MK opposes "Devonwall" constituency

Mebyon Kernow has hit out at plans from the Conservative / Liberal Democrat Coalition for a review of parliamentary constituencies which could lead to a “Devon and Cornwall” cross-border constituency.

The Government this week announced plans for a referendum on an Alternative Vote system for the next General Election, but also proposed a reduction in the number of seats from 650 to 600. Each constituency would have around 78,000 voters and it has been stated that the constituencies should not deviate by more than 5% from this average size. It has been widely predicted that a cross-Tamar constituency could be created.

As a Party we are committed to the Single Transferable Vote and are disappointed that the referendum is only for the Alternative Vote and not a more proportional voting system.

But we find it unbelievable that leadership of the Lib Dems is actually promoting a cross-Tamar seat. It must be very upsetting for Lib Dem members in Cornwall to see the Deputy PM Nick Clegg so casually dismiss the call from Dan Rogerson MP for him to respect the “boundary between Cornwall and England,” trotting out the line that creating equal sized constituencies would outweigh all other considerations.

MK will fight to protect the integrity of Cornwall as a political unit, something that Nick Clegg and the Coalition Government do not even recognise as an issue.