THE leader of the Conservative administration at Cornwall Council has said her Cabinet will be “putting up a fight” to ensure their survival at next May’s council elections. Linda Taylor was speaking following the rout of Conservative MPs in Cornwall at the General Election.

The Conservatives won control of the unitary authority in 2021 and have 45 seats to Independent councillors’ 15, Lib Dems’ 13, and five apiece for Labour and Mebyon Kernow among others.

In the General Election, all six Tory MPs in Cornwall lost their seats to be replaced by Labour in South East Cornwall, St Austell and Newquay, Truro and Falmouth, and Camborne and Redruth, with the Liberal Democrats taking North Cornwall and St Ives.

Cllr Taylor said: “It is an astonishing result. I’m really disappointed that we have some hard-working constituency MPs who overnight will not be able to continue the good work they started, but we are a Conservative administration and the first thing I will want to be doing is making contact with the new government and pressing the case for Cornwall and making sure we have an open dialogue.”

Does she think having a new Labour government will thwart any of the work and projects her Cabinet is carrying out now or in the future?

“To be honest, until we can sit down and start talking to ministers from the new government, we have no idea what they’re proposing. I think it’s really, really important that I take the earliest opportunity to engage and welcome a discussion so that we can put forward what we’re trying to achieve and, more importantly, try and understand what the government has planned for large unitary authorities.

“Locally, one of the things we’ve always done is a bi-quarterly meeting with our local MPs and as it happens we’ve got one deliberately planned for next week. That invite will go straight out to the newly-elected MPs. We can all sit around the table and discuss matters.”

Does the General Election result make her nervous about next May’s council election?

“I’m a very pragmatic person. I have to look at what’s ahead of me. I absolutely believe because of the strength of the Cabinet, the strength of the administration, that we will continue to deliver what we promised. We’ve got the big waste roll-out, our 20mph programme is a big success… I think leading up to next May, residents will see that we are resolute in wanting to deliver the best for Cornwall.

“Elections are unpredictable, you know that and I know that, and my group are absolutely determined that we will continue our good work and we will be judged at the ballot boxes next May, but we are putting up a fight.”