Barham is situated within Huntingdonshire which is a non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire as well as being a historic county of England.

A parish council is responsible for providing and maintaining a variety of local services including allotments and a cemetery; grass cutting and tree planting within public open spaces such as a village green or playing fields.

For Barham the highest tier of local government is Cambridgeshire County Council which has administration buildings in Cambridge.

[8] Cambridgeshire County Council consists of 69 councillors representing 60 electoral divisions.

[9] Barham is a part of the electoral division of Sawtry and Ellington and is represented on the county council by one councillor.

The previous member of parliament was Brian Mawhinney (Conservative) who represented the constituency between 1997 and 2005.

In the period 1801 to 1901 the population of Barham was recorded every ten years by the UK census.

[12] The Victorian guest house in the village, first dwelling on this site was built in the 16th century and was lost to fire in 1855.