A Wealthier Cornwall

Jayne Kirkham on the panel at Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Growth Summit 2025

This month, I attended the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Growth Summit at the Royal Cornwall Showground – a Cornwall-focused event centred on what we need and what we already have.

For generations, Cornwall’s economy was built on mining and fishing. These industries brought jobs and wealth to the region but mining particularly declined and although we still have a thriving fishing industry, it is also reduced. We came to rely on seasonal tourism, but as many people here know, this can be a double-edged sword.

That is why I am working to unlock investment in mining, clean energy, the creative and digital sectors in line with the Government’s National Industrial Strategy. As well as our small businesses, and the infrastructure that connects them.

Business Minister Blair McDougall spoke in his message to the conference of the government’s focus on critical minerals, including the £28 million investment from the National Wealth Fund for South Crofty tin mine and recent investment in Cornish Lithium – reviving local jobs and skills, and building green apprenticeships. Cornwall will be central to the Government’s new Critical Minerals Strategy which will help us access tin, lithium, other valuable minerals and geothermal energy – vital for EVs, batteries, and low-carbon tech.

Floating offshore wind in the Celtic Sea is another huge opportunity that I am supporting. Cornish companies are already building the components and training apprentices. And our ports have the capacity to be instrumental in the green energy transition.

Cornwall has the resources, the talent, and the ambition. This Government will back our growing industries and this is our chance to build a more prosperous future, where people can live, work, and thrive here at home.