South East Cornwall (UK Parliament constituency)

South East Cornwall is a constituency^{[n 1]} represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Sheryll Murray, a Conservative.^{[n 2]}

South East Cornwall
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of South East Cornwall in Cornwall for the 2010 general election
Location of Cornwall within England
County	Cornwall
Electorate	70,599 (2018)^[1]
Current constituency
Created	1983
Member of Parliament	Sheryll Murray (Conservative)
Seats	One
Created from	Bodmin, Cornwall North and Truro^[2]

Sketchmap of 2010 parliamentary constituencies in Cornwall - click to enlarge

Boundaries

 

Map of current boundaries

1983–2010: The District of Caradon, the Borough of Restormel wards of Fowey, Lostwithiel, St Blaise, and Tywardreath, and the District of North Cornwall ward of Stoke Climsland.

2010–present: The District of Caradon, and the Borough of Restormel ward of Lostwithiel.

Proposed

Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, enacted by the Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023, from the next general election, due by January 2025, the constituency will be composed of the following electoral divisions of Cornwall (as they existed on 4^th May 2021):

• Callington & St Dominic; Calstock; Liskeard Central; Liskeard South & Dobwalls; Looe East & Deviock; Looe West, Pelynt, Lansallos & Lanteglos; Lostwithiel & Lanreath; Lynher; Rame Peninsula & St Germans; St Cleer & Menheniot; Saltash Essa; Saltash Tamar; Saltash Trematon & Landrake; Torpoint.^[3]

Very small change to align with revised electoral division boundaries.

History

The predecessor county division, Bodmin, serving the area from 1885 until 1983 had (during those 98 years) 15 members (two of whom had broken terms of office serving the area), seeing twelve shifts of preference between the Liberal, Liberal Unionist and Conservative parties, spread quite broadly throughout that period. Consistent with this, since 1983 the preference for an MP has alternated between Liberal Democrats and Conservatives.

The current constituency territory contains the location of several former borough constituencies which were abolished as 'rotten boroughs' by the Great Reform Act, 1832:

• Callington
• East Looe
• Fowey
• Lostwithiel
• Saltash
• St Germans
• West Looe and Polperro

Constituency profile

The villages and towns in the South East of Cornwall often serve as a commuter base to the city of Plymouth, over the border in Devon.

Workless claimants were in November 2012 significantly lower than the national average of 3.8%, at 2.5% of the population based on a statistical compilation by The Guardian.^[4]

Members of Parliament

Election		Member^[5]	Party
	1983	Robert Hicks	Conservative
	1997	Colin Breed	Liberal Democrat
	2010	Sheryll Murray	Conservative

Elections

 

Bodmin // South East Cornwall election results

Elections in the 2020s

Next general election: South East Cornwall

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Martin Corney^[6]
	Labour	Anna Gelderd^[7]
	Liberal Democrats	Colin Martin^[8]
	Conservative	Sheryll Murray^[9]
	Reform UK	Paul Wadley^[10]
Majority
Turnout
Registered electors
			Swing

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: South East Cornwall^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sheryll Murray	31,807	59.3	+3.9
	Labour	Gareth Derrick	10,836	20.2	-2.4
	Liberal Democrats	Colin Martin	8,650	16.1	-3.3
	Green	Martha Green	1,493	2.8	+0.3
	Liberal	Jay Latham	869	1.6	New
Majority			20,971	39.1	+6.3
Turnout			53,655	74.7	+0.7
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.2

General election 2017: South East Cornwall^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sheryll Murray	29,493	55.4	+4.9
	Labour	Gareth Derrick	12,050	22.6	+13.3
	Liberal Democrats	Phil Hutty	10,346	19.4	+2.5
	Green	Martin Corney	1,335	2.5	-2.9
Majority			17,443	32.8	-0.8
Turnout			53,224	74.0	+2.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	-4.2

General election 2015: South East Cornwall^[13][14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sheryll Murray	25,516	50.5	+5.4
	Liberal Democrats	Phil Hutty	8,521	16.9	−21.7
	UKIP	Bradley Monk	7,698	15.2	+9.0
	Labour	Declan Lloyd	4,692	9.3	+2.2
	Green	Martin Corney	2,718	5.4	+3.7
	Mebyon Kernow	Andrew Long	1,003	2.0	+0.7
	Independent	George Trubody	350	0.7	New
Majority			16,995	33.6	+28.1
Turnout			50,498	71.1	+2.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	+13.6

General election 2010: South East Cornwall^[15][16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sheryll Murray	22,390	45.1	+10.1
	Liberal Democrats	Karen Gillard	19,170	38.6	−8.1
	Labour	Michael Sparling	3,507	7.1	−3.4
	UKIP	Stephanie McWilliam	3,083	6.2	+1.1
	Green	Roger Creagh-Osborne	826	1.7	New
	Mebyon Kernow	Roger Holmes	641	1.3	−0.4
Majority			3,220	6.5	N/A
Turnout			49,617	68.7	+1.0
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing	+9.1

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: South East Cornwall^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Colin Breed	24,986	46.7	+0.8
	Conservative	Ashley Gray	18,479	34.6	−0.9
	Labour	Colin Binley	6,069	11.4	−1.0
	UKIP	David Lucas	2,693	5.0	+1.2
	Mebyon Kernow	Graham Sandercock	769	1.4	−0.9
	Veritas	Anne Assheton-Salton	459	0.9	New
Majority			6,507	12.1	+1.7
Turnout			53,455	66.2	+0.8
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	+0.9

General election 2001: South East Cornwall^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Colin Breed	23,756	45.9	−1.2
	Conservative	Ashley Gray	18,381	35.5	−0.3
	Labour	William Stevens	6,429	12.4	−0.4
	UKIP	Graham Palmer	1,978	3.8	+1.3
	Mebyon Kernow	Kenneth George	1,209	2.3	+1.3
Majority			5,375	10.4	-0.9
Turnout			51,753	65.4	−10.3
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	−0.5

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: South East Cornwall^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Colin Breed	27,044	47.1	+9.0
	Conservative	Warwick Lightfoot	20,564	35.8	−15.1
	Labour	Dorothy M. Kirk	7,358	12.8	+3.6
	UKIP	James Wonnacott	1,428	2.5	New
	Mebyon Kernow	Paul Dunbar	573	1.0	New
	Liberal	Bill Weights	268	0.5	−0.6
	Natural Law	Margot Hartley	197	0.3	0.0
Majority			6,480	11.3	N/A
Turnout			57,400	75.7	-6.4
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing	+12.0

General election 1992: South East Cornwall^[20][21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Hicks	30,565	51.0	−0.6
	Liberal Democrats	Robin Teverson	22,861	38.1	−1.6
	Labour Co-op	Linda Gilroy	5,536	9.2	+0.5
	Liberal	Maureen Cook	644	1.1	New
	Anti-Federalist League	Anthony Quick	227	0.4	New
	Natural Law	Rosaleen Allen	155	0.3	New
Majority			7,704	12.9	+1.0
Turnout			59,988	82.1	+2.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.5

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: South East Cornwall^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Hicks	28,818	51.6	−3.7
	Liberal	Ian Tunbridge	22,211	39.7	+0.8
	Labour	Paul Clark	4,847	8.7	+3.8
Majority			6,607	11.9	-4.5
Turnout			55.876	79.5	+0.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	−2.3

General election 1983: South East Cornwall^[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Hicks	28,326	55.3
	Liberal	David Blunt	19,972	38.9
	Labour	Andrew Bebb	2,507	4.9
	Ecology	John Chadwick	337	0.7
	Independent	Joy Dent	94	0.2
Majority			8,354	16.4
Turnout			51,236	78.6
	Conservative win (new seat)

See also

•  Cornwall portal

• List of parliamentary constituencies in Cornwall
• Forgotten Corner of Cornwall
• Wivelshire

Notes

1. A county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
2. As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.

References

1. "England Parliamentary electorates 2010-2018". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
2. "'Cornwall South East', June 1983 up to May 1997". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
3. "The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule 1 Part 7 South West region.
4. Unemployment claimants by constituency The Guardian
6. "Cornwall Green Party candidates for 2024/25 General Election". Cornwall Green Party. 16 April 2024. Retrieved 16 April 2024.
7. Anna Gelderd [@annagelderd] (11 April 2024). "I'm delighted to have been selected as @SECornwallclp's candidate at the next general election. The Tory's have let us down for too long, join us & let's fight to get our future back!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
8. "Liberal Democrat Prospective Parliamentary Candidates". Mark Pack. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
9. "Conservative MPs in Cornwall to stand again at next General Election". Cornwall Live. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
10. "South East Cornwall Constituency". Reform UK. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
11. "UK election results live". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
12. "Cornwall South East parliamentary constituency". BBC News.
13. . Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
14. "Election results for South East Cornwall Constituency, 7 May 2015". democracy.cornwall.gov.uk. 7 May 2015. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
15. . Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
16. Lavery, Kevin (20 April 2010). "South East Cornwall statement of persons nominated and notice of poll" (MSWord). Acting Returning Officer. Cornwall Council. Retrieved 20 April 2010.
17. "BBC NEWS Election 2005 Results Cornwall South East". BBC Online. 6 May 2017. Retrieved 6 November 2017.
18. . Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
19. . Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
20. . Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
21. "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
22. . Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
23. . Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

50°24′50″N 4°31′12″W / 50.414°N 4.520°W / 50.414; -4.520