City status in the United Kingdom
In the 20th century, it was explicitly recognised that the status of city in England and Wales would no longer be bound to the presence of a cathedral, and grants made since have been awarded to communities on a variety of criteria, including population size.
This was not without opposition from the Home Office, which dismissed St Albans as "a fourth or fifth rate market town" and objected to Wakefield's elevation on grounds of population.
[10] The link with Anglican dioceses was broken within England in 1889 when Birmingham successfully petitioned for city status (it was pre-empted in Ireland by Belfast in 1888) on the grounds of its large population and history of good local government.
This new precedent was followed by other large municipalities: Leeds and Sheffield became cities in 1893, and Bradford, Kingston upon Hull and Nottingham were honoured on the occasion of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897.
[10] Between 1897 and 1914, applications were received from a number of other boroughs, but only Cardiff was successful in being designated a city in 1905 and granted a Lord Mayoralty as "the Metropolis of Wales".
The amendment was rejected by the committee, however, with the First Lord of the Treasury, Arthur Balfour, believing it would be "an anomaly which, I think, would be not unnaturally resented by other districts which are as large in point of population as Westminster, although doubtless not so rich in historical associations".
Explaining the Home Secretary's reason for not recommending the King to approve the petition, the Lord Advocate stated: ...during the reign of his late Majesty it was found necessary, in order to maintain the value of the distinction, to lay down a rule as to the minimum population which should ordinarily, in connexion with other considerations, be regarded as qualifying a borough for that higher status.
Leicester had a population of approximately 230,000 at the previous census, but its petition was granted as an exception to the policy, as it was officially a restoration of a dignity lost in the past.
Salford's case, however, was considered favourably by the Home Secretary, William Joynson-Hicks, who had once been a Member of Parliament (MP) for a neighbouring constituency of Manchester North West.
The question arose as to which towns were entitled to be called cities, and the chairman, the Earl of Onslow, wrote to the Home Office to seek clarification.
[22] It was anticipated that the coronation of Elizabeth II in 1953 would lead to the creation of a city, and Wolverhampton, Preston and Southampton made approaches; the only civic honour given was that of a lord mayoralty to Coventry.
Croydon applied in 1954, but failed as it was felt not to have a sufficient identity apart from Greater London, and reports on the conduct of local government in the town were unfavourable.
[26] In December 1963 it was announced that a charter was to be granted incorporating the new authority as "Westminster", and that the Queen had accepted the advice of the Home Secretary to raise the London borough to the title and dignity of city.
[29] To preserve city status new letters patent were issued to the most relevant metropolitan borough, non-metropolitan district or successor parish councils created by the Act.
[31] In 1977, as part of the celebrations of the Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II, the Home Office identified nine candidates for city status: Blackburn, Brighton, Croydon, Derby, Dudley, Newport, Sandwell, Sunderland and Wolverhampton.
A large number of towns have applied for the honour in recent decades including Blackpool, Colchester, Croydon, Gateshead, Ipswich, Middlesbrough, Milton Keynes, Reading, Swindon and Warrington.
Places submitting bids (some for a second or subsequent time) included Bangor (Northern Ireland), Bournemouth, Doncaster, Dunfermline, Dudley,[40] Marazion,[41] Middlesbrough, Milton Keynes,[42] Reading,[43] St Andrews and Wrexham.
[45][46] On 18 October 2021, the Prime Minister announced in Parliament that the Queen, in advance of the closing date, would accord city status to one of the applicants, Southend-on-Sea.
The Home Office had a policy of resisting any attempt by metropolitan boroughs to become cities even when their populations, and other proposed claims as qualifying criteria, might otherwise have made them eligible.
[10] In 1856, the burgh of Dunfermline resolved to use the title of city in all official documents in the future, based on long usage and its former status as a royal capital.
[64] In 1887, the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria was celebrated, and the Borough of Belfast submitted a memorial to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland seeking city status.
Belfast based its claim on its similarity to two English boroughs that had received the honour—the seaport of Liverpool and the textile centre of Manchester—and the fact that it had (at the time) a larger population than the City of Dublin.
The same process was followed for Gibraltar, Jamestown, St Helena, Bridgetown, Barbados, St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda, Victoria, Hong Kong and Nassau, Bahamas.
This practice ended in 1865,[10] and led to legal disputes about whether these letters patent were valid or not in territories with responsible government (primarily those in present day Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa).
In 2021 submissions for city status were invited to mark the Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II, with Crown Dependencies and British Overseas Territories being allowed to take part for the first time.
It is a well-established principle that the grant of the title is only recommended in the case of towns of the first rank in population, size and importance, and having a distinctive character and identity of their own.
[73] Other than Armagh, eleven cities had entered the contest in 2012, namely: Cambridge, Derby, Gloucester, Lancaster, Newport, Peterborough, Salford, Southampton, St Albans, Sunderland, and Wakefield.
In most cases the "town" is held to be coterminous with the relevant local government area, such that the city status holder is the corporate body of the council.
[93] There are 16 English and Welsh cities that have never had Anglican cathedrals within their borders – Brighton and Hove, Cambridge, Hull, Lancaster, Leeds, Milton Keynes, Nottingham, Plymouth, Preston, Salford, Southampton, Southend-on-Sea, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland, Swansea, and Wolverhampton.
[95] Additionally, five other pre-Reformation sees—Brechin, Dunblane, Dunkeld, Kirkwall and St Andrews—are often referred to as cities, notably in names associated with the settlements (e.g. 'City of Brechin and District' community council.
