The House of Commons voted yesterday to defer the decision on redrawing constituency boundaries until after the next General Election.
The so-called ‘Devonwall’ proposals were rejected by 334 votes to 292, meaning there will be no cross-Tamar constituency – for the time being at least.
Local Lib Dem MPs had been hoping to get the prospect of a cross border constituency scrapped altogether, but still expressed their relief that there is not going to be any imminent change.
North Cornwall MP Dan Rogerson said: “There is huge opposition to this artificial boundary which takes no account of the historical, cultural and community position of Cornwall.
“I am absolutely delighted that we have defeated the imposition of this arbitrary boundary change. Reducing the number of MPs on boundaries which reflect local concerns remains a possibility and I hope that we can return to that in the next Parliament.”
West Cornwall MP Andrew George added: “So Cornwall lives to fight another day. After the next General Election we’ll have the chance to finish this business and protect our border for good.”
