(
Cornish for "Sons of Cornwall", often abbreviated '''MK''') is a
Political Party in the
United Kingdom . The main objective of MK is to establish greater autonomy in
Cornwall , the south-westernmost county of the
United Kingdom .
MK was founded on
January 6 ,
1951 at a meeting held in
Redruth . Helena Charles was elected the party's first chair. At the first meeting, MK adopted the following objectives:
#''To study local conditions and attempt to remedy any that may be prejudicial to the best interests of Cornwall by the creation of public opinion or other means.''
#''To foster the
Cornish Language and
Literature .''
#''To encourage the study of
Cornish History from a
Cornish point of view.''
#''By self knowledge to further the acceptance of the idea of the
Celtic character of
Cornwall , one of the six
Celtic Nations .''
#''To publish pamphlets, broadsheets, articles and letters in the Press whenever possible, putting forward the foregoing aims.''
#''To arrange concerts and entertainments with a Cornish-Celtic flavour through which these aims can be further advanced.''
#''To cooperate with all societies concerned with preserving the character of Cornwall.''
By September 1951 they had officially come to a stance of supporting self-government for Cornwall, in what they hoped at the time would be a federal United Kingdom. MK won its first seat at local level on the Redruth-Camborne Urban Council in
1953 . Throughout the
1950s and
1960s , MK was in essence a political pressure group rather than a true political party, with members being able to join other political parties as well. However, by the
1970s the group developed into a more coherent and unified organization. During this decade, MK began contesting
Westminster parliamentary seats as well as local government ones. A schism in the early 1970s led to the formation of the
Cornish Nationalist Party .
They currently describe their philosophy as based on being: "Cornish, Green, Left of Centre, Decentralist." Mebyon Kernow is a member of the (their partner in the EFA) including a twinning arrangement with Plaid's
Blaenau Gwent branch, and to a lesser extent with the
SNP .
Daphne Du Maurier , the well known novelist, was at one point a member of Mebyon Kernow, as was
Andrew George , the
Liberal Democrat MP; he still remains sympathetic to many Cornish issues, but is no longer a member since they became a political party.
MK have an electoral partnership with the
Greens . In the
2005 Westminster Elections , MK did not contest the St Ives constituency to make room for the Green Party candidate. In return, the Greens did not stand against MK in any of the other four Cornish constituencies. MK has announced it will contest St Ives at the next general election.
In
1979 , in the first elections to the
European Parliament , Mebyon Kernow were able to attract almost ten percent of the vote in the Cornwall seat. This reflected a decade of steady growth for the party. MK continues to contest parliamentary seats with little electoral success, and also local government seats with more success. They lost their only Cornwall county councillor in 2001.
''(Source:
Election Demon )''
Since
11 November 2004 , there have been four MK councillors on Kerrier District Council, along with one in Restormel (the party leader
Dick Cole ) and, until his death in 2005,
John Bolitho in North Cornwall. One of the MK councillors in Kerrier,
Loveday Jenkin , joined the district council government in 2005 becoming the first MK councillor in such a position.
In May 2007 Mebyon Kernow achieved its best-ever round of election results in Cornwall’s district and town and parish councils. There were 225 district council seats up for election and MK put up 24 candidates. MK won seven district council seats, a nett gain of one; seventeen town/city council seats and four parish council places, a nett gain of one town/parish seat. MK polled about 5 percent of the total votes cast in the district council elections. The seats won included their first seat on
Caradon Council for 24 years; defended their seat on
North Cornwall District Council; three seats on
Kerrier District Council, where they lost one seat; and two on
Restormel Borough Council.
In the Town Council elections MK maintained groups of five councillors on both
Camborne Town Council and
Penzance Town Council, with three new councillors also elected to
Truro City Council and is also represented on town councils in
Callington ,
Liskeard and
Penryn .[http://www.mebyonkernow.org/Public/Stories/264-1.shtml Mebyon Kernow achieve best ever election results in 2007 district and town/parish elections]
In July 2000 Mebyon Kernow issued the "Declaration for a Cornish Assembly".
''"
Cornwall is a distinct region. It has a clearly defined economic, administrative and social profile. Cornwall's unique identity reflects its Celtic character, culture and environment. We declare that the people of Cornwall will be best served in their future governance by a Cornish regional assembly. We therefore commit ourselves to setting up the
Cornish Constitutional Convention with the intention of achieving a devolved Cornish Assembly -
Senedh Kernow ."''
Three months later the Cornish Constitutional Convention was held with the objective of establishing a devolved Assembly. In less than two years, it had collected signatures from over 50,000 people, of whom 41 650 were resident in Cornwall, which is about 10 percent of the total Cornish electorate. A delegation led by the West Cornwall
Liberal Democrat MP
Andrew George and representatives of the Convention (Bert Biscoe, Richard Ford,
Dick Cole , David Fieldsend and Andrew Climo Thompson) presented the declaration to
10 Downing Street on Wednesday
12 December 2001 .
BBC News 11th December 2001
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Currently the
South West Regional Assembly and the
South West Regional Development Agency have control over areas such as economic development, housing and strategic planning. The dominant Cornish
Political Party , the
Liberal Democrats , has called these "undemocratic and unaccountable". Motion to Cornwall Liberal Democrats’ Conference
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Cornwall Council's Feb 2003
MORI poll showed 55% in favour of an elected, fully-devolved regional assembly for Cornwall (Previous result :46% in favour in 2002). Give Cornwall what it wants.
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The campaign has the support of all five Cornish Lib Dem MPs, Mebyon Kernow, and Cornwall Council.
Lord Whitty , as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the
Department Of Environment, Transport And The Regions , in the
House Of Lords , recognised that Cornwall has a "special case" for
Devolution although "not a region... which can on its own determine its economic, transport and planning infrastructure".
House Of Lords debates, Wednesday, 21 March 2001, "Devolution: England"
transcript of speech On a visit to Cornwall deputy Prime Minister John Prescott said "Cornwall has the strongest regional identity in the UK".
1
- [http://www.cornishassembly.org/ Cornish Assembly Official Website 2006]
- Cornish Assembly - Senedh Kernow (archive)
- Mebyon Kernow
- [http://www.andrewgeorge.org.uk/press/motion.htm Motion to Cornwall Liberal Democrats' Conference Nov 2005]
- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/1704112.stm Blair gets Cornish Assembly call ]
- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/1661019.stm Scots leader backs Cornish Assembly ]
- [http://www.andrewgeorge.org.uk/press/158.htm George takes Cornish Assembly Campaign to Downing Street ]
- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2810789.stm Prescott pressed on Cornish Assembly poll]
- [http://www.andrewgeorge.org.uk/press/289.htm Minister leaves door open for Cornish Assembly]
- [http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm200506/cmhansrd/cm050712/halltext/50712h03.htm House of Commons Hansard Debate on Regional Government 12 Jul 2005]
- The Cornish: A Neglected Nation?
- [http://www.devolve.org/Regions.htm Territorial Devolution]
- [http://www.southwest-ra.gov.uk/swra/aboutus/index.shtml South West Regional assembly]
