Sam Carling | |
---|---|
![]() Official portrait, 2024 | |
Member of Parliament for North West Cambridgeshire | |
Assumed office 4 July 2024 | |
Preceded by | Shailesh Vara |
Majority | 39 (0.1%) |
Member of Cambridge City Council for West Chesterton | |
In office 9 May 2022 –1 May 2025 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Samuel Carling 2002 (age 22–23) County Durham,England |
Political party | Labour |
Alma mater | Christ's College,Cambridge (BA) |
Website | samcarling |
Samuel Carling (born 2002) is a British Labour 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. [1] By convention,as the youngest member of Parliament,he is accorded the honorary style of Baby of the House. [2] [3] Carling represented the ward of West Chesterton on Cambridge City Council from 2022 until 2025. [4] [5]
Samuel Carling was born in 2002 [6] and raised in Crook,County Durham. [7] He described his background as being from "a totally apolitical family,in quite a deprived part of the north east of England". [2] Carling grew up as a Jehovah's Witness. [8]
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. [9] He achieved five A* A-level grades and an Extended Project Qualification. [10] The cancellation of some A-level exams during the COVID-19 pandemic sparked Carling's interest in politics, [11] which developed at university and inspired him to run for elected office. [12]
While at Barnard Castle School,Carling received the Salters–Nuffield Prize [13] for "exceptional performance in biology" from the Worshipful Company of Salters with an essay entitled "Could carbon quantum dots have applications in bioimaging?" [9]
Aged 18,Carling then went to read natural sciences at Christ's College,Cambridge, [2] where he became actively involved in Cambridge University politics. A staff writer for Varsity, [14] Carling served as president of Christ's College JCR and co-chairman of the Cambridge University Labour Club,before being elected an Officer of the Cambridge Union [15] [ failed verification ] and then as a member of the Cambridge University Council. [16] [ failed verification ] [4] [a] In 2023,he graduated with first-class honours and became an undergraduate tutor. [18]
While studying for a Master of Philosophy (MPhil) postgraduate degree at Cambridge, [19] Carling was elected to Parliament in 2024, [4] the academic year having only just ended.
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. [4] At the local elections held on 5 May 2022,Carling narrowly defeated incumbent Liberal Democrat councillor Jamie Dalzell, [20] 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. [21] 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, [22] 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. [23]
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. [24] Carling has ceased to take councillor allowances since then. [25]
At the 2024 general election, [26] Carling successfully contested the constituency of North West Cambridgeshire for the Labour Party. Campaigning for better public services, [26] he defeated incumbent Conservative MP Shailesh Vara being returned to Parliament by a narrow margin of 39 votes,verified by a recount. [27] [28] The seat had been held by the Conservatives since its creation in 1997. [29] At the age of 22,he was the youngest MP elected at the 2024 election and became Baby of the House. [6] [29] Carling is the first British MP to be born in the 21st century. [1] He is the Labour Party's joint-youngest MP,tied with Malcolm Macmillan,who was elected at the same age in 1935. [2] On 24 July 2024,Carling made his maiden speech in a debate on education and opportunity. [30]
In November 2024,Carling voted in favour of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill,which proposes to legalise assisted dying. [31]
In his first six months,Carling has contributed to various debates including on Renters' Rights and SEND provision. [32]
In an interview with The Times ,Carling described himself as a member of the LGBT community. [7] 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." [7]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Sam Carling | 14,785 | 33.3 | +9.6 | |
Conservative | Shailesh Vara | 14,746 | 33.2 | −26.8 | |
Reform UK | James Sidlow | 8,741 | 19.7 | +19.6 | |
Liberal Democrats | Bridget Smith | 3,192 | 7.2 | −3.8 | |
Green | Elliot Tong | 2,960 | 6.7 | +1.5 | |
Majority | 39 | 0.1 | |||
Turnout | 44,424 | 58.5 | −5.4 | ||
Registered electors | 75,915 | ||||
Labour gain from Conservative | Swing | +18.2 |
My concern applies to religious groups in particular. I will use the example of the Jehovah's Witnesses—the religious group I grew up in—to illustrate how and why.