Truro was the name of a parliamentary constituency in Cornwall represented in the House of Commons of England and later of Great Britain from 1295 until 1800, then in the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1918 and finally from 1950 to 1997.

The seat became a safe Lib Dem bet thanks to the popularity and eloquence of its former MP, David Penhaligon.

His death in a car crash, aged only 42, robbed the House of Commons of one of its most independent-minded and pragmatic members.

His successor, Matthew Taylor, held the seat comfortably from a by-election in 1987, and remained its MP after the name change in 1997.

Montague Edward Smith resigned after being appointed a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, causing a by-election.