The Cambridge Liberal Democrats have selected their candidate to succeed retiring MP David Howarth at the next election. Julian Huppert was selected to fight Cambridge in a local party selection meeting held last Friday, beating five other nominees for the position. He will defend a Lib Dem majority of 4, 339 at the next election, in what is widely seen as a Lib Dem/Labour marginal.

Mr Huppert was raised in Cambridge and still lives in the city, and like his predecessor, is a Cambridge academic; a Fellow at Clare College who works as a scientist at the Cavendish Laboratory.

He has had a long period of involvement with local politics, serving as a county councillor for East Chesterton between 2001 and 2009, and as Lib Dem group leader. He also serves on the National Council of the pressure group Liberty, which campaigns for human rights and the preservation of civil liberties, and advises Liberty on issues surrounding the government’s DNA database.

After he was selected, Mr Huppert stated that he was “delighted and honoured to be given the chance to fight for this seat in the general election in my home town; it is a great privilege”, and that, “this city has achieved a great deal under David Howarth's leadership but there is still much work to be done.”

Subsequently, he was enthusiastically endorsed by his predecessor, who said: “I am delighted that Julian has been chosen as the candidate for the general election. He brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the position and I am confident the future is in good hands.”

Similarly, Mr Huppert’s selection as the new candidate was welcomed by the Cambridge University Lib Dems (CSLD), whose Chair Dom Weldon, issued the following press release, "We at CSLD are looking forward to fighting hard to make sure we get Julian elected as our next MP, to be our hard-working representative on important issues like the environment, student tuition fees and civil liberties."

Not all had such warm words for the new candidate, however, as his political rivals seemed keen to get general election campaigning under way. Speaking about Mr Huppert's appointment, Tony Juniper, Green party candidate for Cambridge, said: "We beat Mr Huppert in an election last year and we are looking forward to beating him again this year, at the general election."

Mr Huppert, however, already appears to be positioning himself as an environmentally friendly candidate for Cambridge, pledging to fight for “our liberal, progressive, green and international values,” and, in a statement issued to Varsity, argued that Cambridge was well positioned to take advantage of the recent growth of green technology. He claimed that "protecting the environment is a major issue where Cambridge can take the lead by investing in green technologies and creating green jobs.”

Meanwhile, George Owers, Chair of the Cambridge University Labour Club, issued a strongly worded attack on Mr Huppert late on Tuesday. In response to Varsity’s request for a statement, Mr Owers alleged that Mr Huppert’s attempt to be selected as parliamentary candidate for the Lib Dems in Oxford East in 2006 showed him to be a “rootless opportunist”, dedicated to “furthering his own ascent up the greasy pole”, who viewed Cambridge as a “political consolation prize”.

He further alleged that “in the event of a hung parliament, there is a strong chance that Huppert would end up being lobby-fodder for a reactionary Tory-Lib Dem coalition government.”

The eagerness of his rivals to engage Mr Huppert with several months to go until the election would suggest that the election will be fought as keenly in Cambridge as in the rest of the country.