The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume one: Report – South West
Cornwall
Initial proposals
Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly has a combined electorate of 438,354, resulting in a mathematical entitlement to 5.97 constituencies. We did not consider that Cornwall needed to be paired with Devon and recommended that it be treated as its own sub-region and allocated six constituencies, the same as at present. Four existing constituencies have electorates that are within the permitted range. The two existing constituencies of St Austell and Newquay, and Truro and Falmouth have electorates above the permitted range. We therefore proposed relatively minor changes to the existing constituencies in the county. The existing North Cornwall constituency was wholly unchanged in our proposals, and the three existing constituencies of South East Cornwall, St Austell and Newquay, and St Ives were changed only to realign them with new local government ward boundaries. Under these proposals, the whole of the Roche & Bugle ward was included in South East Cornwall, and the Isles of Scilly would remain in the St Ives constituency.
We proposed the inclusion of the whole of the Perranporth ward, and the Threemilestone & Chacewater ward in our Camborne and Redruth constituency, and included within the Truro and Falmouth constituency the Constantine, Mabe & Mawnan ward, and the whole of the Falmouth Trescobeas & Budock ward from the Camborne and Redruth constituency. In addition to the inclusion of the whole wards mentioned previously in our proposed Camborne and Redruth constituency, we further proposed the inclusion of the whole of the wards of Lanner, Stithians & Gwennap, and St Agnes, which are currently divided between existing constituencies following local ward boundary changes.
We received several counter proposals, offering alternative configurations to constituencies in the county. Our initial proposals included the whole of the Roche & Bugle ward in the South East Cornwall constituency, but many argued that doing so would divide the historic China Clay area between constituencies. Instead, it was suggested it be included with other China Clay wards in the St Austell and Newquay constituency. Two counter proposals suggested the Fowey, Tywardreath & Par ward should be included in the South East Cornwall constituency to accommodate the Roche & Bugle ward’s inclusion in the St Austell and Newquay constituency.
We also received significant opposition to the inclusion of the Threemilestone & Chacewater ward in the Camborne and Redruth constituency. It was suggested that the ward should remain in the Truro and Falmouth constituency and respondents suggested that Threemilestone is a satellite village of Truro, with many local businesses considering themselves part of the greater Truro trading area. We again received differing counter proposals to resolve the inclusion of the Threemilestone & Chacewater ward in the Truro constituency.
While the initial proposals for the rest of the constituencies in the Cornwall sub-region were mostly uncontentious, there was some opposition to the proposed Camborne and Redruth, and St Ives constituencies. Some argued that the town of Hayle should be included in St Ives, and the St Ives constituency should reference the Lizard Peninsula in its name.
It had been suggested that, in order to accommodate the Roche & Bugle ward in St Austell and Newquay, the Fowey, Tywardreath & Par ward should be included in the South East Cornwall constituency. However, our Assistant Commissioners were not persuaded of this and considered that there was a strong association between this ward and the neighbouring St Blazey ward, both of which are included in the existing St Austell and Newquay constituency, as well as there being significantly weaker links to South East Cornwall, including a lack of a river crossing from this ward across the Fowey estuary. We agreed with their assessment and therefore did not accept these counter proposals, and proposed that the South East Cornwall constituency be unchanged from the existing constituency configuration. However, we did accept the evidence that the China Clay area should be wholly contained within one constituency and included the Roche & Bugle ward in the St Austell and Newquay constituency, which we considered was best accommodated by including the St Columb Major, St Mawgan & St Wenn ward in the North Cornwall constituency.
We accepted the evidence and the recommendations of our Assistant Commissioners that the Threemilestone & Chacewater ward be included in the Truro and Falmouth constituency, with the Constantine, Mabe & Mawnan ward being included in the Camborne and Redruth constituency. In this configuration the two wards are exchanged, with both wards being included in their existing constituencies. We accepted that the Constantine, Mabe & Mawnan ward most likely looked towards the town of Falmouth, but noted that the ward was currently in the existing Camborne and Redruth constituency, and that there were distinct benefits of retaining the Threemilestone & Chacewater ward in Truro and Falmouth.
We did not consider that any further change to the Camborne and Redruth constituency, or to St Ives was necessary.
Although the revised proposals received overall support, some minor objections were raised regarding the inclusion of the St Columb Major, St Mawgan & St Wenn ward in North Cornwall as a compensation for the inclusion of Roche & Bugle in St Austell and Newquay. One representation repeated the suggestion that this ward should instead be included in St Austell and Newquay, with the Fowey, Tywardreath & Par ward being included in South East Cornwall. Another representation opposed the inclusion of the Constantine, Mabe & Mawnan ward in Camborne and Redruth, arguing that it should be included in Truro and Falmouth, which was the compensatory change made to return the Threemilestone & Chacewater ward to Truro and Falmouth.
A few representations continued to oppose the inclusion of the town of Hayle in Camborne and Redruth (although the town is in the existing Camborne and Redruth constituency), suggesting that it should be included in St Ives instead. Several representations proposed alternative names for the St Ives constituency, such as: Penzance and Helston; West Cornwall and St Ives; West Penwith, Lizard and Scilly; or West Cornwall, St Ives and The Isles of Scilly. We also received some support for our pattern of constituencies, albeit with suggestions that we should further revise the boundaries to reflect new local government wards, which had been made by Order during the course of the 2023 Boundary Review.
We did not consider that there was sufficient support for any of the suggested name changes. We also considered that the proposal to split wards to reflect the new local government wards that were made by Order during the course of the 2023 Boundary Review was not justified. We generally only consider such matters if there are broader benefits to be gained from splitting a ward. We do not consider that splitting of wards in this instance is necessary. Having considered the evidence received, we consider that our revised proposals for the Cornwall sub-region provide the best balance between the statutory factors.
Our final recommendations for Cornwall are therefore for constituencies of: Camborne and Redruth; North Cornwall; South East Cornwall; St Austell and Newquay; St Ives; and Truro and Falmouth. The areas covered by these constituencies are listed in Volume two and shown on the maps in Volume three of this report.
