List of parliamentary constituencies in Cornwall

The ceremonial county of Cornwall, which includes the Isles of Scilly, is divided into six parliamentary constituencies. They are all county constituencies.

Parliamentary history of Cornwall

All six parliamentary seats are currently held by Conservatives, having came from holding no seats in 1997, 2001 and 2005, to gaining three of the six from the Liberal Democrats in 2010, to gaining the remaining three to hold all six Cornish seats in 2015. All six MPs were re-elected in 2017. In that election, several previous Liberal Democrat candidates, including previous MPs Andrew George and Steve Gilbert re-stood in their old seats, but failed to be re-elected. In all six seats, the Labour vote surged, pushing the Liberals into third place in four of the six seats. In the 2019 election, Labour retained their position as the second-placed party in most of the Cornish seats, holding their vote up far better in the region than elsewhere in the country. The last Labour MP for a Cornish constituency was Candy Atherton, who held the seat of Falmouth and Camborne between 1997 and 2005.

Constituencies

  Conservative †   Labour ‡   Liberal Democrat ¤

2010 boundary review

Under the Fifth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the Boundary Commission for England decided to increase the number of seats which covered Cornwall from 5 to 6. Falmouth and Camborne, and Truro and St Austell were abolished and replaced by Camborne and Redruth, St Austell and Newquay, and Truro and Falmouth.

Proposed boundary changes

See 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies for further details.

Following the abandonment of the Sixth Periodic Review (the 2018 review), the Boundary Commission for England formally launched the 2023 Review on 5 January 2021. Initial proposals were published on 8 June 2021 and, following two periods of public consultation, revised proposals were published on 8 November 2022. The final recommendations were submitted to the Speaker of the House of Commons and then published on 28 June 2023.

When the final recommendations come into effect at the next general election, the six existing parliamentary constituencies in Cornwall are to be retained with the same names and relatively minor alterations compared to other parts of the country.

Results history

Primary data source: House of Commons research briefing – General election results from 1918 to 2019

Vote breakdown

Percentage votes

¹Includes Constitutionalist in 1924 and National Liberal Party up to 1966

²1950–1979 – Liberal; 1983 & 1987 – SDP-Liberal Alliance

* Included in Other

Meaningful vote percentages are not applicable for the elections of 1918, 1922, 1931 and 1935 since one or more seats were gained unopposed.

Seats

¹Includes Constitutionalist in 1924 and National Liberal Party up to 1966

²pre-1979 – Liberal; 1983 & 1987 – SDP-Liberal Alliance

Maps

1885–1910

1918–1945

1950–present

Historical representation by party

A cell marked → (with a different colour background to the preceding cell) indicates that the previous MP continued to sit under a new party name.

1832 to 1868 (14 MPs)

  Conservative   Independent Liberal   Liberal   Peelite   Radical   Whig

1868 to 1885 (13 MPs)

  Conservative   Liberal

1885 to 1918 (7 MPs)

  Conservative   Independent Liberal   Liberal   Liberal Unionist

1918 to 1950 (5 MPs)

  Coalition Liberal (1918–22) / National Liberal (1922–23)   Conservative   Constitutionalist   Independent   Independent Liberal   Labour   Liberal   National Liberal (1931–68)

1950 to 2010 (5 MPs)

  Conservative   Labour   Liberal   Liberal Democrats   National Liberal (1931–68)

2010 to present (6 MPs)

  Conservative   Liberal Democrats

See also

• List of constituencies in South West England

Notes

References