Mk Local Election Candidates In 2003 (Image: Mebyon Kernow - free to use) It was 70 years ago that a small group of people gathered in a Cornish hotel to form a new political party to campaign for greater self-government for Cornwall. On that day Mebyon Kernow (MK) was born and over the last seven decades the party has continued to fight for Cornwall and its people. Dick Cole, leader of MK and figurehead of the party for more than 30 years, said that the party grew from a renewed interest in Cornish culture which has continued to this day. “It is fair to say that there was a renaissance of Cornish culture and identity in the early 20th century. In the 1920s the Old Cornish Society and Gorsedh were set up and there were groups like Tyr ha Tavas being set up.