2021 Cornwall Council election explained

Election Name:2021 Cornwall Council election
Country:Cornwall
Type:Parliamentary
Ongoing:no
Party Colour:yes
Previous Election:2017 Cornwall Council election
Previous Year:2017
Next Election:2025 Cornwall Council election
Next Year:2025
Seats For Election:All 87 seats in the Cornwall Council
Majority Seats:44
Election Date:6 May 2021
Party1:Conservative Party (UK)
Last Election1:46 seats, 37.4%
Seats1:47
Seat Change1:1
Popular Vote1:63,851
Percentage1:37.9%
Swing1:2.7pp
Party2:Independent (politician)
Last Election2:30 seats, 24.4%
Seats2:16
Seat Change2:14†
Popular Vote2:26,462
Percentage2:16.3%
Swing2:4.0pp
Leader3:[1]
Party3:Liberal Democrats (UK)
Last Election3:38 seats, 30.9%
Seats3:13
Seat Change3:25†
Popular Vote3:31,201
Percentage3:18.5%
Swing3:11.3pp
Party4:Labour Party (UK)
Last Election4:5 seats, 4.1%
Seats4:5
Seat Change4:0†
Popular Vote4:18,985
Percentage4:11.3%
Swing4:3.3pp
Party5:Mebyon Kernow
Last Election5:4 seats, 3.3%
Seats5:5
Seat Change5:1†
Popular Vote5:8,897
Percentage5:5.3%
Swing5:2.0pp
Party6:Green Party of England and Wales
Last Election6:0 seats, 2.0%
Seats6:1
Seat Change6:1†
Popular Vote6:15,385
Percentage6:9.1%
Swing6:7.1pp
Map Size:400px
Council control
Posttitle:Council control after election
Before Election:No overall control
After Election:Conservative

The 2021 Cornwall Council election took place on 6 May 2021 as part of the 2021 United Kingdom local elections. It was contested under new division boundaries as the number of seats on the council falls from 123 to 87. The election was won by the Conservative Party, who took an overall majority of seats.

Background

Cornwall Council is a unitary authority which has held elections every four years since its creation in 2009.[2] In the previous election in 2017, the Conservative Party won the most seats but short of a majority. The Liberal Democrats continued to govern the council in coalition with independent councillors.

Following a review by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England, the number of councillors to be elected has been reduced for this election from 123 in previous elections to 87.[3] [4]

Adam Paynter, the leader of the Liberal Democrats on the council, was suspended from the party in March 2021 after a fellow councillor complained that he had shared an email she had sent him without her permission.[5] Paynter will stand as an independent in the 2021 elections.[6] He stayed on as deputy leader of the council, leading the Conservative group to call a motion of no confidence in Julian German, the leader of the council. The motion was unsuccessful, with Mebyon Kernow leader Dick Cole supporting German and calling the vote to remove him "politically motivated".[7]

In March 2021, Stephen Bush wrote that the Conservatives could gain control of the council by taking seats from independent councillors and Liberal Democrat councillors.[8]

Council composition

After 2017 electionBefore 2021 electionAfter 2021 election
PartySeatsPartySeatsPartySeats
464347
383316
303113
545
445
Non-aligned41
Independent Alliance3
Vacant1

Campaign

Due to the reduction in the number of electoral divisions, seventeen divisions each had two sitting councillors competing for election.[9]

Linda Taylor, the leader of the Conservative group, said she expected to regain control of the council and that a Conservative council could work more effectively with the county's Conservative MPs. The party's manifesto for Cornwall included pledges to move more spending to local firms, to improve recycling and to reduce speed limits in built-up areas.[10]

The former Liberal Democrat Members of Parliament (MPs) Andrew George and Dan Rogerson stood as candidates.[11] [12] The Liberal Democrat manifesto was themed around the slogan "Cornwall comes first". It said the party would protect adult social care budgets, build homes for local residents and make the county carbon neutral by 2030.[13]

The Labour Party said they expected to make gains in the election given their performance in recent general elections.[14] [15] They promised to improve the provision of council housing and social housing and to revitalise town centres by repurposing empty buildings.

All four incumbent Mebyon Kernow councillors stood for re-election, including the party's leader Dick Cole and deputy leader Loveday Jenkin, as part of a slate of nineteen candidates across Cornwall.[16] The party published a list of thirty pledges including to "seek an end to the inequitable council tax and its replacement with a fairer form of local taxation which impacts less on the less well-off".[17]

The Green Party, standing more candidates in Cornwall than they had in any previous election, proposed a tourist tax in the form of a "levy paid by accommodation providers" and said they wanted to change planning policy.[18] Bettina Harries, the Reform UK candidate for Wadebridge East and St Minver, was also standing for election in the concurrent Buckinghamshire Council election. She said she was "totally relaxed that no-one will vote for [her] in either ward".[19] [20]

Council results

2021 Cornwall Council election
PartyCandidatesSeatsChangeVotes%
8547163,85137.92.7
51161427,46216.34.0
70132531,20118.511.3
575018,98511.33.3
19518,8975.32.0
691115,7489.27.2
No description22,0211.2New
22510.10.0
41710.1New
Freedom Alliance2770.0New
3570.00.0
1550.01.3
Total3658742168,637100.0

Electoral division results

Statements of persons nominated were published by Cornwall Council on 9 April.[21] Sitting councillors seeking re-election are marked with an asterisk (*). Because of boundary changes and the reduction in the number of seats, some divisions have more than one incumbent councillor standing for re-election.

Aftermath

The Conservatives won an overall majority of seats.[22] The election was the first with an overall majority since the council was created in 2009.[23]

By-elections

Looe West, Pelynt, Lansallos & Lanteglos

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Richard Whitehouse . New leader of Cornwall Council Lib Dems after Adam Paynter suspension . . 23 February 2022 . 15 March 2021.
  2. Web site: Election Timetable in England. 14 March 2020. GOV.UK. 10.
  3. Web site: 26 September 2017. 36 councillors could be cut from Cornwall Council in 2021. 14 March 2020. ITV.
  4. Web site: Whitehouse. Richard. 2 May 2019. Why there are no local elections in Cornwall in May 2019. 14 March 2020. Cornwall Live.
  5. Web site: Emma Ferguson . Cornwall Council deputy leader Adam Paynter suspended from Lib Dems . . 4 April 2021 . 10 March 2021.
  6. Web site: Richard Whitehouse . How the Liberal Democrats kicked out Cornwall Council's deputy leader over an email and 'bullying' . Cornwall Live . 4 April 2021 . 15 March 2021.
  7. Web site: Whitehouse. Richard. 2021-04-08. Attempt to kick leader of Cornwall Council out is decided. 2021-04-10. CornwallLive. en.
  8. Web site: What's up for grabs in the 2021 local elections?. 2021-04-10. www.newstatesman.com. 25 March 2021 . en.
  9. Web site: Whitehouse. Richard. 2021-05-05. Big hitters are going head-to-head Cornwall Council elections. 2021-05-05. CornwallLive. en.
  10. Web site: Whitehouse. Richard. 2021-04-14. Leader on why Conservatives aim to take control at County Hall. 2021-04-17. CornwallLive. en.
  11. Web site: Former MP looks to return the political arena in forthcoming council elections. 2021-04-10. Falmouth Packet. en.
  12. Web site: Whitehouse. Richard. 2021-04-04. Two former Cornish MPs now want to become Cornwall councillors. 2021-04-10. CornwallLive. en.
  13. Web site: Whitehouse. Richard. 2021-04-23. Cornwall Lib Dems' election manifesto says 'Cornwall comes first'. 2021-04-23. CornwallLive. en.
  14. Web site: Whitehouse. Richard. 2021-04-05. Labour hopes to fight back from dismal place on Cornwall Council. 2021-04-28. CornwallLive. en.
  15. Web site: 2021-03-24. Labour expect to gain a 'substantial amount' of seats Cornish Stuff. 2021-04-28. en-US.
  16. Web site: Whitehouse. Richard. 2021-04-29. Mebyon Kernow leader says party will always do the best for Cornwall. 2021-04-29. CornwallLive. en.
  17. Web site: Whitehouse. Richard. 2021-04-20. Mebyon Kernow makes 30 pledges to you for council elections. 2021-04-20. CornwallLive. en.
  18. Web site: Whitehouse. Richard. 2021-04-01. Party launches election campaign with call for Cornwall tourism tax. 2021-04-10. CornwallLive. en.
  19. Web site: Whitehouse. Richard. 2021-04-21. Candidate standing for election in Cornwall - and Buckinghamshire. 2021-04-27. CornwallLive. en.
  20. Web site: Whitehouse. Richard. 2021-04-27. Candidate for Cornwall Council says elections are 'totally pointless'. 2021-04-27. CornwallLive. en.
  21. Web site: Cornwall Council elections 6 May 2021 - Cornwall Council. 2021-04-09. www.cornwall.gov.uk.
  22. Web site: Cornwall Tory group leader speaks of 'momentous decision' as party makes history. 2021-05-08. Falmouth Packet. en.
  23. News: 2021-05-07. Elections 2021: Conservatives take Cornwall Council. en-GB. BBC News. 2021-05-08.