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Department of Pathology

 

A 22-year-old MPhil student, Sam, was elected MP for North West Cambridgeshire. 

Labour’s Sam Carling is likely to be the "baby of the House" - the unofficial title given to the youngest member of the House of Commons - after narrowly winning North West Cambridgeshire.

 

Sam is also an MPhil  Student in the Department of Pathology in Professor Anton Enright's Lab group. 

Mr Carling called his victory a "political earthquake, " hoping more young people would stand for public office.

"Then they will see themselves represented in Parliament and local councils. It will help tackle apathy," he said.

Mr Carling, who has been a councillor in Cambridge, said many voters were surprised to discover he was running for office but that "people on the doorstep were very positive".

"They said ‘That’s good, we need more young people’.

In his constituency, primarily based in Peterborough, he said the new Labour government had "a whole host of issues to deal with – it's a microcosm of the country".

He wants his party to "get to grips with" a lack of dentists and NHS staff "who are dreadfully overworked", as well as "fixing rural transport".

Mr Carling said it would be "interesting to see" what his generation makes of a new era of politics.

"Many people have only ever been conscious of a Conservative government.

"I would argue we can make significant changes and offer a better alternative and hopefully engage more young people in politics," he added.

 

 

 


This is an edited version of the article originally published on the BBC here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c16jpl6707eo