From the outset, Cornwall has been an outlier in English devolution. In July 2015, it became the first rural county to secure a devolution deal — and did so without a mayor, at a time when mayoral leadership was seen as non-negotiable as far as the Government was concerned.
Nearly a decade on, the county appears intent on repeating the trick. Rejecting the prospect of a so-called ‘Devonwall' combined authority that would join the existing Devon and Torbay, with Plymouth City Council and Cornwall, leaders of the south-west county are intent on going it alone for further devolution.
