Platinum Jubilee: Eight towns to be made cities for Platinum Jubilee
By Mary O'ConnorBBC News
20th May 2022
The Queen visited the Coast Guard station headquarters in Bangor, Northern Ireland, back in May 2009
Eight new cities have been named for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee, with at least one in every UK nation - and on the Falkland Islands and Isle of Man.
Milton Keynes in England, Dunfermline in Scotland, Bangor in Northern Ireland and Wrexham in Wales all get the title.
It is a first for places in an Overseas Territory - Stanley, in the Falklands - and a crown dependency - Douglas, in the Isle of Man - to win city status.
Colchester and Doncaster complete the list getting the royal honour.
The Platinum Jubilee civic honours competition required applicants to show their cultural heritage and royal links as well as how their local identity and communities meant they deserved to be granted city status.
The new cities can expect a boost to local communities and the opening up of new opportunities for people who live there, the Cabinet Office said.
It cited research that suggested previous winner Perth, in Scotland, saw the local economy expand by 12% in the decade it was granted city status, after it put them on the international map as a place to do business.
The last competition to win civic honours in 2012 marked the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. For the first time this year, Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories were allowed to apply.
The announcement of the latest civic honours takes the number of official cities in mainland UK to 76, with 55 in England, eight in Scotland, seven in Wales and six in Northern Ireland.
City status is often associated with having a cathedral, university, or large population, but there are no set rules for being granted the status, which is awarded by the monarch on advice of ministers.
"It's about the place rather than the numbers," said government minister Jacob Rees-Mogg when asked about the size of the smaller places on the list.
Platinum Jubilee: Eight towns to be made cities for Platinum Jubilee
Locations including Milton Keynes, Dunfermline and Wrexham will be made cities in honour of the Queen.
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