 Peterborough sent two members to parliament for the first time in 1547 . Before the civil war , many were relatives of the clergy ; then for two hundred years after the restoration there was always a Fitzwilliam , or a Fitzwilliam nominee , sitting as member for Peterborough , making it a Whig stronghold . Representation was reduced to one member under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 . From the formal merger of the breakaway Liberal Unionists with the Conservatives in 1912 and the absorption of rural North Northamptonshire in 1918 , Peterborough has been predominantly Conservative . The growth in the New Town from 1967 may in part account for Labour 's victory here in 1974 . Since its formation in 1997 , North West Cambridgeshire has been one of the safest Conservative seats in the country . At the election which followed , Peterborough was ranked 93rd in the Conservatives 's one hundred most vulnerable seats ( the ones which the other parties must take if there is to be a change of government ) and 73rd on Labour 's target list . 
