91Èȱ¬

Candidates discussed key issues ahead of the general election in a live debate, hosted by Chris Mann, from Cambridge.

You can watch the debate again by pressing the play button above.

Anthony Browne - Conservative

Anthony says his first memories are of growing up in Fowlmere. He played in the chalk streams and watched the spitfires from nearby Duxford.

He went to primary school in the area, attended the Perse School as a scholarship student and then went on to Hills Road Sixth Form College.

He joined the 91Èȱ¬ in the 90s and trained as a business reporter and economics correspondent. He then moved to newspapers and covered the Iraq war for The Times.

Stephen Ferguson - Independent

Stephen is an independent councillor for Cambridgeshire County Council and served two years as its chair.

He is also a councillor for Huntingdonshire District Council and has served as a town councillor for St Neots, where he was mayor for two years.

He says he will put the interests of constituents first and not what’s best for a political party. He will also ensure the region is not trampled over in the 'stampede for growth' in Cambridge.

Kathryn Fisher - Green

Kathryn was born in Addenbrooke's, studied at Impington Village College, Hills Road Sixth Form and Cambridge University, before working locally as a landscape designer.

During the pandemic she volunteered as the co-ordinator for Cambridge Community Kitchen.

If elected, she will champion safer cycling routes and cycle infrastructure to make cycling even more appealing in Cambridgeshire.

Guy Lachlan - Reform

Guy says he has lived in the cosntituency most of his life and is the father of three grown up children. He runs a small retail business.

He says he has become disillusioned with the lack of diverse opinion amongst politicians.

He says the major parties support unsustainable levels of inward migration, whilst opposing house building locally.

Marianna Masters - Labour

Marianna was born in Lambeth and has been a Streatham Wells councillor since 2018.

Her interest in mental health made her aware of both health inequalities and racial injustice affecting Lambeth residents.

She is a governor at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Trust and chair of Fabian Women's Network.

Ian Sollom - Liberal Democrats

Ian grew up in rural Shropshire and read Physics at Oxford before coming to Cambridge as a postgraduate, completing his PhD in Astrophysics in 2010.

He works as a strategy consultant and was a district councillor in South Cambridgeshire between 2018 and 2022.

He stood for the Lib Dems in South Cambridgeshire in the 2019 general election, when he was beaten by Conservative Anthony Browne.

Bev White - Party of Women (not taking part in the debate)

Bev White is standing for the Party of Women. The fairly new group has been set up to "repeal the Gender Recognition Act 2004".

Bev campaigns in St Neots and has called for female only spaces to be protected for people who are 'biologically female' and not those who define their gender as female.

Emma Howgego
91Èȱ¬ Radio Cambridgeshire

The constituency of St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire is a brand new Parliamentary seat.

It stretches from the town of St Neots in the west to villages north of Cambridge in the east.

It includes the new towns of Northstowe and Cambourne. St Neots itself has also seen a lot of new homes built in recent years.

The area is proving attractive to families where one person commutes to London.

With big new housing developments comes big new infrastructure. Amongst the big plans in the coming years is East-West Rail. This is a rail line which will link Oxford and Cambridge.

There are also plans for a new busway route linking Cambourne and Cambridge.

Both of these projects have been opposed by some local groups; East-West Rail because the brand new line will be close to some rural villages, and the busway because it will be routed through an ancient orchard.