North East Cambridgeshire (UK Parliament constituency)

North East Cambridgeshire is a constituency^{[n 1]} represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Steve Barclay, a Conservative.^{[n 2]}

North East Cambridgeshire
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundaries since 2024
Boundary of North East Cambridgeshire in the East of England
County	Cambridgeshire
Electorate	70,806 (2023)[1]
Major settlements	Wisbech, March, Whittlesey and Chatteris
Current constituency
Created	1983
Member of Parliament	Steve Barclay (Conservative)
Created from	Isle of Ely Peterborough[2]

Constituency profile

This large and rural seat is in the Cambridgeshire Fens and has a port and a significant farming and food production sector. The electorate has a higher car and house ownership than average and are older, less wealthy and healthy than the UK average.^[3]

History

Clement Freud, former Liberal MP for Isle of Ely from 1973, represented the seat from its creation in 1983 until 1987, when he was defeated by the Conservative Malcolm Moss and since then it has been served by one other Conservative MP, namely Steve Barclay, first elected in 2010.

Boundaries and boundary changes

1983–1997

• The District of Fenland;
• The District of East Cambridgeshire wards of Downham, Haddenham, Littleport, Stretham, Sutton, and Witchford; and
• The City of Peterborough wards of Eye, Newborough, and Thorney.^[4]

The seat was created for the 1983 general election which followed on from the merger under the Local Government Act 1972, of the two administrative counties of Huntingdon and Peterborough and Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely to form the non-metropolitan county of Cambridgeshire, with effect from 1 April 1974. It was formed from the abolished constituency of Isle of Ely, with the exception of the city of Ely itself, which was included in the new constituency of South East Cambridgeshire. The three City of Peterborough wards were transferred from the constituency of Peterborough.

1997–2010

• The District of Fenland;
• The District of East Cambridgeshire wards of Downham, Littleport, and Sutton; and
• The City of Peterborough wards of Eye, Newborough, and Thorney.^[5]

Minor loss to South East Cambridgeshire.

Map of boundaries 2010–2024

2010–2024

• The District of Fenland; and
• The District of East Cambridgeshire wards of Downham Villages, Littleport East, Littleport West, and Sutton.^[6]

The City of Peterborough wards were returned to the constituency thereof. No other changes.

Current

Further to the 2023 review of Westminster constituencies, which came into effect for the 2024 general election, the composition of the constituency was reduced in size following the transfer of the parts in the District of East Cambridgeshire to the new seat of Ely and East Cambridgeshire. Its boundaries are therefore now coterminous with the District of Fenland.^[7]

Members of Parliament

Election		Member[8]	Party
Isle of Ely prior to 1983
	1983	Clement Freud	Liberal
	1987	Malcolm Moss	Conservative
	2010	Steve Barclay	Conservative

Elections

North East Cambridgeshire election results 1983–2024

Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: North East Cambridgeshire^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Steve Barclay	16,246	41.5	−32.4
	Reform UK	Chris Thornhill	9,057	23.1	N/A
	Labour	Javeria Hussain	8,008	20.4	+4.4
	Liberal Democrats	David Chalmers	2,716	6.9	+0.2
	Green	Andrew Crawford	2,001	5.1	+1.7
	Independent	David Patrick	958	2.4	N/A
	Workers Party	Clayton Payne	190	0.5	N/A
Majority			7,189	18.4	−38.2
Turnout			39,176	54.8	−8.2
Registered electors			71,511
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 2010s

2019 notional result[10]
Party		Vote	%
	Conservative	32,934	73.9
	Labour	7,155	16.0
	Liberal Democrats	2,992	6.7
	Green	1,503	3.4
Turnout		44,584	63.0
Electorate		70,806

General election 2019: North East Cambridgeshire^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Steve Barclay	38,423	72.5	+8.1
	Labour	Diane Boyd	8,430	15.9	−8.6
	Liberal Democrats	Rupert Moss-Eccardt	4,298	8.1	+3.6
	Green	Ruth Johnson	1,813	3.4	+1.5
Majority			29,993	56.6	+16.7
Turnout			52,964	63.3	+0.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	+8.4

General election 2017: North East Cambridgeshire ^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Steve Barclay	34,340	64.4	+9.3
	Labour	Ken Rustidge	13,070	24.5	+10.1
	Liberal Democrats	Darren Fower	2,383	4.5	0.0
	UKIP	Robin Talbot	2,174	4.1	−18.4
	Green	Ruth Johnson	1,024	1.9	−1.6
	English Democrat	Stephen Goldspink	293	0.5	N/A
Majority			21,270	39.9	+7.3
Turnout			53,284	63.1	+0.7
	Conservative hold		Swing	−0.4

See also: Opinion polling in United Kingdom constituencies, 2010–15 § North East Cambridgeshire

General election 2015: North East Cambridgeshire^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Steve Barclay	28,524	55.1	+3.7
	UKIP	Andrew Charalambous	11,650	22.5	+16.8
	Labour	Ken Rustidge	7,476	14.4	−3.3
	Liberal Democrats	Lucy Nethsingha	2,314	4.5	−15.5
	Green	Helen Scott-Daniels	1,816	3.5	N/A
Majority			16,874	32.6	+1.2
Turnout			51,780	62.4	−9.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	−6.8

General election 2010: North East Cambridgeshire^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Steve Barclay	26,862	51.4	+4.5
	Liberal Democrats	Lorna Spenceley	10,437	20.0	+2.9
	Labour	Peter Roberts	9,274	17.7	−12.9
	UKIP	Robin Talbot	2,991	5.7	+0.4
	BNP	Susan Clapp	1,747	3.3	N/A
	Independent	Debra Jordan	566	1.1	N/A
	English Democrat	Graham Murphy	387	0.7	N/A
Majority			16,425	31.4	+13.9
Turnout			52,264	71.4	+12.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.8

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: North East Cambridgeshire

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Malcolm Moss	24,181	47.5	−0.6
	Labour	Ffinlo Costain	15,280	30.0	−4.9
	Liberal Democrats	Alan Dean	8,693	17.1	+3.1
	UKIP	Len Baynes	2,723	5.4	+2.9
Majority			8,901	17.5	+4.3
Turnout			50,877	59.8	−0.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.1

General election 2001: North East Cambridgeshire

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Malcolm Moss	23,132	48.1	+5.1
	Labour	Dil Owen	16,759	34.9	+1.1
	Liberal Democrats	Richard Renaut	6,733	14.0	−2.4
	UKIP	John Stevens	1,189	2.5	N/A
	ProLife Alliance	Tony Hoey	238	0.5	N/A
Majority			6,373	13.2	+4.0
Turnout			48,051	60.1	−12.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.1

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: North East Cambridgeshire^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Malcolm Moss	23,855	43.0	−11.0
	Labour	Virginia Bucknor	18,754	33.8	+20.0
	Liberal Democrats	Andrew Nash	9,070	16.4	−13.9
	Referendum	Michael W. Bacon	2,636	4.8	N/A
	Socialist Labour	Chris J. Bennett	851	1.5	N/A
	Natural Law	Luke K.C. Leighton	259	0.5	+0.2
Majority			5,101	9.2	−14.5
Turnout			55,425	72.6	−6.7
	Conservative hold		Swing	−15.5

General election 1992: North East Cambridgeshire^[15][16][17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Malcolm Moss	34,288	54.0	+7.0
	Liberal Democrats	Maurice Leeke	19,195	30.3	−14.2
	Labour	Ronald Harris	8,746	13.8	+5.3
	Liberal	Chris D. Ash	998	1.6	N/A
	Natural Law	Marion Chalmers	227	0.3	N/A
Majority			15,093	23.7	+21.2
Turnout			63,454	79.3	+1.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	+10.6

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: North East Cambridgeshire^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Malcolm Moss	26,983	47.0	+6.2
	Liberal (Alliance)	Clement Freud	25,555	44.5	−6.0
	Labour	Ronald Harris	4,891	8.5	−0.2
Majority			1,428	2.5	N/A
Turnout			57,429	77.4	+1.1
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+6.1

General election 1983: North East Cambridgeshire^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal (Alliance)	Clement Freud	26,936	50.5
	Conservative	Nicholas Duval	21,741	40.8
	Labour	Ronald Harris	4,625	8.7
Majority			5,195	9.7
Turnout			53,302	76.3
	Liberal win (new seat)

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in Cambridgeshire
• List of parliamentary constituencies in the East of England (region)

Notes

1. A county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
2. As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.