Party for Cornwall Mebyon Kernow marks 70 year anniversary

On that day Mebyon Kernow (MK) was born and over the last seven decades the party has continued to fight for Cornwall and its people.

Dick Cole, leader of MK and figurehead of the party for more than 30 years, said that the party grew from a renewed interest in Cornish culture which has continued to this day.

“It is fair to say that there was a renaissance of Cornish culture and identity in the early 20th century. In the 1920s the Old Cornish Society and Gorsedh were set up and there were groups like Tyr ha Tavas being set up.

“There were people who were corresponding in Cornish and there was a growing awareness of Cornish identity.”

This continued through the 1940s and then the 1950s and early in 1951 that first meeting to create what would become MK was held.

Thirteen men and women came together at the Oates Temperance Hotel in Redruth and Helena Charles was elected as the first chairman – holding the post until 1956.

While MK was initially founded on the basis of protecting Cornish identity and culture it was a political body in that it had a commitment to self governance – a guiding principle which remains to this day.

By September 1951 MK had made a commitment to Cornwall’s “right to self-government in domestic affairs in a Federated United Kingdom”.

In its early days MK was more of a pressure group and members of other political parties could also be members.

And in the 1960s MK spearheaded a number of campaigns – not least being the first organisation to push for a university to be established in Cornwall, a campaign which would not be realised until 30 years later.

In 1965 MK put forward its first candidates for election and, in 1967, saw its first member elected to Cornwall County Council when Colin Murley was voted in to serve St Day and Lanner.

MK became a fully-fledged political party in the 1970s which meant that members of other political parties could no longer be members.

It was during the 1970s that MK first contested Parliamentary elections and in 1979 Richard Jenkin polled more than 10,000 in European Parliament elections.

The decade saw MK continuing to lead campaigns to protect the territorial integrity of Cornwall – a similar battle would be fought later, and continues today, to oppose the imposition of a so-called Devonwall MP who could represent areas both sides of the historic border.

In the 1980s the party continued to fight for single issues and while it fought less local elections through the decade Colin Lawry from Newlyn was elected first to Penwith District Council in 1982 and then to Cornwall County Council in 1985.

During the 1990s, under the chairmanship of Loveday Jenkin, MK put forward four candidates in the 1997 general election and the party had more success in local elections.

Councillors elected onto district councils included John Bolitho (Bude), Tom Tremewan (Perranporth), Loveday Jenkin (Crowan) and Dick Cole (St Enoder).

Dick was elected leader of MK in 1997 and has held the post ever since – currently the longest serving political party leader in the UK.

The 2000s saw MK fight more elections than ever before including general elections in 2001 and 2005.

In addition more councillors were elected to local councils in Cornwall including Phil Rendle (Penzance), Helene Cullimore (Camborne), Audrey Metcalfe (Illogan South), Jane Acton (Porthleven), John Chapman (Bodmin), Stuart Cullimore (Camborne), Andrew Long (Callington) and Matt Luke (Treverbyn).

2000 saw MK launch one of its most high profile campaigns with a Declaration for a Cornish Assembly which was signed by more than 50,000 people.

Launched on St Piran’s Day the final tally of signatures was presented to Number 10 Downing Street but, despite this swell of support, the government was considered to have ignored the call.

Since the formation of the unitary Cornwall Council in 2009 MK has consistently held seats at County Hall with members including Dick Cole (St

Enoder), Stuart Cullimore (Camborne), Andrew Long (Callington), Loveday Jenkin (Crowan and Wendron), Neil Plummer (Stithians), Tamsin Williams (Penzance) and Matt Luke (Penwithick and Boscoppa).

And the party also contested General Elections in Cornwall in both 2010 and 2015.

Today the party continues to campaign on a variety of issues including the continuing call for a Cornish Assembly, a tickbox for the Cornish on the census and for more devolution to Cornwall.

MK is also continuing to lobby on environmental issues as well as opposing current plans to change the planning system and backing the call for fairer funding for Cornwall and the protection of public services.

From its roots of 13 people gathered in a Redruth hotel, the party now boasts members all over Cornwall and continues to have councillors at Cornwall Council and on town and parish councils across the Duchy.

For Dick, the continuing struggle is to make sure that Cornwall’s voice is heard.

“The Westminster parties are not interested – this week the Government has started the new review into Parliamentary boundaries. We have continued our call for Cornwall to be protected against Devonwall but we have been ignored.

“If the projections are right in 10 years there will be a cross border MP in Cornwall.”

One of the key successes for MK and the Cornish in recent years was the acceptance of the Cornish as a national minority under the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities.

Yet despite this affording the Cornish the same protection as other Celtic nations such as Wales and Scotland the UK government has been criticised for failing to provide support, funding and protections which it is required to do.

Dick said: “We made progress with the minority status, that clearly is a massive change, but the UK government has failed to follow through on what it is meant to do.

“For example we don’t get a tick box on the census which is totally illogical.

“It is very, very frustrating, we want Cornwall to have more power so we have more say about issues that affect everything from environment to culture to planning, you name it we want to have more control over it.

“We hear talk about devolution but then we have MPs talking about the Great South West which would see Cornwall be merged into a region and no longer recognised.”

However, it is not all doom and gloom, Dick says he has great optimism for the future and thinks that MK and the Cornish can grow stronger.

One key part as been the growth in Cornish identity with more people than ever before recognising themselves as Cornish and wanting to embrace their history and culture.

While there is no tick box on the national census – more people have been writing in that they identify as Cornish.

“There is a great strength in Cornish identity, ” said Dick “that has grown over time and that support has transferred into the political arena.

“More people can see the benefits of Cornwall having its own assembly and more control over its future.”

And Dick said that the current coronavirus pandemic had shown how devolved nations can have more control over the action taken to tackle such crises.

He said: “If you think about what is happening at the moment with the pandemic, people in Cornwall are looking at Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland having the power to do things slightly differently to London – in the way they think is best for their people.

“Whereas Boris Johnson says what goes on in Cornwall and England the other Celtic parts of the country have the power to make their own decisions.

“People are saying ‘wouldn’t it be great if Cornwall had the power to make its own decisions?’. It is an example of how devolution can be a really positive thing. We need proper devolution and we need a Cornish Assembly.

“Cornwall is an historic nation and we are campaigning for more powers for that nation.”

As MK celebrates its milestone Dick said he has high hopes for the future: “We should be quite proud of the impact we have had over the years – we were the first to talk about a university for Cornwall. It is important that we have had a positive impact on Cornwall over the years.

“I am very optimistic that we will make good progress in the next few years and Cornwall will make progress with devolution. That is the positivity that we need to drive us forward.”

The priority for MK right now is preparing for the elections for Cornwall Council which are set to be held in May.

Dick said that the party would not be standing candidates in all 87 seats but would be putting people in target areas.

“MK is selecting candidates and identifying candidates in places – we are putting up candidates in seats we are targeting to win. We will have really serious candidates and I hope we will have more representation on Cornwall Council in the future.”