The ceremonial county of Cornwall, which includes the Isles of Scilly, is divided into six parliamentary constituencies. They are all county constituencies.
Four of the six Cornish parliamentary seats are currently held by Labour, after having no seats in Cornwall between the 2005 and 2024 elections. Two are held by the Liberal Democrats since the 2024 election, after previously winning all Cornish constituencies in 2005 then losing three to the Conservatives in 2010, and losing the remaining three to the Conservatives in 2015. The Conservatives, who had won no Cornish seats in 1997, 2001 and 2005, held three from 2010 and all six from 2015 to 2024. In 2017, several previous Liberal Democrat candidates, including previous MPs Andrew George and Steve Gilbert stood in their old seats, but failed to be re-elected. In all six seats, the Labour vote surged, pushing the Liberal Democrats 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.
In the 2024 election, the Conservatives lost all six seats, four of them going to Labour and the other two going to the Liberal Democrats, with Andrew George (MP for St Ives 1997-2015) retaking his St Ives seat for the first time since 2015 - George stood in his St Ives constituency in every election since 1992, winning in six out of nine elections. This marked the first time since 2005 that the Conservatives held no seats in Cornwall, the first time since 2015 that the Liberal Democrats held any seats, and the first time since 2005 that the Labour Party held any seats. It is also the first time in history that the Labour Party has held a majority of Cornish seats, as well as the most seats they have ever gained there, previously only holding one seat in a number of elections, and thus is their best result in Cornwall ever. Reform UK failed to win any seats in Cornwall but came third in five out of six seats and fourth in the remaining seat, while the Green Party came fifth in all six seats and increased their vote share in all seats.
See also: 2024 United Kingdom general election.
Constituency | Electorate[1] | Majority[2] | Member of Parliament | Nearest opposition | Current electoral wards[3] [4] | Map | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Camborne and Redruth | 74,382 | 7,806 | Perran Moon † | Connor Donnithorne ‡ |
| |||
North Cornwall | 76,741 | 10,767 | Ben Maguire ¤ | Scott Mann ‡ |
| |||
South East Cornwall | 72,654 | 1,911 | Anna Gelderd † | Sheryll Murray ‡ |
| |||
St Austell and Newquay | 76,076 | 2,470 | Noah Law † | Steve Double ‡ |
| |||
St Ives | 69,978 | 13,786 | Andrew George ¤ | Derek Thomas ‡ |
Isles of Scilly | |||
Truro and Falmouth | 72,982 | 8,151 | Jayne Kirkham † | Cherilyn Mackrory ‡ |
| |||
See 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies for further details.
For the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, which redrew the constituency map ahead of the 2024 United Kingdom general election, the Boundary Commission for England retained the six existing parliamentary constituencies in Cornwall with the same names and relatively minor alterations compared to other parts of the country.[5]
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.
Primary data source: House of Commons research briefing – General election results from 1918 to 2019[6]
Year | Labour | Conservative | Liberal Democrats | Reform | Green | UKIP | Mebyon Kernow | Others | Notes | |||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Votes | % | -/+ | Votes | % | -/+ | Votes | % | -/+ | Votes | % | -/+ | Votes | % | -/+ | Votes | % | -/+ | Votes | % | -/+ | Votes | % | ||
2024 | 77,517 | 26.0 | +3.3 | 76,817 | 25.8 | -27.7 | 73,691 | 24.7 | +5.5 | 48,574 | 16.3% | +16.3 | 13,778 | 4.6 | +2.5 | 111 | 0.0 | +16.5 | did not contest | 3,740 | 1.3 | |||
2019 | 74,392 | 23.1 | -3.6 | 173,027 | 53.8 | +5.4 | 62,165 | 19.3 | -4.2 | did not contest | 7,129 | 2.2 | +1.1 | did not contest | 1,660 | 0.5 | +0.5 | 3,602 | 1.1 | |||||
2017 | 83,968 | 26.7 | +14.4 | 152,428 | 48.4 | +5.3 | 73,875 | 23.5 | +1.1 | did not exist | 3,218 | 1.0 | -4.8 | 897 | 0.3 | -13.5 | did not contest | 323 | 0.1 | |||||
2015 | 36,235 | 12.3 | +3.7 | 127,079 | 43.1 | +2.2 | 66,056 | 22.4 | -19.4 | 17,241 | 5.8 | +4.5 | 40,785 | 13.8 | +8.9 | 5,675 | 1.9 | 1,757 | 0.6 | |||||
2010 | 24,257 | 8.6 | -7.0 | 115,016 | 40.9 | +9.1 | 117,307 | 41.8 | -2.6 | 3,573 | 1.3 | +0.6 | 13,763 | 4.9 | -0.1 | 5,379 | 1.9 | +0.5 | 1,586 | 0.6 | ||||
2005 | 41,140 | 15.6 | -1.7 | 82,543 | 31.8 | -0.8 | 115,241 | 44.4 | -0.4 | 1,738 | 0.7 | +0.7 | 12,863 | 5.0 | +1.3 | 3,552 | 1.4 | +0.1 | 2,356 | 0.9 | ||||
2001 | 43,674 | 17.3 | +0.2 | 82,227 | 32.6 | +2.2 | 113,000 | 44.8 | +0.9 | did not contest | 9,290 | 3.7 | +2.7 | 3,199 | 1.3 | +0.6 | 727 | 0.3 | ||||||
1997 | 47,913 | 17.1 | +3.2 | 85,077 | 30.4 | -12.3 | 123,124 | 43.9 | +2.2 | 482 | 0.2 | -0.1 | 2,926 | 1.0 | +1.0 | 1,906 | 0.7 | +0.7 | 18,779 | 6.7 | ||||
1992 | 41,593 | 13.9 | +1.3 | 127,678 | 42.7 | -4.6 | 124,553 | 41.7 | +1.7 | 1,035 | 0.3 | +0.3 | did not exist | did not contest | 4,098 | 1.4 | ||||||||
1987 | 34,994 | 12.6 | +3.7 | 131,194 | 47.3 | -2.0 | 111,064 | 40.0 | -0.8 | did not contest | did not contest | 373 | 0.1 | |||||||||||
1983 | 22,838 | 8.9 | -3.7 | 126,182 | 49.3 | -1.3 | 104,365 | 40.8 | +6.6 | 776 | 0.3 | -0.2 | 1,151 | 0.5 | -1.1 | 677 | 0.3 | |||||||
Election year | 1923 | 1924 | 1929 | 1945 | 1950 | 1951 | 1955 | 1959 | 1964 | 1966 | 1970 | 1974(Feb) | 1974(Oct) | 1979 | 1983 | 1987 | 1992 | 1997 | 2001 | 2005 | 2010 | 2015 | 2017 | 2019 | 2024 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | 2.3 | 9.7 | 18.1 | 25.4 | 29.6 | 33.3 | 30.7 | 27.5 | 25.9 | 27.6 | 24.6 | 19.6 | 20.0 | 12.6 | 8.9 | 12.6 | 13.9 | 17.1 | 17.3 | 15.9 | 8.6 | 12.3 | 26.7 | 23.1 | 26.0 | |
Conservative1 | 35.0 | 48.6 | 38.4 | 42.0 | 44.2 | 50.5 | 48.5 | 43.8 | 41.1 | 41.1 | 47.9 | 41.8 | 43.6 | 50.6 | 49.3 | 47.3 | 42.7 | 30.4 | 32.6 | 31.8 | 40.9 | 43.1 | 48.4 | 53.8 | 25.8 | |
Liberal Democrat2 | 52.6 | 41.7 | 42.4 | 32.6 | 26.2 | 16.2 | 20.8 | 28.7 | 32.8 | 30.6 | 27.0 | 38.2 | 35.2 | 34.2 | 40.8 | 40.0 | 41.7 | 44.0 | 44.8 | 44.4 | 41.8 | 22.4 | 23.5 | 19.3 | 24.7 | |
Reform | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 16.3 | |
Green Party | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1.3 | 5.8 | 1.0 | 2.2 | 4.6 | ||||||
UKIP | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 4.9 | 13.8 | 0.3 | – | |||||
Other | 10.0 | – | 1.2 | 0.4 | – | – | – | – | 0.1 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 1.2 | 2.6 | 1.0 | 0.1 | 1.7 | 8.6 | 5.2 | 7.9 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 0.1 | 1.6 | 17.6 |
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.
Election year | 1918 | 1922 | 1923 | 1924 | 1929 | 1931 | 1935 | 1945 | 1950 | 1951 | 1955 | 1959 | 1964 | 1966 | 1970 | 1974(Feb) | 1974(Oct) | 1979 | 1983 | 1987 | 1992 | 1997 | 2001 | 2005 | 2010 | 2015 | 2017 | 2019 | 2024 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
Liberal Democrat2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
Conservative1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 0 | |
National Liberal | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Independent Liberal | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Total | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
2pre-1979 – Liberal; 1983 & 1987 – SDP-Liberal Alliance
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.
Constituency | 1885 | 1886 | 87 | 1892 | 1895 | 98 | 99 | 1900 | 03 | 04 | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Courtney | → | → | Molesworth | |||||||||
Conybeare | → | Strauss | Caine | Lawson | ||||||||
C. Dyke-Acland | Owen | Moulton | ||||||||||
bgcolor= | Jenkins | Cavendish-Bentinck | Horniman | |||||||||
Borlase | McArthur | |||||||||||
bgcolor= | St Aubyn | → | Bolitho | Hain | → | |||||||
bgcolor= | Bickford-Smith | → | Williams | Durning-Lawrence |
Constituency | 1906 | 06 | 08 | Jan 1910 | Dec 1910 | 12 | 15 | 16 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Agar-Robartes | Freeman-Thomas | Grenfell | Pole-Carew | → | Hanson | ||||
Dunn | F. Dyke Acland | ||||||||
Marks | |||||||||
Barker | Goldman | ||||||||
McArthur | Agar-Robartes | Layland-Barratt | |||||||
Cory | |||||||||
Morgan |
Constituency | 1918 | 22 | 1922 | 1923 | 1924 | 24 | 28 | 1929 | 31 | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bodmin | Hanson | Foot | Harrison | Foot | ||||||||
Camborne | Dyke Acland | Moreing | Jones | Moreing | → | Jones | ||||||
Cornwall North | Marks | → | bgcolor= | → | Williams | Maclean | ||||||
Penryn and Falmouth | Nicholl | Shipwright | bgcolor= | Mansel | Pilcher | Walters | ||||||
St Ives | Cory | Hawke | bgcolor= | Cory | Hawke | bgcolor= | H. Runciman | W. Runciman | → |
Constituency | 1931 | 32 | 1935 | 37 | 39 | 41 | 1945 | 46 | 47 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bodmin | Foot | Rathbone | B. Rathbone | Marshall | ||||||
Camborne | Agnew | |||||||||
Cornwall North | Maclean | Dyke Acland | Horabin | → | → | |||||
Penryn and Falmouth | Petherick | King | ||||||||
St Ives | W. Runciman | Beechman |
Constituency | 1950 | 1951 | 1955 | 1959 | 1964 | 1966 | 68 | 1970 | Feb 1974 | Oct 1974 | 1979 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bodmin | Marshall | Bessell | Hicks | Tyler | Hicks | |||||||
Cornwall North | Roper | Scott-Hopkins | Pardoe | Neale | ||||||||
Falmouth & Camborne | Hayman | Dunwoody | Mudd | |||||||||
St Ives | Howard | Nott | → | |||||||||
Truro | Wilson | Dixon | Penhaligon |
Constituency | 1983 | 87 | 1987 | 88 | 1992 | 1997 | 2001 | 2005 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cornwall North | Neale | Tyler | Rogerson | ||||||
Cornwall South East | Hicks | Breed | |||||||
Falmouth and Camborne | Mudd | Coe | Atherton | Goldsworthy | |||||
St Ives | Harris | George | |||||||
Truro / Truro & St Austell ('97) | Penhaligon | Taylor | → |