 The most recent Labour MP for Peterborough , Helen Clark ( née Brinton ) , won the seat in 1997 . She was defeated at the 2005 general election , following which it was widely reported that Clark was planning to defect to the Conservative Party , an announcement which was not popular locally . However , by early June it emerged that while she had left the Labour Party , she had not in fact joined the Conservatives and did not intend to . 
