Shadow Minister for Cornwall

Although the current Labour Government of the United Kingdom in 2009 has no Minister for Cornwall, in a new move on 26 July 2007, the Conservative Party under David Cameron appointed Mark Prisk as Shadow Minister for Cornwall.
The creation of the post was to spearhead putting Cornwall's concerns "at the heart of Conservative thinking", according to a party statement. Conservative Party leader David Cameron said he "wholeheartedly endorsed the appointment and it would ensure that the voice of Cornwall is heard." Cameron used the word "Duchy" when referring to Cornwall and not "county", which some have seen as an indication of a changing view of the Cornish constitutional issue amongst Conservatives.
Controversy
The creation of a "shadow minister" by the opposition in government when no such minister existed in the ruling party's government was met with skepticism and some have seen this as a cynical ploy to gain votes for the Conservative party in territory that is currently dominated by the Liberal Democrats. A higher level of skepticism was raised in parliament by Matthew Taylor.
Parliamentary rules require MPs to limit the local cases they take up to their own constituency. They are not allowed to use their role as a Member of Parliament to undertake activity in other constituencies, in order to prevent Parliamentary casework being used for party political campaigning. This rule has been upheld over many years by successive Speakers. House of Commons MP Matthew Taylor accused the Conservative Party of attempting to get around the rule by claiming that party political activity by MPs outside their own constituencies was in the role of ‘Shadow Minister’ for the areas concerned, despite there being no actual Minister to shadow and the Conservative Party having no plans to appoint such ministers if they were in Government.

Speaking in the Commons Mr Taylor said, "The Conservative Party is now trying to get round the convention by appointing so-called Shadow Ministers for groups of constituencies they do not represent, on the basis this somehow legitimises it." For example the Member for Hertford and Stortford, Mark Prisk, operating as the ‘Shadow’ of a fictional Minister for Cornwall, is as a matter of course taking up local casework. In response the Speaker made a very firm ruling that no Member of Parliament should raise cases outside of their own constituencies, and that any requests for help from people they do not represent should be referred to the local MP.
Commenting, Matthew Taylor welcomed the ruling:
:“Most taxpayers will be appalled if Commons Allowances are being misused for party political campaigning which is in any case against the rules of the House of Commons. If the Conservative Party wants to campaign in Cornwall it is free to do so, but it should not misuse Parliamentary authority or mislead people that somehow they are acting in an official capacity through Parliament. The Speakers ruling was very clear to say the least, and I hope that puts an end to the matter.”
Mark Prisk's reply to the attack by Andrew George
Mark Prisk defended his role as Shadow Minister for Cornwall in open letter to the Falmouth Packet dated Wednesday 28 November 2007. He noted that, "as a born and bred Cornishman", his role is to listen to the concerns of people in Cornwall, to feed these back to the Shadow Cabinet, and to make sure that Conservative policies properly reflect the needs of Cornwall.
Fuel poverty in Cornwall
In an article dated Friday, 20 March 2009, the Shadow Minister for Cornwall was accused of not believing in ending fuel poverty in Cornwall, the poorest UK region. David Heath's Bill to end fuel poverty had its second reading in the House of Commons on 29 March 2009. It fell because not enough MPs were there to support it. Although four Cornish Lib Dem MPs attended in order to back the Bill, the Conservative Shadow Minister for Cornwall, Mark Prisk, was absent. This caused controversy in that it raised the question whether fuel poverty be something that Cornish Conservatives or their "mouthpiece", as Prisk was accused of being, support or not.
Promoting Cornish food and drink at Westminster
Cornish food and drink was promoted in the Houses of Parliament, from April 20, 2009 following intervention from Mark Prisk MP, as part of the Commons plans for a South West regional food week.
Six months previously Mark Prisk, current Shadow Minister for Cornwall, wrote to the Commons catering department asking that Cornish producers be featured at Parliament. He then prepared a list of successful food and drink producers from across Cornwall.

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