Does the future for Cornish identity and culture look positive or will those of us who care about such things be left feeling a bit blue about it all? It’s early days but it looks like the new Cornish Conservative council is not giving too much thought to this at present.

The Tories document the Conservative Plan for Cornwall is slim in both size and detail. It’s the usual political manifesto grand in scale of promise but not much on facts, promises to spend taxpayers money wisely, plans to build homes for locals, protecting the environment or building on the legacy of the G7,all very laudable…. But…

No mention of the huge financial loss that has affected the council due to covid and how they are going to make up the shortfall,is it going to be cuts or council tax rises or are both on the cards?

Also no mention of the Rt Hon Robert Jenrick MP Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government who is piloting through the commons a radical overhaul of the planning system, dubbed the developers charter that will kill off the last remaining safeguards in the planning system, and make it easier for developers to push through unwanted developments and far harder to build affordable homes for locals and also damage the natural environment, can we expect our Conservative Cornish councillors to  start their dynamic tenure by picking an argument with their leadership at  Westminster?

And of course the less said of the G7 and the Carbis Bay Hotel fiasco the better.

To be fair what else could you expect the Cornish Conservatives to do in their manifesto than breakout a can of gloss and give their erstwhile coalition colleagues the Lib Dems a good kicking.

Away from such political chicanery what makes the Conservative manifesto really standout is what is missing.

The manifesto talks of Cornwall and county hall, the Cornish Conservatives website mentions the county of Cornwall but it does not contain words such as Kernow, Duchy, Kernewek or Lys Kernow neither does it make any mention of Cornish culture.

This maybe just a small thing to some, it is after all just a pamphlet. The Tories may be all powerful at present but if the lack of Cornish culture in their manifesto is a hint to the future then they must realise that in Kernow they are elected on a small turnout and they cannot push Cornish identity back in the box however much they want to.

It’s understandable with Scotland demanding another independence referendum and Wales watching very closely that the Tories are very wary of the Cornish demanding more recognition and more political powers to be devolved to Kernow.

It is a possibility that all is not lost, there is a charming photo of Conservative group leader Linda Taylor Councillor for St Ives East, Lelant & Carbis Bay and now leader of the council in the Cornish Conservative manifesto wearing a Cornish tartan scarf. Maybe this is a message to the Cornish that the Cornwall Conservatives are radical, that they will stand up to Westminster and that the Cornish have their identity and this council will always defend this… Or maybe not.

What is certain is that our esteemed council leader will have to do a lot more than just wear a scarf to burnish her Cornish credentials.

The election results in the Duchy have been quite interesting, with a few seasoned councillors losing their seats and the Conservatives taking power, rough times are possibly ahead for Kernow.

Rough times in the shape of the Conservative parties plan to reform the planning rules, dubbed the developers charter. Kernow is one of the most popular places to live in the UK, with demand for housing from people relocating from other parts of the UK, developers will have a free rein under these proposals in the Duchy, developers will be able to claim any housing development no matter how unaffordable or ridiculously expensive is meeting a need.

Then there is Cornish identity, Kernow is now a Conservative stronghold, will they need to make any concessions or encourage the growth of Cornish identity? Sure they will make the right noises on St Piran’s day but beyond that it would seem highly unlikely…till at least we are a lot closer to the next election.

The next few years could make the previous five years seem like a golden time.

It cannot be dismissed that many people in the Duchy have taken time to vote and seen something they like in the Conservatives and they should be congratulated like the others who voted for at least taking the time to vote.

The fact is this council is elected on only a small number of people voting, in many cases the turnout was around forty percent, hardly an endorsement of local politics.

There is lot of discussion about why the majority of people in the Duchy are apathetic to voting and how can an engagement with local politics be made more relevant to them?

Maybe instead of offering just an abstract political argument it’s time to take a more tangible approach?

Maybe it’s time for an open debate on a way to create a movement encompassing the arts, language and the people and groups who campaign for more recognition for the Duchy to show people in Kernow this is what being Cornish is and your voice has to be heard

Who is to blame for the lack of recognition when it comes to Cornwall’s status as a Duchy and one of the Celtic nations that make up the UK?

Is it Westminster and the dastardly central government taking a lackadaisical approach to Cornish status? Or the media who refer to Cornwall as a part of England and use county  where ever possible? Or is it Cornwall Council who make much of Cornish identity but never seem to push far enough? Or is the most likely culprit the people of Cornwall?

This may sound an unfair thing to say about a populace    but why have we not moved forward?

Let’s be honest very few people outside of Cornwall know or care about Cornwall’s status we are just a place to go for a holiday or somewhere nice to move to.

Visit Cornwall for the benefit of our visitors could use the tag line ‘The Duchy that celebrates itself’.

There is very good work done on social media by groups and individuals promoting different aspects of Cornish history and culture but these are seen by their detractors as bubbles, talking to people who already support their ideals when government and media take notice not of small groups but of the collective voice and at the moment this is sorely lacking in Cornwall.

The elections this week are important, local elections are seen as lacking the glamour of a general election but local elections can send a message to Westminster and the rest of the UK that how ever hard our six MPs work a general election cannot do, the message that Cornwall demands its recognition.

If the rest of the UK are to hear us then we need representation at grassroots, it cannot come from the individual politician but from a party with a strong mandate and this will not be easy.  The recent unprecedented movement of people relocating to Cornwall from other parts of the UK, who may feel that a stronger Cornish identity will leave them as outsiders will need to be won over.

Which party could do this? The candidates of the Westminster parties might wrap themselves in the St Piran’s flag and their talk of a proud Cornish identity may be true but where will their first allegiance lie, with Cornwall or their party’s national strategy?

Taking all of the above into account then Mebyon Kernow should be the default choice but the question has to be asked why has the party has not had the major break through?

It is strange that Mebyon Kernow does not have more councillors, the party has a long history, has good candidates standing at this election and interesting and original policies so maybe this will be their year.

The next week will tell us not just about the future of MK but the future of Cornwall.