After the 2024 General Election

After the 2024 General Election

The General Election saw super results for Liberal Democrats — now with 72 MPs, including three from Cambridgeshire: Ian Sollom in St Neots and Mid Cambs, Pippa Heylings in South Cambs and Charlotte Cane in Ely and East Cambs.

Sadly, we weren’t successful in Huntingdon. Locally Liberal Democrats have done well in recent elections — not least winning the last three council by elections in Huntingdonshire — but the tactical voting web sites were suggesting people instead vote Labour and there was a big jump in the Labour vote. Ben Obese-Jecty, the Conservative candidate won, though with majority decimated.

Liberal Democrats are deeply committed to local government. Nationally we seek power to give much of it away to local government, arguing that decisions are best made as close as possible to the people affected to them. We have a super group of County, District and Town councillors, and are looking forward to the good work they’ve been doing leading to the election of more councillors in the local elections in 2025 and 2026.

Cambridgeshire is changing. In 2014, when Boris Johnson was looking for a safe Conservative seat in order to make a return to parliament, one of the ones he looked at was South Cambs. Now it has a Liberal Democrat-run District Council and a Liberal Democrat MP.

I was introduced to Huntingdon constituency in 2019 and have stayed involved since then. It was a great delight to be at the count when the Tories lost control of Huntingdon District Council on 2022, celebrating with our successful candidates and commiserating with the few others. We were out at the Godmanchester Gala two days after the General Election and I’m looking forward to working with our Liberal Democrat councillors and council candidates over the coming years, looking forward to Liberal Democrats taking control of Hunts District Council in 2026 and sending an MP for Huntingdon to Westminster in the next General Election.

See Mark Argent's video, recorded at the Huntingdon Councillors' surgery on 27 July