With the District Council elections just a couple of weeks away, HI HUB asked the candidates to tell voters why they are the ones we should choose to represent our community.
On 7 May, all registered voters in the village will be able to go to the polls to elect the Councillors who will represent the Histon & Impington ward on South Cambridgeshire District Council (SCDC).
The public consultation about the new structure of Cambridgeshire’s councils has now closed, and it is expected the new structure will be confirmed later this year. If any proposals are to be implemented, new unitary councils are expected to be fully operational from April 2028, with transitional arrangements in place during 2027-28.
Making an informed choice
To help everyone make a more informed choice about the people selected to represent them at SCDC, HI HUB invited all 14 candidates to submit an election statement of up to 300 words.
Listed below are the candidates standing, their political affiliation and the responses received – unedited and unabridged in alphabetical order according to Political Party.
Conservative Party
The Conservative Party candidates standing in the District Council elections are:
Jayasimha Berumgudem
Joshua Willis
Mark Spencer Stuart
At time of publication no statements were received.
Find out more at www.southcambsconservatives.uk
Green Party
Adam Morgan
I have lived in the village for 14 years and have developed a strong understanding of its needs, priorities, and challenges. I was recently elected as a Parish Councillor for Impington, and I will work closely with Edd and fellow councillors to ensure that local issues are effectively identified and addressed through collaborative, community-focused governance.
As a natural scientist, I take an evidence-based approach to policy development, integrating both empirical data and direct feedback from residents. My interests in astronomy and environmental stewardship underpin a strong commitment to protecting and enhancing green spaces. I support the expansion of protected natural areas, open spaces, and biodiversity zones, recognising their ecological and social value. This includes advocating for reduced car dependency through improved public transport infrastructure, alongside the development of safe, accessible, and well-designed multi-use pathways for pedestrians and cyclists. The integration of sensor-activated, renewable energy-powered lighting, such as solar, can further improve safety while maintaining environmental sustainability.
I am also a strong advocate for the transition to renewable energy systems and local green energy initiatives. With the ongoing expansion of the Milton recycling centre, I will push for improved accessibility, ensuring that all residents, including those with mobility needs, can use the facility independently, for example through the installation of ramps rather than stairs.
I am proud to stand as a Green Party candidate, representing a platform that prioritises both environmental and social justice. My values of improving quality of life, protecting the natural environment, advancing green technologies, and applying evidence-based decision-making, align closely with this approach. Addressing current challenges requires moving beyond short-term fixes towards long-term, sustainable solutions. This includes delivering genuinely affordable housing with appropriate infrastructure, safeguarding green spaces, ensuring reliable and affordable public transport, creating safe active travel routes, supporting community facilities such as youth centres, and expanding access to essential services.
By engaging the whole community, we can develop policies that are inclusive, sustainable, and forward-looking, creating a fairer and greener future for Histon, Impington, and Orchard Park. In the upcoming May election, you will have three votes. By supporting all three Green candidates, Edd, Paul, and myself, you will be supporting a strong and united team committed to delivering evidence-based, community-driven outcomes.
Promoted by Daniel Laycock on behalf of Adam Morgan (Green Party), at 603 Newmarket Road, Cambridge CB5 8PA
Edd Stonham
I have lived in the village with my family for many years. I have been a Parish Councillor since 2008 and served as a District Councillor between 2010 and 2018. I am also a trustee of HI Friends, supporting local wellbeing initiatives, and of the HI Pump Track charity, which promotes youth activities and community participation.
I’m proud to be standing as a Green Party candidate, bringing years of local government experience and a strong commitment to Green values. I care deeply about protecting what makes Histon, Impington and Orchard Park such special places to live.
I understand how local government works and how important it is to have councillors who listen, act, and stand up for residents. My record shows I am a hardworking councillor who puts the community first, and I will always work to ensure local issues are addressed quickly and properly.
Tackling climate change, protecting green spaces, and making sure development is properly planned must go hand in hand with supporting thriving communities. Many of the challenges we face locally come down to planning. I have previously opposed applications that were not in residents’ best interests, helping secure better outcomes. I will continue to stand up for our community taking into account flooding risks, environmental impacts, and infrastructure pressures, and ensuring developments meet affordable housing commitments.
I’m a keen cyclist and strongly support safer walking and cycling routes, better public transport, and practical local climate action. I also recognise the need for more recreational space and have been working with landowners to examine opportunities for informal activities, while protecting our environment.
Through my work as a trustee of HI Friends and HI Pump Track, I support community wellbeing and aim to create opportunities for young people, including a youth centre. I’m also involved with the Salvation Army and run a small AV and IT business, giving me real world experience of supporting local jobs and enterprise.
Together, we can protect our green spaces, improve local services, and build a fairer, greener future for Histon, Impington and Orchard Park.
This is a three-member election. By voting for all three Green candidates, Adam, Paul-Emanuel and Edd, you can elect a strong, united team that will work together for our community.
Promoted by Daniel Laycock on behalf of Edd Stonham (Green Party), at 603 Newmarket Road, Cambridge CB5 8PA
Paul-Emanuel Tarita
“I’m a software engineer living in Orchard Park. I’m an avid cyclist and a strong advocate for better public transport and safer, more accessible cycling infrastructure. I am also a big supporter of green energy projects, as well as proper local recycling centres.
As a resident, I understand the unique issues Orchard Park faces, from unreliable transport links to the ongoing challenges around maintenance and community facilities. I’m committed to standing up for local people, whether that means challenging unfair and unreasonable service charges or finding new, sustainable ways to fund and protect the services our community relies on.
My approach is shaped by Green Party values: environmental responsibility and genuine community empowerment. That means pushing for practical, long‑term solutions that reduce inequality, cut pollution, and make our neighbourhood a healthier, more connected place to live. It also means ensuring that residents have a real voice in local decisions and won’t just being consulted after the fact.
I would like our ward and district to become examples for sustainable housing developments and green energy projects that the rest of the country can follow. I want Orchard Park to be a place where people can move safely, breathe clean air, access the services they need, and feel proud of the community they’re part of, and I’m ready to work hard to make that happen.”
Promoted by Daniel Laycock on behalf of Paul-Emanuel Tarita (Green Party), at 603 Newmarket Road, Cambridge CB5 8PA
Find out more at The Green Party for Cambridge and South Cambs.
Labour Party
Simon Patenall
I live in the centre of Histon and am a community volunteer on litter picks and at the food bank.
One of the many things I like about living here is how easy it is to nip out to my local. However, I do want to see the Council use its licensing powers to balance fun things to do with residents’ needs so that people don’t suffer disturbed nights from pub gardens or hotel operations.
Like everyone else round here, I worry about dangerous potholes. As a councillor, I’d help pressurise the Lib Dem County Council to get a grip of its maintenance contract and make sure repairs are co-ordinated, and that they last.
I’m one of many who has had a bicycle stolen from Cambridge North – ranked as one of the worst for theft in the country. I will campaign for improved security.
Isaac Rawlings
I’m one of the youngest candidates in South Cambridgeshire and it is about time that younger people had a voice on the Council. It’s estimated that only 2% of councillors are under 30. I want to see more facilities for youngsters such as the pump track.
I’m disappointed that the Council allows developers to avoid Local Plan rules for 40% of affordable housing. I live near the site where 38 flats are being built next to the guided busway. There should be 15 affordable homes there, actually there’s none at all!
There’s Government funding to invest in better bus services and I’ll be speaking up for the number 8 to be back at every 20 minutes and going on to Addenbrookes, more bus stops especially in the Park Lane area, and proper bus shelters with lighting.
Find out more at Labour for Histon, Impington, Orchard Park and King’s Meadow
Liberal Democrat
Martin Cahn
Let me introduce myself – I am Martin Cahn, your district councillor for the last eight years. I have lived in the village for the last 14 years, with sons going to IVC and my wife serving on the Parish Council.
Like many in the village, we are a multicultural family. My father arrived as a refugee; my mother has deep roots in the area; my grandmother was brought up in the Cambridge area. I met my wife, Aga, when I lived in Europe; we both know from experience what it is like to have to juggle languages and cultures, an experience typical of many of the ward’s inhabitants and which gives depth to our lives.
Following a biology degree and Ph.D. in ecology, I worked in or with local authorities throughout my life. I was a pioneer local authority ecologist for 17 years (secretary of the national association), establishing new nature reserves. Later I networked between European local authorities on sustainable energy issues. A qualified planner, I have been on Planning Committee for eight years now. I was a strong environmentalist before it was fashionable.
I love working on your behalf to help, protect and improve our environment. Providing strong support for environmentally-friendly policies supports our enthusiastic officers. Many local opportunities arise without warning – and we can set the right framework for those decisions in effective environmental and social actions delivered with compassion and care. Our team can build on our achievements in protecting the Green Belt environment and saving carbon, setting up a strong basis for the newly merged authority that will replace us. This will be vital if it is to continue to deliver for the next fifty years.
I hope to be able to continue to provide the knowledge, support and judgement to help residents respond to planning applications such as those at IVC and in Orchard Park, and the new country park just south of the A14. We can alleviate local environmental and social problems through the planning process.
James Rixon
I have been proud to serve as a South Cambridgeshire District Councillor over the last year and a half and excited for the opportunity to stand again to represent residents of Histon, Impington and Orchard Park.
With my wife and two children I have lived in Histon for three full and enjoyable years.
Professionally I am a registered Architect and Co-director of a successful architecture practice specialising in retrofit and low energy design. Additionally I am a certified passive house designer and qualified retrofit coordinator. I am passionate about reducing the carbon impact of the built environment and collaborating with other disciplines to achieve net zero.
In my time as District Councillor I have put my professional knowledge to good use within the Council itself by sitting as the Vice-Chair of the Climate Change Advisory Committee and as a member of the Planning Committee. However more importantly I have used my knowledge of planning, environment and project management to help residents with local issues. Whether that’s assisting groups and individuals with navigating and understanding the planning system or wider issues of collaboration, community group engagement and environmental impact.
If I were to be re-elected I would continue working to represent the interests of our thriving communities and helping residents with issues that matter directly to them. I will continue to champion initiatives that improve our relationship with nature and reduce our collective impact on the environment and use my position to support residents in collaborating and contributing to our fantastic communities.
Geo Sebastian
I am an NHS nurse. That is where everything starts for me. Working on the frontline has shaped who I am and how I see my community. My first step into politics came from campaigning on the nurses’ NMC registration issue. This campaign now has more than 42,000 supporters across the UK. It showed me that speaking up really does matter, and it still guides me every day.
Every shift reminds me how stretched our health service has become. Staff are doing their best, but the pressure is constant. People in Histon, Impington and Orchard Park tell me they feel it too. They struggle to get a GP appointment, they wait too long for NHS dentists, and they feel let down when they need help most. That is why I support the GP surgery planned for Darwin Green. I am pushing for it to open as soon as possible. It would ease pressure on existing practices and give residents more choice. As a nurse, I see the strain clearly, and I know the questions we should be asking to make sure our community gets the care it deserves. Better access, earlier support and more joined‑up care must be part of that.
I love spending time in Histon and Impington. It is a place with many clubs, groups and activities. I am fond of Impington Windmill. I made a story video about it, and it featured on the BBC. I am proud to have played a part in sharing its history with the BBC.
Helping at the Histon & Impington Sutainability Group Imaginarium in Histon was a highlight. It was a creative day that showed how much pride people have in their community. The Histon and Impington litter pickers inspired me to start a group in Orchard Park. It has been brilliant watching neighbours come together to look after our streets and create cleaner, greener spaces for everyone.
Locally, there are issues I will keep pushing on. In Orchard Park, some residents live on unadopted roads that developers have failed to maintain. Families with neurodiverse children face long waits and too much paperwork. Unpaid carers hold everything together. They deserve recognition and support.
Find out more at Histon, Impington, Orchard Park and Kings Meadow county and district councillors.
Reform UK
Introducing Chris Boulton, John Abbott, and Mandy Kawalko
Chris Boulton is Reform’s lead candidate in Histon & Impington. He’s lived in Impington for 35 years, working as a chimney sweep across a wide area of South Cambridgeshire. Now that he’s semi-retired he wants to put something back into the community by serving as a local councillor.
John Abbott has also lived locally for many years, and is now retired, while Mandy Kawalko runs a local business. Both share the aim of serving the community.
Our reasons for standing – yet again, our council tax has been increased by the maximum amount permitted. Since the Lib Dems took power locally in 2018 the council tax on an average property has risen by nearly 49%. Meanwhile, council services are in decline. Following the experiment of reducing council staff to a four-day week (for five days’ pay), satisfaction levels in nearly 70% of council services have fallen.
We need to look closely at where our tax money is being spent and whether the contracts our council enters into provide good value for that money and are truly needed when the cost of living is through the roof and the economy stagnating.
Local residents are not cash cows. We are citizens that need our money to be more carefully used for things we actually need.
Around the country Reform are reducing council tax hikes, with Reform councils delivering much lower average tax increases than all the other main parties. As Reform candidates, our goal is to ensure your money is better targeted at key services and not wasted frivolously. We are here to serve YOU because we live here and we want wastage stopped.
Find out more at ReformUKSouthCambridgeshire/
Polling will take place at Histon Baptist Church on Station Road between 7am and 10pm on Thursday, 7 May. Voters will need to bring an accepted form of photo ID or apply in advance for a free Voter Authority Certificate. Further information about the elections is available on the SCDC website.
Read also: Full steam ahead for local elections this May and Parish Council election uncontested as four seats remain vacant
