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 2024 by Anna Gelderd, a Labour politician.^{[n 2]}

South East Cornwall
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of South East Cornwall in Cornwall
Location of Cornwall within England
County	Cornwall
Electorate	72,654 (2024)[1]
Major settlements	Liskeard, Saltash, Lostwithiel and Callington
Current constituency
Created	1983
Member of Parliament	Anna Gelderd (Labour)
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.

2010–2024: The District of Caradon, and the Borough of Restormel ward of Lostwithiel.

2024–present: Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, enacted by the Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023, from the 2024 United Kingdom general election, the constituency will be composed of the following electoral divisions of Cornwall (as they existed on 4th 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. Farming and tourism are important.

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
	2024	Anna Gelderd	Labour

Elections

Bodmin // South East Cornwall election results

Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: South East Cornwall^[6][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Anna Gelderd	15,670	31.8	+11.5
	Conservative	Sheryll Murray	13,759	27.9	–31.1
	Reform UK	Paul Wadley	9,311	18.9	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Colin Martin	8,284	16.8	+0.5
	Green	Martin Corney	1,999	4.1	+1.4
	Heritage	Graham Cowdry	263	0.5	N/A
Majority			1,911	3.9	N/A
Turnout			49,286	67.8	–5.0
Registered electors			72,728
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	21.3

Elections in the 2010s

2019 notional result[8]
Party		Vote	%
	Conservative	30,839	59.0
	Labour	10,614	20.3
	Liberal Democrats	8,520	16.3
	Green	1,405	2.7
	Others	869	1.7
Turnout		52,247	72.8
Electorate		71,734

General election 2019: South East Cornwall^[9]

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	N/A
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^[10]

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^[11][12]

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	N/A
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^[13][14]

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	N/A
	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^[15]

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	N/A
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^[16]

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^[17]

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	N/A
	Mebyon Kernow	Paul Dunbar	573	1.0	N/A
	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^[18][19]

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	N/A
	Anti-Federalist League	Anthony Quick	227	0.4	N/A
	Natural Law	Rosaleen Allen	155	0.3	N/A
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^[20]

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^[21]

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. "Result for Camborne and Redruth constituency - 4 July 2024". Cornwall Council. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
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
5. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "C" (part 6)
6. Kate Kennally (7 June 2024). "STATEMENT OF PERSONS NOMINATED, NOTICE OF POLL AND SITUATION OF POLLING STATIONS - South East Cornwall" (PDF). Cornwall Council. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
7. "Result for South East Cornwall constituency - 4 July 2024 - Cornwall Council". cornwall.gov.uk. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
8. "Notional results for a UK general election on 12 December 2019". Rallings & Thrasher, Professor David Denver (Scotland), Nicholas Whyte (NI) for Sky News, PA, BBC News and ITV News. UK Parliament. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
9. "UK election results live". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
10. "Cornwall South East parliamentary constituency". BBC News.
11. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
12. "Election results for South East Cornwall Constituency, 7 May 2015". democracy.cornwall.gov.uk. 7 May 2015. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
13. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
14. 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.
15. "BBC NEWS Election 2005 Results Cornwall South East". BBC Online. 6 May 2017. Retrieved 6 November 2017.
16. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
17. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
18. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
19. "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
20. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
21. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

External links

• South East Cornwall UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at MapIt UK
• South East Cornwall UK Parliament constituency (boundaries from June 2024) at MapIt UK

50.414°N 4.520°W / 50.414; -4.520