolor="" |44

| rowspan="30" bgcolor="" |30

| rowspan="35" bgcolor="" |35

| rowspan="25" bgcolor="" |25

| rowspan="39" bgcolor="" |39

| rowspan="16" bgcolor="" |16

| rowspan="47" bgcolor="" |47

| rowspan="16" bgcolor="" rowspan="20" |20

| rowspan="26" bgcolor="" |26

| rowspan="31" bgcolor="" |31

| rowspan="21" bgcolor="" |21

| rowspan="30" bgcolor="" |30

| rowspan="16" bgcolor="" |16

| rowspan="10" bgcolor="" |10

| rowspan="17" bgcolor="" |17

| rowspan="53" bgcolor="" |53

| rowspan="52" bgcolor="" |52

| rowspan="48" bgcolor="" |48

| rowspan="45" bgcolor="" |45

| rowspan="12" bgcolor="" |12

| rowspan="46" bgcolor="" |45

| rowspan="18" bgcolor="" |18

| rowspan="45" bgcolor="" |45

| rowspan="36" bgcolor="" |36

| rowspan="41" bgcolor="" |40

| rowspan="40" bgcolor="" |40

| rowspan="36" bgcolor="" |36

| rowspan="34" bgcolor="" |34

| rowspan="37" bgcolor="" |37

| rowspan="36" bgcolor="" |36

| rowspan="33" bgcolor="" |33

| rowspan="24" bgcolor="" |24

| rowspan="26" bgcolor="" |26

| rowspan="28" bgcolor="" |28

| rowspan="16" bgcolor="" |16

| rowspan="8" bgcolor="" |8

| rowspan="3" style="color:inherit;background:" |

| rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background:" |

| rowspan="3" style="color:inherit;background:" |

| rowspan="4" style="color:inherit;background:" |

| style="color:inherit;background:" |

| rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background:" |

| style="color:inherit;background:" |

Elections in the 2020s

Elections in the 2010s

{| class="wikitable"

! colspan="4" | 2019 notional result

! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="130px" colspan="2" | Party

! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="50px" | Vote

! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="30px" | %

| Labour ||align=right| 23,600 ||align=right| 47.4

| Liberal Democrats ||align=right| 15,501 ||align=right| 31.2

| Conservative ||align=right| 7,344 ||align=right| 14.8

| Green ||align=right| 2,068 ||align=right| 4.2

| Brexit Party ||align=right| 958 ||align=right| 1.9

| Others ||align=right| 269 ||align=right| 0.5

|colspan="4" bgcolor="#EAECF0"|

|colspan="2"|Turnout

|align=right|49,740

|align=right|68.6

|colspan="2"|Electorate

|align=right|72,560

Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 1990s

Elections in the 1980s

Elections in the 1960s

{| class="toccolours" align="left"

Elections in the 1950s

{| class="toccolours" align="left"

Elections in the 1940s

{| class="toccolours" align="left"

Elections in the 1930s

{| class="toccolours" align="left"

Elections in the 1920s

{| class="toccolours" align="left"

thumb|120px|Fowler

Elections in the 1870s

{| class="toccolours" align="left"

Previous election declared void on petition, due to bribery and treating.

Elections in the 1830s

{| class="toccolours" align="left"

By-election triggered by the elevation to the peerage of Thomas Spring Rice as Lord Monteagle of Brandon.