Calls grow for Cornish census tick-box as petition gathers pace

Calls for a Cornish identity tick-box in the next UK census are gathering momentum, with the launch of a Westminster petition attracting more than 1,200 signatures in five days.

Campaigners say the current system fails to properly recognise Cornish identity, despite the Cornish being formally recognised as a national minority more than a decade ago.

Mebyon Kernow – the Party for Cornwall – has led the latest push, submitting detailed proposals to an Office for National Statistics (ONS) consultation on the 2031 Census.

The party, which campaigns for greater recognition and self-government for Cornwall, argues that the absence of a Cornish tick-box in the 2021 Census led to a significant undercount of people identifying with the nation.

It said the UK Government was “not treating the Cornish equally with the other national/national minority groups of the United Kingdom” despite formal recognition in 2014 under the Council of Europe’s Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities.

More than 117,000 people identified as Cornish in the 2021 Census through write-in responses across ethnicity, nationality and language questions, including over 100,000 in Cornwall itself.

Campaigners argue that figure would be significantly higher if a dedicated option had been available.

“This represents a massive undercount of Cornish people, which needs to be addressed through the introduction of a tick-box,” Mebyon Kernow said.

The party pointed to comparisons with Wales, where 14% of people wrote in “Welsh” in 2001 before a tick-box was introduced — a figure that rose to 67% a decade later.

“It is therefore truly remarkable that 18.1% of the population to the west of the Tamar did identify as Cornish through the write-in options,” the submission said.

“But it nonetheless represents a massive undercount.”

The party is calling for a Cornish option to be added across ethnicity, nationality and language questions, alongside a bespoke questionnaire for Cornwall to better reflect local identity.

It also argues that better data is needed to understand social and economic challenges facing Cornish communities, including deprivation, housing pressures and health outcomes.

Political pressure

The campaign has also gained backing from Westminster.

In a separate intervention reported by Nation.Cymru earlier this year, Labour MP Perran Moon described the 2021 process as a “farce”, with people forced to select “other” and manually write in their identity.

“Despite the disturbing lack of a tick box, over 117,000 Cornish people registered their identity,” he told MPs.

“With the current consultation on the 2031 census… this farce must end.”

Commons leader Alan Campbell said he supported calls for people to respond to the consultation and acknowledged the importance of Cornish identity and language.