Truro and St Austell was a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom

Parliament of the United Kingdom

The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...

. It elected one Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

Boundaries

The constituency was centred on the former district of Carrick

Carrick, Cornwall

Carrick was a local government district in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. Its council was based in Truro. The main centres of population, industry and commerce were the city of Truro and the towns of Falmouth/Penryn....

, which contains the city of Truro

Truro

Truro is a city and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The city is the centre for administration, leisure and retail in Cornwall, with a population recorded in the 2001 census of 17,431. Truro urban statistical area, which includes parts of surrounding parishes, has a 2001 census...

 and the former borough of Restormel

Restormel

Restormel was a borough of Cornwall, United Kingdom, one of the six administrative divisions that made up the county. Its council was based in St Austell . Other towns included Newquay....

 which contains the town of St Austell

St Austell

St Austell is a civil parish and a major town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated on the south coast approximately ten miles south of Bodmin and 30 miles west of the border with Devon at Saltash...

.

Boundary review

Following their review of parliamentary representation in Cornwall

Cornwall

Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...

, the Boundary Commission for England created an extra seat for the county which meant consequential changes for the existing seats. Truro and St Austell was disbanded, and was partly succeeded by St Austell and Newquay.

The city of Truro

Truro

Truro is a city and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The city is the centre for administration, leisure and retail in Cornwall, with a population recorded in the 2001 census of 17,431. Truro urban statistical area, which includes parts of surrounding parishes, has a 2001 census...

 forms part of the newly drawn 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 changes in boundaries were made at point to Truro, 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 Party (UK)

The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...

 seat due to the popularity of its former MP, David Penhaligon

David Penhaligon

David Charles Penhaligon was a British politician from Cornwall who was a Liberal Member of Parliament from October 1974 until his death...

. He died in a car crash in 1986, aged 42 and was succeeded by Matthew Taylor, who has held the seat comfortably since the 1987 by-election.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1997 United Kingdom general election, 1997 The United Kingdom general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition under the leadership of Tony Blair, and won the general...	Matthew Taylor	Liberal Democrat Liberal Democrats The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
	2010	constituency abolished: see Truro and Falmouth and St Austell and Newquay

Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 1990s

For elections before 1997, see Truro (UK Parliament constituency)

Sources

• Robert Beatson, A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 1807) http://books.google.com/books?vid=024wW9LmFc5kXY0FI2&id=Gh2wKY2rkDUC&printsec=toc&dq=Return+of+Members+of+Parliament&as_brr=1&sig=SK5GVtGLfWQ9ovZDbyZObAyIO5I#PPP9,M1