Cornish Nationalist Party
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The Cornish Nationalist Party (CNP), or Party Kenethlegek Kernow, was a political party led by Dr Whetter campaigning for self-government for Cornwall that split from Mebyon Kernow on May 28, 1975.
The split was down to the same debate that was occurring in most of the political parties campaigning for autonomy from the United Kingdom at the time (for example the Scottish National Party and Plaid Cymru), whether to be a centre-left party appealing to the electorate on a social-democratic line, or whether to appeal emotionally on a centre-right cultural line. Another subject of the split was whether to embrace devolution as a first step to full independence (or as the sole step if this was what the electorate wished) or for it to be "all or nothing").
The CNP essentially represented the party's right wing, who were not willing to accept that economic arguments were more likely to win votes than cultural. Many believed they had a firmer grounding of the true nature of Cornish culture and heritage than Mebyon Kernow and it was even rumoured there was a militaristic wing of the CNP called the Greenshirts.
The CNP worked to preserve the identity of Cornwall and improve its economy, and encouraged links with Cornish people overseas and with other regions which have distinct identities. It also gave support to Unified Cornish, the language of the Cornish revival in modern times, and commemorated Thomas Flamank, a leader of the Cornish Rebellion in 1497, at an annual ceremony at Bodmin on 27th June each year.
While the CNP were not a racist organisation there was a perceived image problem relating to the similarly-styled BNP. Today, the Cornish Nationalist Party is seen as more of a pressure group as they do not put up candidates for local, general or European elections. As of 2006, they are not registered on the UK political parties register; Mebyon Kernow are the only registered political party based in Cornwall.
The CNP published a quarterly journal, The Cornish Banner (An Baner Kernewek).
See also
- List of topics related to Cornwall
- Celtic nations
- Cornish Assembly
- Cornish self-government movement
- Constitutional status of Cornwall
- Cornish people
- Culture of Cornwall
- Gorseth Kernow
- The Song of the Western Men
External links
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