Devonwall was a political concept introduced in the United Kingdom in the 1970s by the Conservative government. It was an attempt to link Cornwall and Devon together in an economic, political and statistical sense to form a South West region. This involved combining and centralising some local government functions and services such as the police, ambulance, fire services and media output such as local TV and newspapers.
The Liberal Democrats supported this process until the late 1990s. Conversely, the Cornish political party Mebyon Kernow opposed the same process and it did not receive widespread support from the Cornish public.[ citation needed ] After the 1997 general election, the Liberal Democrats withdrew their support as they said that they agreed that the "Devonwall" process undermined Cornwall's claims to European Objective One funding. Cornish demands for Objective One grant aid in the early 1990s for regeneration were often dismissed by Government officials as unrealistic and unobtainable,[ citation needed ] but this ignored the fact that of the 56 most deprived areas in Devon and Cornwall, 51 were in Cornwall. Cornwall also had less than 75% of the average European GDP but these statistics were hidden when statistically Cornwall and Devon (with a higher GDP) were linked together. There were also claims that "Devonwall" was an attempt by politicians to hijack the Cornish Celtic identity.[ citation needed ]
In 1998, the new Labour Government recognised Cornwall as having "distinct cultural and historical factors reflecting a Celtic background", [1] thus allowing it to be separated in a regional and economic sense from Devon. This fact underlines the importance of Celticity to Cornwall in recent years. 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."
Between 2000 and 2006, £350 million of Objective One funding was made available to Cornwall and the next "tranche" (called Convergence funding) will last between the beginning of 2008 to 2013 and will be worth £445 million. There have been many complaints from Cornish people that the management of the Objective One investment is largely controlled from outside Cornwall,[ citation needed ] by the South West Regional Development Agency (SWRDA), in Exeter and Bristol. Cornwall is the only Objective One region in the UK and Europe where the project is administered from outside the region.[ citation needed ]
Today many Cornish organisations such as Mebyon Kernow, Cornish Solidarity, the Liberal Democrats, the Cornish Constitutional Convention and Conservative PPCs and independent councillors still campaign against the "Devonwall" concept and are in favour of Cornwall being run as a distinct cultural, economic and administrative region with its own assembly.[ citation needed ]
There was renewed opposition to "Devonwall" in Cornwall in 2010, when the new government announced that local enterprise partnerships will replace regional development agencies. Devon County Council and Devon-based business interests, including the media, wanted to join with Cornwall to form a "Devonwall" LEP, but there was widespread opposition to this in Cornwall,[ citation needed ] with Cornwall Council favouring a Cornwall and Isles of Scilly LEP. [2]
Further opposition arose in 2010 to a cross-border parliamentary constituency, dubbed a "Devonwall" constituency, as part of the coalition government's plans to reform the electoral boundaries. It was condemned by Mebyon Kernow and the Keep Cornwall Whole campaign, who planned protests in Saltash by the boundary of the historical division between Devon and Cornwall, [3] one of which took place in October 2010. [4] It was announced in September 2011 that the proposed new seat would include Bude in North Cornwall and Bideford in West Devon. [5] The idea resurfaced following the Conservative Party's outright victory in the 2015 United Kingdom general election, within which they took every Cornish seat. [6]
Cornwall is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations and is the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, Devon to the east, and the English Channel to the south. The largest settlement is Falmouth, and the county town is the city of Truro.
The Cornish Nationalist Party is a political party, founded by Dr James Whetter, who campaigned for independence for Cornwall.
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 Wessex Regionalists are a minor English regionalist political party in the United Kingdom. It seeks a degree of legislative and administrative home rule for Wessex, an area in the south and south-west of England loosely based on the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the same name.
Andrew Henry George is a British Liberal Democrat politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of St Ives in Cornwall from 1997 to 2015, when he was defeated by the Conservatives' Derek Thomas. He was the vice-chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Housing and Planning Group in the 2010 parliament. He currently serves as a Cornwall Councillor for Ludgvan, Madron, Gulval and Heamoor, having been elected in the 2021 local elections.
The regional chambers of England were a group of indirectly elected regional bodies that were created by the provisions of the Regional Development Agencies Act 1998. There were eight regional chambers, one for each of the regions of England except Greater London, which had opted for an elected mayor and assembly in 1998. All eight regional chambers had adopted the title "regional assembly" or "assembly" as part of their name, though this was not an official status in law. The chambers were abolished over a two-year period between 31 March 2008 and 31 March 2010 and some of their functions were assumed by newly established local authority leaders' boards.
The constitutional status of Cornwall has been a matter of debate and dispute. Cornwall is an administrative county of England.
Dick Cole is a Cornish politician, currently serving as an elected member of Cornwall Council and the leader of the Cornish devolutionist political party, Mebyon Kernow, a role he has held since 1997. He is currently one of the longest serving political leaders in Britain. Dick Cole was first elected MK leader in 1997. He lives in Fraddon, a village in Mid-Cornwall.
Cornwall Council, known until 2009 as Cornwall County Council, is the unitary authority which governs the district of Cornwall, which covers the majority of the ceremonial county of the same name in the South West of England. The council has had a Conservative Party majority since the 2021 local elections. Its headquarters is Lys Kernow in Truro.
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 South West Regional Assembly (SWRA) was the regional chamber for South West England, established in 1999. It was wound up in December 2008. Its functions were taken on by the Strategic Leaders' Board, the executive arm of the newly established South West Councils.
Cornwall is administered as a county of South West England whose politics are influenced by a number of issues that make it distinct from the general political scene in the wider United Kingdom, and the political trends of neighbouring counties. Its position on the geographical periphery of the island of Great Britain is also a factor.
The economy of Cornwall in South West England is largely dependent upon agriculture, followed by tourism. Cornwall is one of the poorest areas in the United Kingdom with a GVA of 70.9% of the national average in 2015. It is one of four areas in the UK that qualified for poverty-related grants from the EU. Farming and food processing contributed £366 million to the county's economy in 2006, equal to 5.3% of Cornwall’s total GVA. The agriculture industry in Cornwall employed 9,500 people as of 2011. 23,700 more were employed in the food industry in Cornwall. The Cornish economy also depends heavily on its successful tourist industry, which contributes 12% of Cornwall's GDP and supports about 1 in 5 jobs. Tourism contributed £1.85 billion to the Cornish economy in 2011.
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:
Cornish Solidarity was a Cornish direct action protest group founded in 1998, campaigning for Cornish issues, principally including Objective One status for Cornwall and more support for the Cornish economy in light of mine closures during the 1990s.
Richard Garfield Jenkin, was a Cornish nationalist politician and one of the founding members of Mebyon Kernow. He was also a Grand Bard of the Gorseth Kernow.
Garry Harcourt Tregidga is a Cornish academic, director of the Institute of Cornish Studies at the University of Exeter's Penryn Campus in Cornwall, UK, and editor of the journal Cornish Studies.
The Cornish Constitutional Convention was formed in November 2000 with the objective of establishing a devolved Cornish Assembly. The convention is a cross-party, cross-sector association with support both in Cornwall and elsewhere. It is not campaigning for any form of separatism or independence.
Devonwall is a jocular name used in 2010 for a possible constituency that would combine parts of Devon and Cornwall and would be represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
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.
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