Newspaper column 13 May 2021 - Looking back at the elections

Last Friday saw the results of the local elections that determine who will run Cornwall Council for the next four years, and I was delighted to see the Conservative Party win overall control of the council with a clear majority of councillors.

This is the first time one political party has had overall control of Cornwall Council since it was formed in 2009. The recent boundary changes at Cornwall Council saw the number of Cornwall Councillors reduced from 123 to 87, and the elections were therefore fought on 87 new Cornwall Council divisions. The Conservatives returned 47 councillors following the election which is more than the 44 needed to have a majority, and so form the next administration that will run Cornwall Council for the next four years.

As a former Cornwall Councillor myself, I know first hand the commitment put in by all Cornwall Councillors. I wish all of the newly elected Cornwall Councillors of all parties the very best of luck in their work going forward and look forward to working with them all for the good of Cornwall.

Obviously in elections there are always winners and losers, and I would in particular like to pay tribute to long-standing Conservative Cornwall Councillors John Dyer and Geoffrey Evans MBE, strong local voices for their areas for many years, who sadly lost their seats. But I also welcome some excellent new Conservative intake, with Karen Glasson, Chris Wells and Steve Arthur all being elected to new seats.

I am looking forward to working with the new Conservative administration, led by Cllr Linda Taylor, to improve Cornwall for all over the next four years. From past experience both as a councillor and as an MP, I was always very disappointed to see the approach taken by the former Liberal Democrat and Independent coalition, which always seemed to be working against Cornwall’s six MP’s and the Government rather than with it. It is only by working together, as a strong team that we can achieve the best for Cornwall and this new administration will achieve exactly that.

Linda has already announced her Cabinet, the senior councillors who will be working with her to run Cornwall Council. I am pleased to see Truro and Falmouth well represented on the Cabinet, with Feock and Kea’s Martyn Alvey taking the Environment and Public Protection portfolio, and Gloweth, Malabar & Shortlanesend’s David Harris becoming Deputy Leader of Cornwall Council and taking up the Resources portfolio. The overall Cabinet of ten councillors is a good mix of experience, competence and compassion and I am sure will be doing great things for Cornwall during their time in post.

Finally, away from the local elections, early on Tuesday morning I was pleased to see our Conservative Police and Crime Commissioner Alison Hernandez re-elected, with a massive majority, over 125,000 votes more than her closest opponent - a big mandate to continue in her important role. I have worked closely with Alison during my time as Member of Parliament for Truro and Falmouth and look forward to doing all I can to ensure policing and crime matters are addressed in our constituency.