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Mebyon KernowMebyon Kernow (Cornish for "Sons of Cornwall," often abbrieviated MK) is a political party in the United Kingdom. The main objective of MK is to reestablishing self-governance in Cornwall, the southwesternmost county of United Kingdom. MK was founded on January 6, 1951 at a meeting held in Redruth. Helena Charles was elected the party's first chair. At the first meeting, MK adopting the following objectives: - To study local conditions and attempt to remedy any that may be prejudicial to the best interests of Cornwall by the creation of public opinion or other means.
- To foster the Cornish Language and Literature.
- To encourage the study of Cornish history from a Cornish point of view.
- By self knowledge to further the acceptance of the idea of the Celtic character of Cornwall, one of the six Celtic Nations.
- To publish pamphlets, broadsheets, articles and letters in the Press whenever possible, putting forward the foregoing aims.
- To arrange concerts and entertainments with a Cornish-Celtic flavour through which these aims can be further advanced.
- To cooperate with all societies concerned with preserving the character of Cornwall.
By September 1951 they had officially come to a stance of supporting self-government for Cornwall, in what they hoped at the time would be a federal United Kingdom. MK won its first seat at local level on the Redruth-Camborne Urban Council in 1953. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, MK was in essence a political pressure group rather than a true political party, with members being able to join other political parties as well. However, by the 1970s the group developed into a more coherent and unified organization. During this decade, MK began contesting Westminster parliamentary seats as well as local government ones. A schism in the early 1970s led to the formation of the Cornish Nationalist Party. In 1979, in the first elections to the European Parliament, Mebyon Kernow were able to attract almost ten percent of the vote in the Cornwall seat. This reflected a decade of steady growth for the party. MK continues to contest parliamentary seats with little electoral success, and also local government seats with more success. In the 2001 general election, MK polled 3,199 votes, or 1.3 percent of the Cornish vote (up from 0.7 percent in 1997) They currently describe their philosophy as based on being: "Cornish, Green, Left of Centre, Decentralist." Mebyon Kernow is a member of the European Free Alliance. External link
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