Results of Diamond Jubilee Civic Honours Competition announced
The government today announced the results of the Civic Honours competition in honour of Her Majesty The Queen's Diamond Jubilee.
Chelmsford, Perth and St Asaph have been awarded the right to call themselves a city, while Armagh will from now on have a Lord Mayor.
The awards have been made by The Queen on advice from the Deputy Prime Minister and Lord President of the Privy Council, Nick Clegg. The award of city status or a Lord Mayoralty is an honour bestowed by The Queen only on rare occasions.
The decision to award a new city in England, Scotland and Wales, and a Lord Mayoralty in Northern Ireland, was made in recognition of the significance of every part of the United Kingdom in the Diamond Jubilee year; and reflects the high quality of the bids submitted.
The Deputy Prime Minister said:
Congratulations to Armagh, Chelmsford, Perth and St Asaph who have been granted these rare honours from a field of exceptional entrants. Across the United Kingdom, I have been moved by the pride and passion which people have shown in putting their nominations forward.
The standard of application was very high, and those who missed out should not be downhearted. I hope the competition has given the residents of all of the places which applied a sense of civic pride, of collective ownership and of community spirit.
The Queen formally confers the titles of city status and Lord Mayoralty by Letters Patent in due course.
The awards of city status and Lord Mayoralty or Provostship are purely honorific and confer no additional powers, functions or funding. The last civic honours competition was held in 2002 to mark the Golden Jubilee when Preston, Stirling, Newport, Lisburn and Newry were awarded city status and Exeter was awarded a Lord Mayoralty.
Notes to editors
- Neither city status nor Lord Mayoralty has ever been a right to be claimed by places fulfilling a list of criteria, as this might devalue the honour. The Queen’s decision, made on Ministerial advice, will be final and no reasons will be given for applicants’ success or failure in the competition. Local authorities will be sent brief comments on their entries.
- The government announced in January 2010 that The Queen had agreed a competition for city status and Lord Mayoralty or Lord Provostship should be held to mark Her Diamond Jubilee, and the competition was formally launched on 1 December 2010.
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The full list of towns and areas that applied for city status was announced by Mark Harper, the Minister for Political and Constitutional Reform, on 6 June 2011 as follows:
Bolton
Bournemouth
Chelmsford
Colchester
Coleraine
Corby
Craigavon
Croydon
Doncaster
Dorchester
Dudley
Gateshead
Goole
Luton
Medway
Middlesbrough
Milton Keynes
Perth
Reading
Southend
St Asaph
St Austell
Stockport
Tower Hamlets
Wrexham - The cities that applied for a Lord Mayoralty were:
Armagh
Cambridge
Derby
Gloucester
Lancaster
Newport (Gwent)
Peterborough
Salford
Southampton
St Albans
Sunderland
Wakefield