Truro and Falmouth is a constituency[n 1] in Cornwall represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Labour's Jayne Kirkham. It was previously held by 2019 by Cherilyn Mackrory of the Conservative Party.[n 2] It is on the South West Peninsula of England, bordered by both the Celtic Sea to the northwest and English Channel to the south. The seat was previously held by fellow Conservative Sarah Newton from its 2010 creation until her retirement from politics in 2019.[2]
The constituency was created for the 2010 UK general election following a review of parliamentary representation in Cornwall by the Boundary Commission, which increased the number of seats in the county from five to six. It replaces parts of the former Truro and St Austell and Falmouth and Camborne seats.
The result was a very marginal one in 2010, with the previous results in either predecessor seat also closely fought between the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives.
In the 2017 general election, the constituency was held by the Conservative candidate, although it experienced a 22.5% surge in the Labour vote (the third-largest in the UK), an 11.4% swing that nearly broke the Conservatives' seven-year hold on the seat. The 37.7% of the vote in the Truro and Falmouth constituency achieved by Labour marked their highest share of the vote in a seat incorporating Truro in 47 years (1970).[3]
The former District of Carrick wards of Arwenack, Boscawen, Boslowick, Carland, Feock and Kea, Kenwyn and Chacewater, Moresk, Mylor, Newlyn and Goonhavern, Penryn, Penwerris, Perranporth, Probus, Roseland, St Agnes, Tregolls, Trehaverne and Gloweth, Trescobeas.
The Truro and Falmouth constituency has the same boundaries as the former district of Carrick, with the exception of the ward of Mount Hawke, which is part of the Camborne and Redruth seat.[4] The main settlements in the constituency are the city of Truro and the town of Falmouth, after which it is named. Other settlements include Penryn, Perranporth, St Agnes and St Mawes.[5]
Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, enacted by the Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023, from the 2024 United Kingdom general election, the constituency will be composed of the following electoral divisions of Cornwall (as they existed on 4th May 2021):
Minor changes to align with revised electoral division boundaries and bring the electorate within the permitted range, including the transfer of the villages of St Agnes and Perranporth to Camborne and Redruth.
The constituency has visitor attractions spanning diametrically opposite coasts, including Porthtowan and Perranporth, noted for beaches. Falmouth abounds with restaurants, places to stay, as well as sailing and motor-yacht facilities. However, industries and businesses are not dominated by the arts or leisure and chiefly rely on maritime maintenance, hospitality, tourism, retail, distribution, and agriculture. In November 2012, unemployed people and registered jobseekers were lower than the national average of 3.8%, at 3.0% of the population based on a statistical compilation by The Guardian.[7]
50°11′49″N 5°00′58″W / 50.197°N 5.016°W / 50.197; -5.016