BBC Profile:
Cambridgeshire's parliamentary boundaries have changed substantially in each of the last three boundary realignments to reflect a dramatic increase in population. This has mostly been in expensive, suburban housing developments.

In 1995 this extra seat was awarded to the county, taking most of its voters from the populous Huntingdon constituency, which had grown to more than 90,000 electors by 1997.

The first MP for North West Cambridgeshire was former Conservative cabinet minister Sir Brian Mawhinney, who had represented Peterborough from 1979 to 1997. In 2005 Mawhinney was replaced by Shailesh Vara as the Conservative candidate for the general election. Although the Tory vote dipped by 4% the Labour vote dropped further (5.6%) and Vara was elected with an increased majority of just under 10,000.

At the general election of 1997 Peterborough, south of the river, was designated part of North West Cambridgeshire. At this election, further minor adjustments to the boundaries have been made. To find out what might have happened had this boundary change been in force at the last election, see a notional - or estimated - result below.

This constituency mostly comprises the northern half of Huntingdonshire District and the western region of Cambridgeshire county. Bisected north to south by the busy A1, it contains a mix of suburban land around the city of Peterborough and a large expanse of rural land that stops just short of Stamford in the north.

The P

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BBC Profile:
Cambridgeshire's parliamentary boundaries have changed substantially in each of the last three boundary realignments to reflect a dramatic increase in population. This has mostly been in expensive, suburban housing developments.

In 1995 this extra seat was awarded to the county, taking most of its voters from the populous Huntingdon constituency, which had grown to more than 90,000 electors by 1997.

The first MP for North West Cambridgeshire was former Conservative cabinet minister Sir Brian Mawhinney, who had represented Peterborough from 1979 to 1997. In 2005 Mawhinney was replaced by Shailesh Vara as the Conservative candidate for the general election. Although the Tory vote dipped by 4% the Labour vote dropped further (5.6%) and Vara was elected with an increased majority of just under 10,000.

At the general election of 1997 Peterborough, south of the river, was designated part of North West Cambridgeshire. At this election, further minor adjustments to the boundaries have been made. To find out what might have happened had this boundary change been in force at the last election, see a notional - or estimated - result below.

This constituency mostly comprises the northern half of Huntingdonshire District and the western region of Cambridgeshire county. Bisected north to south by the busy A1, it contains a mix of suburban land around the city of Peterborough and a large expanse of rural land that stops just short of Stamford in the north.

The Peterborough wards are generally incongruous with the rest of the constituency. They comprise some of the poorest areas of the Peterborough unitary authority, and have higher concentrations of residents in receipt of public funds, and higher levels of council tenancies than the rest of the city.

The most sizeable established ethnic community groups are Pakistani and Indian (and Italian in the Ortons), although as elsewhere in Cambridgeshire there has been a growth of workers from Eastern Europe and Portugal in recent years, engaged largely in agricultural occupations.

The rest of the constituency is more affluent, and is characterised by small towns, private housing estates and rural areas.

There is also a varied manufacturing sector consisting mainly of small- and medium-sized firms. Electronics enterprises, hi-tech firms and the defence industry are important employers, though the last of these is in decline.

Rallings & Thrasher Notional:
C 24,491 (46.22%)
Lab 13,566 (25.60%)
LD 12,128 (22.89%)
UKIP 2,805 (5.29%)

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