South East Cornwall


South East Cornwall is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Anna Gelderd, a Labour politician.

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 which became effective for the 2024 general election, the constituency is composed of the following electoral divisions of Cornwall :
Very small change to align with revised electoral division boundaries.
The current constituency territory contains the location of several former borough constituencies which were abolished as 'rotten boroughs' by the Reform Act 1832:

History

The predecessor county division, Bodmin, serving the area from 1885 until 1983 had 15 members, 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. Having moved into second place in 2017 for the first time in the history of both constituencies, this trend ceased with the Labour Party capturing the seat at the 2024 general election.

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.