Lucy Kathleen Nethsingha (née Sellwood; born 6 February 1973) is a British Liberal Democrat politician who has served as Leader of

Cambridgeshire County Council Cambridgeshire County Council is the county council for non-metropolitan county of Cambridgeshire, England. The non-metropolitan county is smaller than the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county, which additionally includes the City o ...

since 2021, and leader of the Liberal Democrat group on the council since 2015. She was a

Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

(MEP) for the

East of England East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sunrise, Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact ...

from 2019 until 2020.

Early life

Born in

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

in 1973, she attended the comprehensive Penair School, in Truro, to the age of 16. She attended the

sixth form In the education systems of Barbados, England, Jamaica, Northern Ireland, Trinidad and Tobago, Wales, and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepa ...

of the independent

Truro School Truro School is a coeducational private boarding and day school located in the city of Truro, Cornwall, England. It is the largest coeducational independent school in Cornwall with over 1050 pupils from pre-prep to sixth form. It is a member s ...

, then gained a BSc degree in Psychology from the

University of Southampton The University of Southampton (abbreviated as ''Soton'' in post-nominal letters) is a public university, public research university in Southampton, England. Southampton is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universit ...

Politics

Nethsingha served as a Liberal Democrat councillor on

Gloucester City Council Gloucester City Council is the local authority for the city of Gloucester, in Gloucestershire, England. Gloucester has had a council since medieval times, which has been reformed on numerous occasions. Since 1974 Gloucester has been a non-metropo ...

from 2004 to 2008. After moving to Cambridgeshire, Nethsingha was elected for the Newnham division on

as a Liberal Democrat at the 2009 election, and has been leader of the Liberal Democrat Group on the council since 2015 (she had previously been deputy leader since 2011). At the 2025 Cambridgeshire County Council election she was elected for the Cambourne division and the Liberal Democrats took majority control of the county council. From

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

, she also represented the Newnham ward on

Cambridge City Council Cambridge City Council is the local authority for Cambridge, a non-metropolitan district with city status in the United Kingdom, city status in Cambridgeshire, England. The council has been under Labour Party (UK), Labour majority control since ...

. She unsuccessfully contested the North East Cambridgeshire

parliamentary constituency An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

in the 2015 general election, finishing in fourth place out of five candidates with 2,314 votes (4.5%). In the snap general election held two years later, she contested South East Cambridgeshire and finished last out of three candidates with 11,958 votes (19.0%). Nethsingha became a Member of the European Parliament in the

2019 elections The following elections were scheduled to occur in 2019. The International Foundation for Electoral Systems has a calendar of upcoming elections around the world, and the National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections in cou ...

, until 2020 when the United Kingdom left the EU. After the 2021 Cambridgeshire County Council election she became leader of the council after agreeing a deal with the Labour and Independent groups.

Personal life

Nethsingha grew up in Cornwall, which she states made her aware of the importance of caring for the environment. She is a teacher by profession and holds a master's degree from the University of Cambridge. In 1996 she married Andrew Nethsingha, who has been organist and master of the choristers at

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...

since 2023. They have three children."Lucy Nethsingha"
''Liberal Democrats''. Retrieved 27 May 2019.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nethsingha, Lucy 1973 births Living people Alumni of the University of Southampton MEPs for England 2019–2020 Liberal Democrats (UK) MEPs 21st-century women MEPs for England Liberal Democrats (UK) councillors Liberal Democrats (UK) parliamentary candidates Members of Cambridgeshire County Council Leaders of local authorities of England People from Truro People educated at Truro School Women councillors in England