Tories and Lib Dems vote for Devonwall seat

I have just got home from a three-hour Parish Council meeting to find out the result of the House of Lords vote on amendment 25 on the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill.

This amendment, initially moved by Lord Teverson, sought to ensure that “all parts of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly must be included in constituencies that are wholly in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.”

The amendment failed. It was lost by 250 votes to 221.

A summary of the vote shows that the amendment was supported by a single Conservative peer, 177 Labour members, 11 Liberal Democrats and 32 others. It was opposed by 153 Tories, 63 Liberal Democrats and 3 others.

I am amazed that so few Conservative and Liberal Democrat peers supported the amendment. I am particularly dumbstruck that two Lib Dem peers who I have shared platforms with at Cornish Constitutional Convention events voted against Keeping Cornwall Whole. How can they support greater Cornish self-government and then attack Cornwall’s territoriality in this way?

MK will be putting out an official comment tomorrow.