It seems that Southend-on-Sea will once again be bidding to change status from a town to a city.
As part of the celebrations for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012, towns around the UK are bidding for city status, and Southend’s thrown its hat into the ring for consideration.
There are just 66 cities in the UK, and none of them are in Essex. Local MPs and businesses are backing the bid for Southend to become a city. The town last tried for promotion to city-ship in 2002.
Southend West PM David Amess is leading the drive, and he made a passionate plea in Parliament on the 14th of February – there’s a transcript of this at: They work for you
Competition could be stiff though. We have the seaside, most of a pier, the airshow and Cuckoo Corner on our side, but local rival Chelmsford is also a wannabe city. Chelmsford’s got a cathedral, is the centre of local government and has a football team optimistically called Chelmsford City.
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Well gang, we didn’t win. Southend’s City-on-Sea campaign didn’t work, and Southend-on-Sea remains a town.
Chelmsford, however, is now a city, winning one of the coveted slots.