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.
Labour † Conservative ‡ Liberal Democrat ¤
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.
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.[6] 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.
The final recommendations came into effect at the 2024 general election, and the six existing parliamentary constituencies in Cornwall were retained with the same names and relatively minor alterations compared to other parts of the country.[7]
Primary data source: House of Commons research briefing – General election results from 1918 to 2019[8]
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.
1Includes Constitutionalist in 1924 and National Liberal Party up to 1966
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.
Conservative Radical Whig
Conservative Independent Liberal Liberal Peelite Radical Whig
Conservative Independent Liberal Liberal Liberal Unionist
Conservative Liberal Liberal Unionist
Coalition Liberal (1918–22) / National Liberal (1922–23) Conservative Constitutionalist Independent Liberal Liberal National Liberal (1931–68)
Conservative Independent Labour Liberal National Liberal (1931–68)
Conservative Labour Liberal Liberal Democrats National Liberal (1931–68)
Conservative Labour Liberal Liberal Democrats National Liberal (1931–68)
Conservative Labour Liberal Democrats
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