Truro and St Austell was a

county constituency In the United Kingdom (UK), each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one member to the House of Commons. Within the United Kingdom there are five bodies with members elected by electoral districts called "constituenc ...

represented in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the

first past the post In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast their ...

system of election.

Boundaries

The District of Carrick wards of Boscawen, Chacewater, Feock, Kea, Kenwyn, Moresk, Newlyn, Perranzabuloe, Probus, Roseland, St Agnes, St Clement, Tregolls, and Trehaverne, and the Borough of Restormel wards of Crinnis, Mevagissey, Poltair, Rock, St Ewe, St Mewan, St Stephen-in-Brannel, Trevarna, and Treverbyn. The constituency was centred on the former district of Carrick, which contains the city of

Truro Truro (; kw, Truru) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is Cornwall's county town, sole city and centre for administration, leisure and retail trading. Its ...

, and the former borough of

Restormel Restormel ( kw, Rostorrmel) was a borough of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, one of the six administrative divisions that made up the county. Its council was based in St Austell; its other towns included Newquay. The borough was named after ...

which contains the town of

St Austell St Austell (; kw, Sans Austel) is a town in Cornwall, England, south of Bodmin and west of the border with Devon. St Austell is one of the largest towns in Cornwall; at the 2011 census it had a population of 19,958. History St Austell wa ...

Boundary review

Following their review of parliamentary representation in

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

, the

Boundary Commission for England The boundary commissions in the United Kingdom are non-departmental public bodies responsible for determining the boundaries of constituencies for elections to the House of Commons. There are four boundary commissions: * Boundary Commission for E ...

created an extra seat for the county which meant consequential changes for the existing seats. Truro and St Austell was abolished, and was partly succeeded by St Austell and Newquay. The city of Truro forms part of the newly created Truro and Falmouth constituency.

History

The constituency has existed in a number of different forms. The Truro constituency, up until 1885 elected two members to parliament; this was reduced to one. In 1918 the constituency was abolished but it was recreated again in 1950. In 1997, in spite of the fact that no boundary changes were made to Truro on that occasion, the Boundary Commission nonetheless saw fit to change its name to ''Truro and St. Austell'', reflecting the fact that St Austell has a larger population than Truro. The Truro seat became a safe

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

seat due to the popularity of its former MP,

David Penhaligon David Charles Penhaligon (6 June 1944 – 22 December 1986) was a British politician from Cornwall who was Liberal Member of Parliament for the constituency of Truro from 1974–86. He was a popular figure in all parties and had potential to ...

. He died in a car crash in 1986, aged 42 and was succeeded at a by-election the following year by Matthew Taylor, who held the seat comfortably until his retirement, and the constituency's abolition, in 2010.

Members of Parliament

Elections

Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 1990s

''For elections before 1997, see

Notes and references

Sources

*Robert Beatson, ''A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament'' (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 1807

{{DEFAULTSORT:Truro And St Austell (Uk Parliament Constituency) Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1997 Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 2010 Parliamentary constituencies in Cornwall (historic) Politics of Truro St Austell