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Platinum Jubilee Civic Honours

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Stanley, Falkland Islands was one of the winners of the 2022 Platinum Jubilee Civic Honours.

As part of the Platinum Jubilee, Queen Elizabeth II awarded a number of civic honours, most notably the creation of new cities in a competition.[1] Another competition for lord mayor or lord provost status was held.

It was announced on 8 June 2021 by Lord True.[2] It was organised by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and led by Secretary of State Oliver Dowden.[3] The winners were announced on 20 May 2022, with the eight towns announced to be awarded city status being Bangor (Northern Ireland), Colchester, Doncaster, Douglas (Isle of Man), Dunfermline, Milton Keynes, Stanley (Falkland Islands), and Wrexham. Southampton won the lord mayor title.[4]

Background

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City status in the United Kingdom is purely honorary – it confers no special rights or privileges, beyond the entitlement to call the settlement a city. Nevertheless many local authorities seek to become cities, for the additional prestige and tourism it generates. Since the 19th century, the elevation of a town (or borough) to city status has been used by the monarch to mark significant occasions: in 1897, on Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, Bradford, Kingston upon Hull, and Nottingham were granted city status.[5] The first awarding of city status by Queen Elizabeth II was Southampton in 1964, followed by Swansea in 1969.[6] For the Silver Jubilee of 1977, Derby was elevated to city status,[7] and in 1992, Sunderland was awarded city status for her Ruby Jubilee.[8]

Similar city status awards were presented for the Millennium in 2000 (Brighton and Hove, Inverness, Wolverhampton) and for the Golden Jubilee in 2002 (Preston, Newport, Stirling, Lisburn, and Newry).[9]

For the Diamond Jubilee in 2012, 26 towns applied to become cities: Bolton, Bournemouth, Chelmsford, Colchester, Coleraine, Corby, Craigavon, Croydon, Doncaster, Dorchester, Dudley, Dumfries, Gateshead, Goole, Luton, Medway, Middlesbrough, Milton Keynes, Perth, Reading, Southend, St Asaph, St Austell, Stockport, Tower Hamlets and Wrexham.[10] However, the town of Dumfries was later excluded from the process because the application had not been submitted by the local authority.[11] Chelmsford, Perth and St. Asaph were subsequently chosen for city status.[12]

Process

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On 8 June 2021, the government announced a new competition for city status for towns across the United Kingdom, crown dependencies and overseas territories, to mark the Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II.[13] Southend-on-Sea intended to apply, however after local MP David Amess was murdered in October 2021, the Queen agreed to confer city status on Southend; Amess had campaigned for twenty years to make Southend a city.[14][15] On 1 March 2022, Charles, Prince of Wales presented the letters patent on behalf of the Queen, in the council chamber at Southend Civic Centre, officially granting city status to the town.[16]

The deadline for bids to the Platinum Jubilee competitions for becoming a city was 8 December 2021.[17] For the first time in the city status process, towns located on Crown Dependencies and British Overseas Territories were eligible to apply. This attracted bids from the Isle of Man, the Cayman Islands, the Falkland Islands and Gibraltar.[18] The winners were announced on 20 May 2022.[19][20]

Although Gibraltar's bid was refused, when researchers looked through the National Archives, they found that it had already been recognised as a city by Queen Victoria in 1842.[21]

Applicants for city status

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Thirty-nine towns and villages (including one county) across the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and crown dependencies participated in the competition. A unique entry was South Ayrshire which entered a countywide bid.[22]

On 20 May 2022, the eight winners of the civic honours were announced. The locations were in the four constituent countries of the UK, the Isle of Man and the Falkland Islands (an Overseas Territory).[20]

The successful applicants will, upon receipt of letters patent, become cities. The settlements that applied were:[23]

Settlement Notes Status
Alcester [24] No
Ballymena [25] No
Bangor, Northern Ireland [25] Yes
Blackburn [26] No
Bolsover [27] No
Boston [28] No
Bournemouth [29] No
Coleraine [25] No
Colchester [30] Yes
Crawley [31][32] No
Crewe [33] No
Doncaster [34] Yes
Dorchester [35][36] No
Douglas [37] Yes
Dudley [38] No
Dumfries [39] No
Dunfermline [40] Yes
Elgin [41] No
George Town [42] No
Gibraltar [43] No[a]
Goole [44] No
Greenock [45] No
Guildford [46] No
Livingston [47] No
Marazion [48] No
Medway [49] No
Middlesbrough [50] No
Milton Keynes [51] Yes
Newport and Carisbrooke [52] No
Northampton [53] No
Oban [54] No
Reading [55] No
Peel [56] No
St Andrews [57] No
Stanley [58] Yes
Warrington [33] No
Warwick [59][60] No
Wrexham [61] Yes

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Although Gibraltar's bid was refused, when researchers looked through the National Archives, they found that it had already been recognised as a city by Queen Victoria in 1842.[21]

References

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  1. ^ "Prestigious civic honours to be awarded by Her Majesty The Queen for first time in 10 years". GOV.UK. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  2. ^ "Written statements - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament". questions-statements.parliament.uk. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  3. ^ "Platinum Jubilee Civic Honours Competition". GOV.UK. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  4. ^ "Southampton welcomes new Lord Mayor in annual Mayor Making ceremony". Southampton City Council. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  5. ^ Beckett, John (November 2014). "Inventing and reinventing the modern city: the 2012 city status competition in the United Kingdom". Urban History. 41 (4): 711. doi:10.1017/S0963926813001053.
  6. ^ Symon, Penny (29 July 1977). "Queen met with flowers, gifts and some groans". The Times. No. 60, 068. p. 2. ISSN 0140-0460.
  7. ^ "Derby marks 40 years as city". BBC News. 28 July 2017. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  8. ^ Davenport, Peter (15 February 1992). "Sunderland casts off ailing past to win city status". The Times. No. 64, 256. p. 2. ISSN 0140-0460.
  9. ^ "Five new cities creates row". BBC News. 14 March 2002. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  10. ^ "More than 25 towns bid for Diamond Jubilee city status". BBC News. 16 June 2011. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  11. ^ "Dumfries considers revived bid for city status". BBC News. 23 June 2021. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  12. ^ "Three towns win city status for Diamond Jubilee". BBC News. 14 March 2012. Archived from the original on 25 April 2012. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
  13. ^ "Prestigious civic honours to be awarded by Her Majesty The Queen for first time in 10 years". GOV.UK. 8 June 2021. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  14. ^ Kingsley, Thomas (22 October 2021). "Southend falls silent to mark one week since MP's murder". The Independent. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  15. ^ "Sir David Amess: Southend to become a city in honour of MP". BBC News. 18 October 2021. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  16. ^ "Southend: Prince Charles presents city status document". BBC News. 1 March 2022. Retrieved 1 March 2022.
  17. ^ Sandford, Mark (13 July 2020). "What makes a city?". commonslibrary.parliament.uk. Retrieved 19 December 2021.
  18. ^ Singh, Anita (23 December 2021). "Far-flung Stanley in quest for city status to mark jubilee". The Daily Telegraph. No. 51, 820. p. 3. ISSN 0307-1235.
  19. ^ Cromar, Chris (5 January 2022). "39 places bid for city status as part of Queen's Platinum Jubilee". Public Sector Executive.
  20. ^ a b "Platinum Jubilee: Eight new cities created in Queen's honour". BBC News. 19 May 2022. Retrieved 20 May 2022.
  21. ^ a b "Gibraltar is officially a city - 180 years late". 29 August 2022 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  22. ^ "Who's competing against South Ayrshire in UK 'city bid' fight?". Ayr Advertiser. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  23. ^ "City status: The 39 towns competing for an upgrade revealed". BBC News. 23 December 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  24. ^ "Alcester in the running for city status in Jubilee competition". Redditch Advertiser. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  25. ^ a b c "Bangor, Ballymena and Coleraine bid to become a city as part of Queen's Jubilee". belfasttelegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  26. ^ "Duke of Cambridge pledges support for Blackburn's city status bid". BBC News. 17 December 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  27. ^ "Bolsover bids to become city for Queen's Platinum Jubilee". BBC News. 23 December 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  28. ^ "Queen's Platinum Jubilee: Boston to bid for city status". BBC News. 24 November 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  29. ^ "'City status bid for Bournemouth is ludicrous in the extreme'". Bournemouth Echo. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  30. ^ "Official bid submitted for Colchester to become a city". Gazette. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  31. ^ "'This is an opportunity to promote and boost our community' - MP backs Crawley's bid for City status". www.crawleyobserver.co.uk. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  32. ^ "Crawley's city status bid backed by county council". BBC News. 7 December 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  33. ^ a b "38 places Warrington will have to beat to win race to become a city". Warrington Guardian. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  34. ^ "Queen's Platinum Jubilee: Doncaster to bid for city status". BBC News. 28 October 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  35. ^ "It's official: Dorchester makes city status bid list". Bridport and Lyme Regis News. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  36. ^ "Dorchester bids for city status in jubilee competition". BBC News. 28 July 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  37. ^ "Douglas to apply for city status". Manx Radio. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  38. ^ Andrews, Mark. "Dudley takes on the world in bid to become city with global opposition announced". www.expressandstar.com. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  39. ^ "Campaign to make Dumfries a city officially launched". ITV News. 26 November 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  40. ^ "'Dunfermline has city status, we just need the Queen to confirm it'". Dunfermline Press. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  41. ^ "City bid from Elgin as part of Queen's celebrations". BBC News. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  42. ^ "George Town among places vying to win city status in Queen's 70-year reign". Cayman Marl Road. 23 December 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  43. ^ "Gibraltar among 39 places hoping for city status". Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  44. ^ "Goole to apply for city status". gooletimes.info. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  45. ^ "Councillors outline reasoning behind decision to pursue city status". Greenock Telegraph. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  46. ^ Lemieux, Hannah (23 September 2021). "Guildford is set to bid for UK city status". SurreyLive. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  47. ^ Sommerville, Stuart (28 October 2021). "West Lothian community asked to back town's Platinum Jubilee city bid". Daily Record. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  48. ^ "Tiny town, Marazion, bids to become UK's smallest city". BBC News. 8 December 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  49. ^ Edwards, Jade. "Medway announces intention to enter Her Majesty The Queen's city status competition". www.medway.gov.uk. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  50. ^ Dawson, Kristy (23 December 2021). "The surprising places competing against Middlesbrough for city status". TeessideLive. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  51. ^ "Milton Keynes to make fourth bid for city status". BBC News. 14 July 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  52. ^ "Newport and Carisbrooke's Jubilee city bid: What's next?". Isle of Wight County Press. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  53. ^ "Northampton: City status would see 'special town' flourish". BBC News. 27 October 2021. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
  54. ^ "Oban makes city bid". The Oban Times. 9 December 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  55. ^ "Reading council submits bid for city status under Platinum Jubilee plans". BBC News. 7 December 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  56. ^ "Peel: Isle of Man western town bids for city status". BBC News. 6 December 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  57. ^ "St Andrews steps up bids for city status as part of Queen's Platinum Jubilee". www.fifetoday.co.uk. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  58. ^ Dyson, Kevin (26 December 2021). "South Ayrshire's unique county wide bid for Queen Jubilee city status". Daily Record. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  59. ^ "MP backs Warwick's bid for city status". www.warwickshireworld.com. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  60. ^ "Queen's Platinum Jubilee: Warwick bids for city status". BBC News. 21 October 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  61. ^ "Wrexham's city status bid plan opposed by protesters". BBC News. 4 December 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
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