By Julia Penhaligon

Cornwall might be seeing more of two of its MPs over the next 12 months, following a new strategy drawn up by Conservative Central Office to defend its most marginal constituencies.

Truro and Falmouth MP Cherilyn Mackrory, and St Ives MP Derek Thomas, have been told they can apply for permission to spend one week per month away from Westminster in order to campaign on local issues.

Mrs Mackrory has a majority if 4,561 votes over Labour.  The Tories regard her constituency as their 54^th most marginal seat.

Mr Thomas has a majority of 4,280 over the Liberal Democrats, in a slightly smaller constituency, which the Tories think make his seat their 58^th most vulnerable.

The Conservative Party has drawn up an “80/20” strategy to defend those constituencies which it fears it is most likely to lose, and to target others which it hopes to gain.  The Truro and Falmouth and St Ives constituencies are among the 80.

Labour is also targeting the Camborne and Redruth constituency, where the party is 8,700 votes behind the Conservatives, but this is only 116^th on the Tory list of marginals and in any case the sitting MP, George Eustice, is retiring at the next election.  The Conservatives expect their new candidate, Connor Donnithorne, to be campaigning more or less full-time.

Last week the pollster Frank Luntz told a meeting of Tory MPs that any with a majority of less than 15,000 should consider themselves vulnerable.  The party’s response is to offer additional help and resources, with MPs on the “at risk” register advised to send out more press releases, get themselves on local radio, and attend a wide range of local community functions.

The pollster warned MPs that his research had found that in some constituencies, large numbers of local people did not even know their names and that they needed to raise their profiles if they wanted to survive.

One Tory MP defending a marginal told the Financial Times that a “recalibration” of how they split their time was not unusual at this stage in the electoral cycle.

Much of the government’s most important legislation, including on levelling up, online safety and so-called illegal migration, is currently in the House of Lords, leaving less to do in the House of Commons.

Another Tory backbencher said: “There’s nothing much on the agenda. We finished at 4.30pm one day last week. MPs are saying, what’s the point of coming down to Westminster if we’re not doing anything? There’s the sense of managed decline.”

All six of Cornwall’s MPs are Conservatives.  Their majorities, by constituency, are:

St Ives (Derek Thomas) 4,280

Truro and Falmouth (Cherilyn Mackrory) 4,561

Camborne and Redruth (George Eustice, retiring) 8,700

North Cornwall (Scott Mann) 14,752

St Austell and Newquay (Steve Double) 16,526

South East Cornwall (Sheryll Murray) 20,971

juliapenhaligon@cornwallreports.co.uk