Samuel Carling (born 2002) is a British politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for North West Cambridgeshire since 2024. He is the first British parliamentarian to be born in the 21st century. By convention, as the youngest member of Parliament, he is accorded the honorary

style Style, or styles may refer to: Film and television * ''Style'' (2001 film), a Hindi film starring Sharman Joshi, Riya Sen, Sahil Khan and Shilpi Mudgal * ''Style'' (2002 film), a Tamil drama film * ''Style'' (2004 film), a Burmese film * '' ...

of Baby of the House. Carling represented the ward of West Chesterton 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 ...

from 2022 until 2025.

Early life and education

Samuel Carling was born in 2002 and raised in

Crook, County Durham Crook is a market town in the Durham County Council unitary authority and ceremonial county of County Durham, England. It is located on the edge of Weardale and sometimes referred to as the "Gateway to Weardale". Crook lies about south-west ...

. He described his background as being from "a totally apolitical family, in quite a deprived part of the north east of England". Originally from

Bishop Auckland Bishop Auckland ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish at the confluence of the River Wear and the River Gaunless in County Durham, England. It is northwest of Darlington and southwest of Durham, England, Durham. M ...

, Carling completed his

GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a range of subjects taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, having been introduced in September 1986 and its first exams taken in 1988. State schools ...

s at Wolsingham School before attending

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 ...

Barnard Castle School Barnard Castle School (colloquially Barney School or locally the County School) is a co-educational private day and boarding school in the market town of Barnard Castle, County Durham, in the North East of England. It is a member of The Head ...

, an independent boarding school in

County Durham County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...

, with an academic scholarship. He achieved five A* A-level grades and an Extended Project Qualification. The cancellation of some A-level exams during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

sparked Carling's interest in politics, which developed at university and inspired him to run for elected office. While at Barnard Castle School, Carling received the Salters–Nuffield Prize for "exceptional performance in biology" from the Worshipful Company of Salters with an essay entitled "Could carbon quantum dots have applications in bioimaging?" Aged 18, Carling then went to read

natural sciences Natural science or empirical science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer ...

Christ's College, Cambridge Christ's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college includes the Master, the Fellows of the College, and about 450 undergraduate and 250 graduate students. The c ...

, where he became actively involved in

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

politics. A staff writer for ''Varsity'', Carling served as president of Christ's College JCR and co-chairman of the

Cambridge University Labour Club The Cambridge University Labour Club (CULC), formerly known as Cambridge Universities Labour Club, is a student political society, first founded as the Cambridge University Fabian Society, intended to provide a voice for the British Labour Pa ...

, before being elected an Officer of the Cambridge Union and then as a member of the Cambridge University Council. In 2023, he graduated with

first-class honours The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure used for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied, sometimes with significant var ...

and became an undergraduate tutor. While studying for a

Master of Philosophy A Master of Philosophy (MPhil or PhM; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. The name of the degree is most often abbreviated MPhil (or, at times, as PhM in other countries). MPhil are awarded to postgraduate students after completing at leas ...

(MPhil)

postgraduate degree Postgraduate education, graduate education, or graduate school consists of academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications usually pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor ...

at Cambridge, Carling was elected to

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

in 2024, the academic year having only just ended.

Political career

In 2022, while still a second-year undergraduate, Carling ran on the Labour slate for election to

to represent the ward of West Chesterton. At the local elections held on 5 May 2022, Carling narrowly defeated incumbent Liberal Democrat councillor Jamie Dalzell, increasing Labour's majority on Cambridge City Council with the Liberal Democrats losing three seats and the Greens gaining one. Carling became the first Cambridge student in memory to successfully contest a City Council seat. He was re-elected at the 2024 Cambridge City Council election. During his tenure, Carling held the office of Executive Councillor for Open Spaces and City Services, and was a member of the Skills Committee of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority for two years. He was an advocate of improvements to adult education and transport throughout Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. Carling announced his intention to step down as a Cambridge city councillor as soon as a by-election could reasonably be held and, in the following week on 18 July, he resigned from the council's cabinet. Carling has ceased to take councillor allowances since then.

House of Commons

At the 2024 general election, Carling successfully contested the

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 ...

of North West Cambridgeshire for the Labour Party. Campaigning for better public services, he defeated incumbent

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

MP Shailesh Vara being returned to Parliament by a narrow margin of 39 votes, verified by a recount. The

seat A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but may also refer to concentrations of power in a wider sense (i.e " seat (legal entity)"). See disambiguation. Types of seat The ...

had been held by the Conservatives since its creation in 1997. At the age of 22, he was the youngest MP elected at the 2024 election and became Baby of the House. Carling is the first British MP to be born in the 21st century. He is the Labour Party's joint-youngest MP, tied with

Malcolm Macmillan Malcolm Kenneth Macmillan (21 August 1913 – 17 November 1978) was a Scottish Labour Party politician and journalist. At the 1935 general election, at the age of 22, he was elected as the Member of Parliament for the Western Isles. He join ...

, who was elected at the same age in 1935. On 24 July 2024, Carling made his

maiden speech A maiden speech is the first speech given by a newly elected or appointed member of a legislature or parliament. Traditions surrounding maiden speeches vary from country to country. In many Westminster system governments, there is a convention th ...

in a debate on education and opportunity. In November 2024, Carling voted in favour of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which proposes to legalise assisted dying. In his first six months, Carling has contributed to various debates including on Renters' Rights and SEND provision.

Personal life

Carling is an apprentice member of the Salters' Company.www.saltersinstitute.org
/ref> In an interview with ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', Carling described himself as a member of the

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

community. He further stated: "I don't see any reason why I won't re-stand. But I'm 22, and I don't intend to be in the House of Commons for 40 years. I will come out and do something else eventually."

Electoral history

References

Notes

External links

* *
Department of Pathology page
at

Councillor Sam Carling
at

Profile
at www.lgbt.mp {{DEFAULTSORT:Carling, Sam 2002 births Living people Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge Councillors in Cambridgeshire English LGBTQ politicians Labour Party (UK) councillors Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies LGBTQ members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom People educated at Barnard Castle School People from Bishop Auckland Politicians from County Durham UK councillors 2021–2024 UK councillors 2024–2028 UK MPs 2024–present 21st-century English LGBTQ people