A Cambridge postgraduate, Sam Carling, is launching his bid to be elected as Labour MP for North West Cambridgeshire in the next general election.

Carling was twice the President of Christ’s College’s JCR, then Debates Officer of the Union, and is currently a member of University Council, and an Executive Councillor for West Chesterton.

Carling, aged 21, could become the youngest MP in government. “Younger MPs are often among the most capable of delivering real change,” he told Varsity.

“I grew up under austerity and saw the impact of government policies in deprived areas, and I have experience of grappling with unaffordable private rental housing. A range of backgrounds and experience is critical to ensuring parliament is representative and delivers for all sections of our society,” Carling said.

Born in a rural town in the North East of England, Carling’s campaign website states: “I wasn’t always political.” When shops in his high street started closing and funding cuts eventually shut his sixth form, Carling began to realise these costs were “inflicted by the Conservatives’ choices”.

Discussing his priorities for North West Cambridgeshire, Carling said: “It’s impossible to narrow down the varied issues which North West Cambridgeshire faces into one, but the ongoing inadequacy of public transport options is one example of a major problem, leaving people without access to a car in serious difficulty.”

“Locally, Labour has been working to fix that – this year, we introduced a precept to save bus services threatened with closure, but there’s only so much we can do without meaningful support from the Government, and if elected, I will be fighting for that,” he said.

Discussing his view on climate policy amid the ongoing COP28 summit, which has been criticised by student campaigners, Carling said: “As the Conservatives continue to descend into chaos, they continue trying to throw climate action under the bus for a cheap polling boost. It’s nothing new – David Cameron’s decision to “get rid of the green crap” back in 2013 is costing every UK household £150 a year.”

“The contrast with Labour couldn’t be clearer. One of our five national missions is to make Britain a clean energy superpower, and we’re pledging that by 2030, Britain will run fully on clean energy. We’ve laid out fully costed plans to make that happen through immediate actions as well as long-term measures,” he said.

Carling’s campaign for selection as the Labour candidate for North West Cambridge has been launched today, and, if successful, he will run in next year’s General Election.