About me

My name is Dick Cole and I have been the leader of Mebyon Kernow – the Party for Cornwall since 1997.

I joined MK in 1988 and was elected Press and Campaigns Officer four years later. Since then I have been involved in many campaigns for a better deal for Cornwall, which include fighting for fair funding for our public services such as hospitals and schools, protecting the environment and winning local institutions to serve local people.

I have played a leading role in the campaign for greater self-government for Cornwall. I produced the ‘Declaration for a Cornish Assembly’ which was signed by over 50,000 people and, in recent months, I have been heavily involved in the fight against a single unitary authority.

Since 1999, I have also served my local community of St Enoder on Restormel Borough Council and the local Parish Council. In my time on the Borough Council, I have focussed on affordable housing, planning and economic regeneration, particularly in the China Clay Area. I chair Policy and Scrutiny 4 (planning policy committee) which is working to develop more ambitious targets for affordable housing and I also sit on the taskforce set up following the announcement of the forthcoming job cuts at Imerys.

As a local councillor, I am actively involved with a large number of organisations within my ward. I am extremely proud that I have personally been able to raise over £185,000 through grant applications for a range of projects, including a new bandroom for Indian Queens Band.

Brought up just outside Indian Queens, I now live in Fraddon with his wife Ann. I worked in agriculture during the 1980s before going to university in Wales. I work as an archaeologist for the Historic Environment Service of Cornwall County Council.