History of Cornwall |
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Cornwallportal |
Cornish devolution is the movement to increase the governing powers of the County of Cornwall. [1]
In 1066, much of Cornwall was invaded by the Normans [2] and Brian of Brittany may have been made earl of Cornwall by William the Conqueror and some Cornish people returned to Cornwall from Brittany following prior invasion by the Anglo-Saxons. [3]
The peerage of the Earl of Cornwall was created and first appointed to Condor of Cornwall, a survivor of the royal lineage of Cornwall. [4]
The Duchy of Cornwall was formed in 1337 by English king Edward III for his first born son, Prince Edward and a charter stated this would continue in the same manner for each eldest son of the English monarch. The Duke of Cornwall is the title given to the holder of the Duchy of Cornwall and the Duke holds some rights in Cornwall and owns the coastline and riverbeds around Cornwall as well as the significant profits from which are produced. These profits contribute to financial support of the English Duke of Cornwall. [5]
In 1497, Michael Joseph An Gof and Thomas Flamank and a Cornish army marched upon London in protest of raised taxes by Henry VII who aimed to increase funding for a war against the Scots. The Cornish army was defeated and An Gof and Flamank were both executed. However, the rebellion may have influenced the decision by the Henry VII to introduce the Charter of Pardon in 1508 which gave powers to the Convocation of the Tinners of Cornwall (commonly known as the Stannary Parliaments) to veto English legislation in Cornwall. [4]
The Local Government Act 1888 established Cornwall as an administrative county and established Cornwall County Council. [6]
Managing director of Ginsters Mark Duddridge has outlined what he believes to be key reasons that Cornwall would benefit from increased devolution powers citing:
The Cornish Constitutional Convention was formed in 2000 as a cross-party organisation including representatives from the private, public and voluntary sectors to campaign for the creation of a Cornish Assembly, [8] along the lines of the National Assembly for Wales, Northern Ireland Assembly and the Scottish Parliament. Between 5 March 2000 and December 2001, the campaign collected the signatures of 41,650 Cornish residents endorsing the call for a devolved assembly, along with 8,896 signatories from outside Cornwall. The resulting petition was presented to the Prime Minister, Tony Blair. [8]
Cornish party Mebyon Kernow has called for the creation of a Cornish Assembly or parliament in light of the 2021 G7 summit in Cornwall, stating: "...what better legacy could there be than parity with the other Celtic parts of the UK, such as Scotland and Wales, in terms of influence and investment, and a comprehensive devolution deal, which would deliver a Cornish Assembly or Parliament?" [9]
Since 2021 an "All Under One Banner" march has occurred annually on 19 March in Cornwall to both celebrate St Piran's Day and promote greater autonomy for Cornwall and a greater discussion on its future. [10]
A report by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), an independent think tank, suggested that Cornwall has "outgrown" the original devolution deal of 2015.
Sarah Longlands, director of IPPR North suggested that Cornwall needs "the power and resources to be able to get on and get the job done, rather than wait for central government to make the next move" and that based on their research "it is clear that Cornwall has made the best of the fairly limited decentralisation deal that it was originally offered." Longlands also suggested that due to the decline of the hospitality industry during the COVID-19 pandemic and "the uncertainty of Brexit, now is the time to give Cornwall real devolution which means that they have the economic powers and resources they need to support a strong and fair recovery.” [11]
Cornwall Council has outlined several areas in which they are seeking devolution of powers from central government:
In 2015 Cornwall became the first county of England to receive new devolved powers which included;
In 2016 authority for the Cornish language (recognised under the Charter for Regional and Minority Languages in 2003) was transferred to Cornwall Council from the central government. [13]
In December 2022 at Spaceport Cornwall, Dehenna Davison the Parliamentary-Under Secretary of State for Levelling Up announced a package worth £360m transferring building and skills powers to Cornwall Council. The devolution deal required Cornwall to create a new directly elected regional Mayor (Meryon in Cornish). [14] The powers were designed to give the council and Mayor/Meryon "greater control over transport budgets, building, skills delivery, and greater influence with government to tackle challenges of second homes" [15] [16] [17]
The council announced in April 2023, it would be abandoning the proposed devolution deal and the role of a directly elected mayor due to public opposition. The council would instead look into a smaller devolution deal. [18] [19]
A cross-party motion led by Dick Cole and supported by a total of 27 councillors is set to go to a meeting of Cornwall Council in April 2023 and states, “Cornwall Council resolves to inform the UK Government that we wish to commence negotiations for a more meaningful devolution settlement similar to those enjoyed in the other Celtic parts of the UK (ie. a National Assembly of Cornwall or Cornish Parliament).
“Cornwall Council also resolves to request a meeting between the Secretary of State and a cross-party delegation from Cornwall Council as a matter of urgency.” [20] The motion failed to pass in the Cornish council with 38 to 36 councilors voting against the motion. [21]
The Cornish Nationalist Party is a political party founded in 1975. It initially campaigned for independence for Cornwall but later supported devolved powers under central UK control.
Mebyon Kernow – The Party for Cornwall is a Cornish nationalist, centre-left political party in Cornwall, in southwestern Britain. It currently has five elected councillors on Cornwall Council, and several town and parish councillors across Cornwall.
The Senedd, officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English and Senedd Cymru in Welsh, is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, it makes laws for Wales, agrees to certain taxes, and scrutinises the Welsh Government. It is a bilingual institution, with both Welsh and English being the official languages of its business. From its creation in May 1999 until May 2020, the Senedd was officially known as the National Assembly for Wales and was often simply called the Welsh Assembly.
Politics of England forms the major part of the wider politics of the United Kingdom, with England being more populous than all the other countries of the United Kingdom put together. As England is also by far the largest in terms of area and GDP, its relationship to the UK is somewhat different from that of Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. The English capital London is also the capital of the UK, and English is the dominant language of the UK. Dicey and Morris (p26) list the separate states in the British Islands. "England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man, Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, and Sark.... is a separate country in the sense of the conflict of laws, though not one of them is a State known to public international law." But this may be varied by statute.
Michael Joseph, better known as Michael An Gof, was one of the leaders of the Cornish rebellion of 1497, along with Thomas Flamank.
The Duchy of Cornwall is one of two royal duchies in England, the other being the Duchy of Lancaster. The eldest son of the reigning British monarch obtains possession of the duchy and the title of Duke of Cornwall at birth or when his parent succeeds to the throne, but may not sell assets for personal benefit and has limited rights and income while a minor.
The Cornish rebellion of 1497, also known as the First Cornish rebellion, was a popular uprising in the Kingdom of England, which began in Cornwall and culminated with the Battle of Deptford Bridge near London on 17 June 1497.
The constitutional status of Cornwall has been a matter of debate and dispute. Cornwall is an administrative county of England.
Cornwall Council, known between 1889 and 2009 as Cornwall County Council, is the local authority which governs the non-metropolitan county of Cornwall in South West England. Since 2009 it has been a unitary authority, having taken over district-level functions when the county's districts were abolished. The non-metropolitan county of Cornwall is slightly smaller than the ceremonial county, which additionally includes the Isles of Scilly. The council is under no overall control since July 2024, when the Conservatives lost their majority. Its headquarters is Lys Kernow in Truro.
Local authority areas in England typically have an executive leader and a cabinet selected from the local council, similar to how the national prime minister and cabinet are selected from Parliament. In contrast, residents of some areas, or groups of areas known as combined authorities or combined county authorities, directly elect the executive mayors of their local government.
A Cornish Assembly is a proposed devolved law-making assembly for Cornwall along the lines of the Scottish Parliament, the Senedd and the Northern Ireland Assembly in the United Kingdom.
The Royal Commission on the Constitution, also referred to as the Kilbrandon Commission or Kilbrandon Report, was a long-running royal commission set up by Harold Wilson's Labour government to examine the structures of the constitution of the United Kingdom and the British Islands and the government of its constituent countries, and to consider whether any changes should be made to those structures. It was started under Lord Crowther on 15 April 1969, Lord Kilbrandon took over in 1972, and it finally reported on 31 October 1973.
Cornish nationalism is a cultural, political and social movement that seeks the recognition of Cornwall – the south-westernmost part of the island of Great Britain – as a nation distinct from England. It is usually based on three general arguments:
A combined authority (CA) is a type of local government institution introduced in England outside Greater London by the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009. CAs are created voluntarily and allow a group of local authorities to pool appropriate responsibility and receive certain devolved functions from central government in order to deliver transport and economic policy more effectively over a wider area. In areas where local government is two-tier, both must participate in the combined authority.
The Localism Act 2011 is an Act of Parliament that changes the powers of local government in England. The aim of the act is to facilitate the devolution of decision-making powers from central government control to individuals and communities. The measures affected by the Act include an increase in the number of elected mayors, referendums and the "Local authority’s general power of competence" which states "A local authority has power to do anything that individuals generally may do".
In the United Kingdom, devolution is the Parliament of the United Kingdom's statutory granting of a greater level of self-government to the Scottish Parliament, the Senedd, the Northern Ireland Assembly and the London Assembly and to their associated executive bodies: the Scottish Government, the Welsh Government, the Northern Ireland Executive and in England, the Greater London Authority and combined authorities.
The Cities and Local Government Devolution Act 2016 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that allows for the introduction of directly elected mayors to combined authorities in England and Wales and the devolution of housing, transport, planning and policing powers to them. The bill was introduced to the House of Lords by Baroness Williams of Trafford, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, on 28 May 2015.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Cornwall: Cornwall – ceremonial county and unitary authority area of England within the United Kingdom. Cornwall is a peninsula bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall is also a royal duchy of the United Kingdom. It has an estimated population of half a million and it has its own distinctive history and culture.
The Mayor of West Yorkshire is a directly elected mayor responsible for the metropolitan county of West Yorkshire in England. The Mayor chairs and leads the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, and assumes the office and powers of the West Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner.
The North East Combined Authority (NECA) is a combined authority in North East England. It has a directly-elected Mayor and seven member councils: two are unitary authorities and five are metropolitan borough councils. The combined authority's area and the separate Tees Valley devolved region occupy the wider statistical region of North East England.