Parliamentary representation from Cornwall explained

The historic county of Cornwall in south-west England was represented in Parliament from the 13th century. This article provides a list of constituencies constituting the Parliamentary representation from Cornwall.

In 1889 an administrative county of Cornwall was created. Unlike many other counties there has been no major change between the historic and administrative county boundaries. The first part of this article covers the constituencies wholly or predominantly within the area of the historic county. The second part refers to constituencies mostly in another historic county, which included some territory from the historic county of Cornwall (if any). The summaries section only refers to the constituencies included in the first section of the constituency list.

List of constituencies

The constituencies which existed in 1707 were those previously represented in the Parliament of England.

Key to abbreviations:-

• (Type) BC Borough constituency, CC County constituency.

Constituencies wholly or predominantly in the historic county

Constituency	Type	From	To	MPs	Notes
Bodmin	BC (1295–1885)	1295	1983	2 (1295–1868)	Unrepresented 1654–1659
	CC (1885–1983)			1 (1868–1983)
Bossiney	BC	1552	1832	2	Unrepresented 1654–1659
Callington	BC	1584	1832	2	Unrepresented 1654–1659
Camborne	CC	1885	1950	1
	CC	2010		1
Camelford	BC	1547	1832	2	Unrepresented 1654–1659
Cornwall	CC	1290	1832	2 (1290–1654)
				8 (1654–1659)
				2 (1659–1832)
	CC	1832	1885	2
	CC	1918		1
	CC	1983		1
	CC	1832	1885	2
East Looe	BC	1571	1832	2	Unrepresented 1654–1659
	BC	1654	1659	1
	CC	1950	2010	1
Fowey	BC	1571	1832	2	Unrepresented 1654–1659
Grampound	BC	1547	1821	2	Unrepresented 1654–1659
Helston	BC	1298	1885	2 (1298–1832)	Unrepresented 1654–1659
				1 (1832–1885)
Launceston	BC (1295–1885)	1295	1918	2 (1295–1654)	Also called Dunheved
				1 (1654–1659)
				2 (1659–1832)
				1 (1832–1918)
	CC (1885–1918)
Liskeard	BC	1295	1885	2 (1295–1832)	Unrepresented 1654–1659
				1 (1832–1885)
Lostwithiel	BC	1305	1832	2	Unrepresented 1654–1659
Mitchell	BC	1547	1832	2	Unrepresented 1654–1659. Also called St. Michael's.
Newport (Cornwall)	BC	1529	1832	2	Unrepresented 1654–1659. Also called Newport Iuxta Launceston.
Penryn	BC	1547	1832	2 (1547–1654)
				1 (1654–1659)
				2 (1659–1832)
	BC (1832–1918)	1832	1950	2 (1832–1885)
	CC (1918–1950)			1 (1885–1950)
St Austell	CC	1885	1918	1
	CC	2010		1
St Germans	BC	1563	1832	2	Unrepresented 1654–1659
St Ives	BC (1558–1885)	1558		2 (1558–1832)	Unrepresented 1654–1659
	CC (1885–*)			1 (1832–*)
St Mawes	BC	1563	1832	2	Unrepresented 1654–1659
Saltash	BC	1547	1832	2	Unrepresented 1654–1659
Tregony	BC	1295	1296	2	Unrepresented 1654–1659
		1559	1832
Truro	BC (1295–1885)	1295	1918	2 (1295–1654)
				1 (1654–1659)
				2 (1659–1885)
	CC (1885–1918)			1 (1885–1918)
	CC	1950	1997	1
	CC	2010		1
	CC	1997	2010	1
West Looe	BC	1553	1832	2	Unrepresented 1654–1659

Periods constituencies represented

	1290–1295	1295–1296	1296–1298	1298–1305	1305–1529	1529–1547	1547–1552	1552–1553	1553–1558	1558–1559
Bodmin		1295–1654
Bossiney								1552–1654
Camelford							1547–1654
Cornwall	1290–1832
Grampound							1547–1654
Helston				1298–1654
Launceston		1295–1918
Liskeard		1295–1654
Lostwithiel					1305–1654
Mitchell							1547–1654
Newport						1529–1654
Penryn							1547–1654
St Ives										1558–1654
Saltash							1547–1654
Tregony		1295–1296
Truro		1295–1918
West Looe									1553–1654

	1559–1563	1563–1571	1571–1584	1584–1654	1654–1659	1659–1821	1821–1832	1832–1885	1885–1918
Bodmin	1295–1654					1659–1983
Bossiney	1552–1654					1659–1832
Callington				1584–1654		1659–1832
Camborne									1885–1950
Camelford	1547–1654					1659–1832
Cornwall	1290–1832
East Cornwall								1832–1885
West Cornwall								1832–1885
East Looe			1571–1654			1659–1832
East Looe and West Looe					1654–1659
Fowey			1571–1654			1659–1832
Grampound	1547–1654					1659–1821
Helston	1298–1654					1659–1885
Launceston	1295–1918
Liskeard	1295–1654					1659–1885
Lostwithiel	1547–1654					1659–1832
Mitchell	1547–1654					1659–1832
Newport	1529–1654					1659–1832
Penryn	1547–1654					1659–1832
Penryn and Falmouth								1832–1950
St Austell									1885–1918
St Germans		1563–1654				1659–1832
St Ives	1558–1654					1659–*
St Mawes		1563–1654				1659–1832
Saltash	1547–1654					1659–1832
Tregony	1559–1654					1659–1832
Truro	1295–1918
West Looe	1553–1654					1659–1832

	1918–1950	1950–1983	1983–1997	1997–2010	2010–*
Bodmin	1659–1983
Camborne	1885–1950
Camborne and Redruth					2010–*
North Cornwall	1918–*
South East Cornwall			1983–*
Falmouth and Camborne		1950–2010
Penryn and Falmouth	1832–1950
St Austell and Newquay					2010–*
St Ives	1659–*
Truro		1950–1997
Truro and Falmouth					2010–*
Truro and St Austell				1997–2010

Summaries

Summary of Constituencies by Type and Period

Note: Dates of representation prior to 1509 are provisional.

Type	1290	1295	1296	1298	1305	1529	1547	1552	1553	1558	1559	1563	1571	1584	1654	1659	1821	1832	1885	1918	2010
Borough	–	5	4	5	6	7	12	13	14	15	17	19	21	22	3	22	21	7	1	–	–
County	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	6	5	6
Total	1	6	5	6	7	8	13	14	15	16	18	20	22	23	4	23	22	9	7	5	6

Summary of members of parliament by Type and Period

Type	1290	1295	1296	1298	1305	1529	1547	1552	1553	1558	1559	1563	1571	1584	1654	1659	1821	1832	1868	1885	1918	2010
Borough	–	10	8	10	12	14	24	26	28	30	34	38	42	44	3	44	42	10	9	1	–	–
County	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	8	2	2	4	4	6	5	6
Total	2	12	10	12	14	16	26	28	30	32	36	40	44	46	11	46	44	14	13	7	5	6

See also

• Members of Parliament for constituencies in Cornwall
  • • Parliamentary representation by historic counties
• First Protectorate Parliament
• Unreformed House of Commons
• Politics of Cornwall
• Cornish rotten boroughs
• Mebyon Kernow
• Constitutional status of Cornwall

Further reading

• Edwin Jaggard Cornwall politics in the age of reform 1790–1855, Royal Historical Society/Boydell Press, (1999),

References

• Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885–1972, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Reference Publications 1972)
• British Parliamentary Constituencies: A Statistical Compendium, by Ivor Crewe and Anthony Fox (Faber and Faber 1984)
• British Parliamentary Election Results 1832–1885, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (The Macmillan Press 1977)
• The House of Commons 1509–1558, by S.T. Bindoff (Secker & Warburg 1982)
• The House of Commons 1558–1603, by P.W. Hasler (HMSO 1981)
• The House of Commons 1660–1690, by Basil Duke Henning (Secker & Warburg 1983)
• The House of Commons 1715–1754, by Romney Sedgwick (HMSO 1970)
• The House of Commons 1754–1790, by Sir Lewis Namier and John Brooke (HMSO 1964)
• The House of Commons 1790–1820, by R.G. Thorne (Secker & Warburg 1986)
• The Parliaments of England by Henry Stooks Smith (1st edition published in three volumes 1844–50), second edition edited (in one volume) by F.W.S. Craig (Political Reference Publications 1973) out of copyright