Cornish Nationalist Party

Not to be confused with Mebyon Kernow.

Cornish Nationalist Party An Parti Kenethlegek Kernow
Abbreviation	CNP
Founded	28 May 1975
Split from	Mebyon Kernow
Newspaper	The Cornish Banner
Ideology	Cornish nationalism Cornish devolution Pan-Celticism
Colours	Black and white
Cornwall Council	0 / 87
Politics of the United Kingdom Political parties Elections

The Cornish Nationalist Party (CNP; Cornish: An Parti Kenethlegek Kernow) is a political party founded in 1975. It initially campaigned for independence for Cornwall but later supported devolved powers under central UK control.

The CNP should not be confused other Cornish nationalist parties, including Mebyon Kernow (MK) from which the CNP split in 1975, or the similarly-named Cornish National Party, which split from MK in 1969.

History

The party was formed on 28 May 1975 by people who left Mebyon Kernow, Cornwall's main nationalist party, and was first led by James Whetter.

The split with Mebyon Kernow was based on two main debates. First was whether to be a centre-left party, appealing to the electorate on a social democratic line, or whether to appeal emotionally on a centre-right cultural line. At the time, the same debate was occurring in most political parties campaigning for autonomy from the United Kingdom, including the Scottish National Party and Plaid Cymru. Second was whether to embrace devolution as a first step to full independence (or as the sole step if this was what the electorate wished) or for independence to be "all or nothing".

The CNP represented a more right-wing outlook based on the belief that that cultural arguments were more likely to win votes than economic ones. The CNP worked to preserve the Celtic identity of Cornwall, and encouraged links with Cornish people overseas and with other regions with distinct identities. It also gave support to the Cornish language and commemorated Thomas Flamank, a leader of the Cornish Rebellion in 1497, at an annual ceremony at Bodmin on 27 June each year. It also worked to improve Cornwall's economy.

Since the death of founder James Whetter in 2018, the CNP has been led by Androw Hawke.

Electoral and campaign activity

Throughout its history, the CNP has been sporadically registered with the Electoral Commission, fielding candidates for some elections but not others. When not participating in elections it has often continued to act as a campaign group or pressure group, although its visibility and influence within Cornwall is negligible.

It stood for national elections twice, in 1979 and 1983. In April 2009, a news story reported that the party had re-formed following a conference in Bodmin; however, it did not contest any elections that year. A newspaper article and a revamp of the party website in October 2014 state that the party planned to contest elections once more. The reformed party was registered with the Electoral Commission in 2014, but ceased to be registered in 2017.

Publications

Whetter was the founder and editor of the CNP quarterly journal, The Cornish Banner (An Baner Kernewek), within the actions of the Roseland Institute.

Election results

Year	Election	Constituency	Candidate	Votes	%	Ref
1979	UK General Election	Truro	James Whetter	227	0.4
1983	UK General Election	North Cornwall	James Whetter	364	0.67
1984	European Parliament election	Cornwall and Plymouth	James Whetter	1892	1.0

The CNP had one parish councillor, leader Androw Hawke who was elected to Polperro Community Council for the second time on 4 May 2017.

Policy

The Policy Statement and Programme of the CNP were published in 1975 and included the following points:

• To look after the interests of Cornish people.
• To preserve and enhance the identity of Kernow, an essentially Celtic identity.
• To achieve self-government for Kernow.
• Total sovereignty will be exercised by the Cornish state over the land within its traditional border.
• Kernow's official language will be Cornish.
• Better job prospects for Cornish people.
• Reduction of unemployment to an acceptable level (2.5%).
• The protection of the self-employed and small businesses in Cornwall.
• Cheaper housing and priority for Cornish people.
• Discouragement of second homes.
• Controls over tourism.
• The Cornish state will have control over the number and nature of immigrants.
• The establishment of a Cornish economic department to aid the basic industries of farming, fishing, china clay and mining and secondary industries developing from these.
• Improved transport facilities in Cornwall with greater scope for private enterprise to operate.
• Existing medical and welfare services for Cornish people will be developed and improved.
• Protection of Cornish natural resources, including offshore resources.
• Conservation of the Cornish landscape and the unique Cornish environment, culture and identity.
• Courses on Cornish language and history should be made available in schools for those who want them.
• Recognition of the Cornish flag of St Piran and the retention of the Tamar border with England.
• The rule of law will be upheld by the Cornish state and the judiciary will be separate from the legislative and executive functions of the state.
• The Cornish state will create a home defence force, linked to local communities and civil units of administration.
• Young Cornish people will be given instruction as to world religions and secular philosophies but the greatest attention will be given to Christianity and early Celtic beliefs.
• A far greater say in government for Cornish people (by referendums if necessary) and the decentralisation of considerable powers to a Cornish nation within a united Europe - special links being established with our Celtic brothers and sisters in Scotland, Ireland, Isle of Man, Wales and Brittany.

The party's policies include the following:

• Calling for more legislative powers to be given to Cornwall Council. The authority should effectively become the Cornish government, with town and parish councils acting as local government.
• Cornwall council should have a reduction in councillors, with standardisation of electoral areas and constituencies in throughout Cornwall.
• The Westminster government should appoint a Minister for Cornwall and confirm there will be no further plans to have any parliamentary constituency covering part of Cornwall and Devon.

John Le Bretton, vice-chairman of the party, later stated: "The CNP supports the retention of Cornwall Council as a Cornwall-wide authority running Cornish affairs and we call for the British government in Westminster to devolve powers to the council so that decisions affecting Cornwall can be made in Cornwall".

Image

There have been perceived image problems as the CNP has been seen as similarly styled to the BNP and NF (the nativist British National Party and National Front), and during the 1970s letters were published in the party magazine The Cornish Banner (An Baner Kernewek) sympathetic to the NF and critical of "Zionist" politicians. The CNP also formed a controversial uniformed wing known as the Greenshirts led by the CNP Youth Movement leader and Public Relations Officer, Wallace Simmons who also founded the pro-NF Cornish Front. (Although the CNP and CF were sympathetic to Irish republicanism while the NF was supportive of Ulster loyalism, with the exception of leading NF figures like Patrick Harrington, who refused to condemn the IRA during an interview for the Channel 4 TV documentary Disciples of Chaos).

See also

• List of topics related to Cornwall
• Cornish self-government movement
• Constitutional status of Cornwall

External links

• The CNP at the Roseland Institute
• The Cornish Banner website
• 2017 Spectator magazine article about Cornish Nationalism, Mebyon Kernow and the CNP