Cornwall Council

Devolution

The campaign for Cornish devolution began in 2000 with the founding of the Cornish Constitutional Convention, a cross-party, cross-sector association that campaigns for devolution to Cornwall. In 2009 the Liberal Democrat MP Dan Rogerson introduced a bill in parliament seeking to take power from Whitehall and regional quangos and pass it to Cornwall Council, with the intention of making the council an assembly similar to the National Assembly for Wales. In November 2010 the Prime Minister, David Cameron, suggested in comments to the local press that his government would "devolve a lot of power to Cornwall – that will go to the Cornish unitary authority." In 2011, the then Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said he would meet a cross party group, including the six Cornish MPs, to look at whether more powers could be devolved to Cornwall.

Some powers were eventually devolved from the government to Cornwall Council in 2015, relating to matters including bus franchising, education and apprenticeships, renewable energy and energy efficiency and integration of health and social care services. Further devolved powers were agreed in November 2023, including in relation to adult education and Cornish distinctiveness and promotion of the Cornish language.

In July 2026, the cabinet of Cornwall Council agreed to a UK government proposal for the council itself to gain Foundation Strategic Authority status, without forming a combined authority or electing a mayor.

In September 2026, the current Prime Minister Andy Burnham asked Number 10 North to begin work with Cornwall Council and formally offered a bespoke devolution deal without the need of a mayor.

Political control

The council has been under no overall control since July 2024. Following the 2025 election the council remained under no overall control. Reform UK won the largest number of seats on the council at that election, but were unable to find any potential coalition partners willing to work with them. Instead a minority administration of the Liberal Democrats (the second-largest party, with 26 seats) and the independent councillors formed to run the council instead.

Political control of the council since the 1974 reforms has been as follows:

Leadership

The leaders of the council since 2005 have been:

Current composition

Following the 2025 election, and party allegiance changes since (see below), the composition of the Council, as of October 2026, is:

Party		Councillors	Change since 2025 election
	Liberal Democrats	26
	Reform	20	8
	Independent	15	1
	Conservative	7
	Labour	5	1
	Cornish Independent Nonaligned Group	3	3
	Green	2	1
	Mebyon Kernow	3
	Independent Non Aligned	2	2
	Restore	2	2
	Stand Alone Independent	1	1
	Non-aligned	1	1
Total:		87

Changes since the last election

• Dulcie Tudor (Threemilestone & Chacewater, elected as Independent) did not join the Independent group which formed the Liberal Democrat-Independent administration following the May 2025 election, and sits as a non-aligned member.
• In October 2025, Rowland O'Connor (St Columb Major, St Mawgan & St Wenn), who had been Deputy Leader of the Council's Reform group but had left Reform earlier that month, and Reform councillors Rob Parsonage (Torpoint), who had been Leader of the Council's Reform Group but had resigned from that role earlier in the month, Christine Parsonage (St Columb Minor & Colan), Karen Knight (Camborne West & Treswithian) and Anna Thomason-Kenyon (Constantine, Mabe & Mawnan), formed the "Cornish Independent Nonaligned" group (CING), citing differences with the national Reform leadership.
  • At the end of October 2025, Christine Parsonage (St Columb Minor & Colan) resigned from the Council, citing health reasons. The subsequent by-election for the division in December 2025 saw Heinz Glanville win the division (back) for Reform.
  • In February 2026, Rob Parsonage (Torpoint) defected from the CING group to the Conservatives.
• In November 2025, former Chair of the Council Pauline Giles (St Blazey) resigned from the Conservative group following criticism of a Facebook post where she promoted an anti-immigrant petition originated by Rupert Lowe. She initially sat as a stand-alone independent, and has since formed an "Independent Non-Aligned" group with Susanne Desmonde (Pool and Tehidy), who left the Reform group in April 2026.
• In February 2026, Reform Councillor Kevin Towill (Newquay Porth & Tretherras) passed away at the age of 46. The subsequent by-election on 23 April 2026 saw Lyndon Harrison retain the division for Reform.
• On 21 April 2026, deputy group leader of Reform Roger Tarrant (Redruth North) announced his defection to Restore Britain. In July 2026, he was joined by Bruce Craze (Four Lanes, Beacon & Troon), who also defected from Reform to Restore, forming an official group on the Council.
• In May 2026, Jamie Scanlon (Penwithick & Boscoppa) resigned from the Reform group to sit as a stand-alone independent, meaning there are currently five different "independent" or "non-aligned" groupings on the Council.
• Drew Creek (Trenance) the leader of the Green Party Cornwall Councillors Group resigned from the Green Party moving to the Labour Party, meaning there are currently five Labour Cornwall Councillors.

Cultural projects

Cornwall Council is promoting ten cultural projects as part of a five-year culture strategy. One project is the development of a National Theatre of Cornwall, a collaboration of the Hall for Cornwall, Kneehigh Theatre, Eden Project and Wildworks. Cornwall Council has based its idea on the successful National Theatre of Scotland and National Theatre Wales.

Another of the projects was the creation of Kresen Kernow to resolve inadequacies with the storage of archives. It has brought some important documents concerning Cornish history back to Cornwall as well as provides better public access to records. Cornwall Council was also involved in the project to build a stadium for Cornwall.

Cornish ethnic and national identity

Cornwall Council backed a successful campaign for the Cornish to be recognised by the UK government as a national minority under the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. The council's then chief executive Kevin Lavery wrote a letter to the government in 2010, writing, "Cornwall Council firmly believes that the UK Government should recognise the Cornish as a national minority under the terms of the Framework Convention." Adding that, "Cornwall Council believes that the Government's current restricted interpretation is discriminatory against the Cornish and contradicts the support it gives to Cornish culture and identity through its own departments." Cornwall Council's support was reaffirmed as council policy in 2011 with the publication of the Cornish National Minority Report 2, signed and endorsed by the then leaders of every political grouping on the council. The council took an active role in the promotion of the options for registering Cornish ethnicity and national identity on the 2011 UK census. The Cornish people were finally recognised as a national minority by the government on 24 April 2014 and incorporated into the Framework Convention, giving the Cornish the same status as the UK's other Celtic peoples, the Scots, the Welsh and the Irish.

Cornish nationhood

Since 2025, Cornwall Council has supported constituent country status for Cornwall, which would make it the UK's fifth constituent country alongside England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The council argues that Cornwall is culturally, ethnically and linguistically distinct from England, which Cornwall is currently a county of, and plans to discuss Cornwall's recognition as a distinct country of the UK with the government. In September 2025, the council backed a public petition of 24,000 signatories calling for Cornish nationhood. Responding to the petition, the government said it did not plan to change Cornwall's constitutional status, instead favouring greater devolution to Cornwall within England. In September 2026, Cornwall Council was involved in negotiations with Number 10 North regarding advanced Cornish devolution.