Youngest MP just 22 with oldest 58 years his senior

There is now a 58-year age gap between the oldest and youngest MPs, as Britain's first representative born in the 21st century is elected. When Sir Roger Gale was first elected to parliament in 1983, Sam Carling - now MP for North West Cambridgeshire - was 19 years from being born.

- ATHENA STAVROU

Aged just 22, Mr Carling will now officially be the baby of the House, having won his seat by a thin margin in Labour's electoral landslide on Thursday. The Cambridge graduate only sat his GCSEs in 2018 and is now - just six years later - North West Cambridgeshire's first-ever Labour MP.

Originally from the North East of England, he has described himself as coming from "a totally apolitical family, in quite a deprived part of the North East", before he moved to Cambridge to study natural sciences at the age of 18.

"I saw a lot of things getting worse around me," he told the BBC. "I was concerned about shops closing on local high streets that used to be a thriving hub and are basically now a wasteland. And the sixth form closed, but I didn't make the connection to politics until later."

His LinkedIn profile suggests that despite his young age, he is well qualified for the job, having bagged six A* grades in his Alevels. Alongside his studies, he has been a staff writer at the university's newspaper, co-chair of the Cambridge University Labour Club and a city councillor for West Chesterton since May 2022.