Cornish census tick box petition short of 10,000 as clock ticks

A campaign to give Cornwall its own box on the national census has roughly two months left to find the signatures it needs, and the numbers are not there yet.

What the petition asks for

The parliamentary petition wants the government to add a “Cornish” option to the national identity question on the 2031 census. At the moment, anyone who wants to record their Cornish identity has to choose the “Other” category and write it in by hand, something campaigners say leaves the true number of Cornish people undercounted.

For the government to give a formal response, the petition needs 10,000 signatures. Reaching 100,000 would put it in line to be considered for a debate in Parliament. It closes on 24 September, and at the time of writing it sits at fewer than 4,000 names, well short of that first target.

A familiar campaign

Supporters note that the petition is approaching the level of backing seen by the 2021 TickBox Bus campaign, which pushed the same argument ahead of the last census.

That census is the campaign’s main piece of evidence. Even without a dedicated box, more than 117,000 people across England and Wales recorded a Cornish identity through write-in responses, including over 100,000 in Cornwall itself. Campaigners argue the real figure would be considerably higher if people could simply tick a box. The Cornish were formally recognised as a national minority in 2014 under the Council of Europe’s Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, and supporters say the missing tick box sits awkwardly beside that status.

Support in Westminster

The petition has public backing from Perran Moon, the Labour MP for Camborne and Redruth, who has raised the census question in the House of Commons and called the current arrangement a “farce” while urging the Office for National Statistics to act before 2031. Commons leader Sir Alan Campbell acknowledged the importance of Cornish identity in his response.

Questions over language and identity

The petition comes at a moment when Cornish language and culture are being debated elsewhere. Reform UK has proposed that the Cornish language should not be permitted on electoral material, a suggestion that campaigners for Cornish culture have been quick to notice.

From nation status to Lorient

There is recent history the petition’s supporters can point to. Last year a separate petition calling for Cornwall to be granted nation status gathered more than 24,000 signatures and drew attention far beyond the county. The then Prime Minister was drawn into discussing his view on the matter with ITV, a number of smaller political parties in Wales, Brittany and elsewhere voiced their recognition of Cornwall as a nation, and Cornwall was invited as the “honoured nation” at the 55th Festival Interceltique de Lorient in Brittany, which runs from 31 July to 9 August.

Whether any of that momentum reaches the census form is now down to a few thousand more signatures, and a little under two months to find them.

You can sign the petition here before it closes on 24 September.