The full list of locations bidding to become cities in 2022 has been revealed.
The list of competitors, which includes Blackburn, has 22 English locations vying for a place and some more unusual locations including Stanley, which is almost 8,000 miles from mainland Britain in the Falkland Islands, as well as George Town in the Cayman Islands and Gibraltar.
As part of their bids, applicants were asked to talk about the distinct identity and community which they feel means their area deserves to become a city, as well as evidence of links to royalty.
The full list is:
- Alcester, Warwickshire
- Ballymena, County Antrim
- Bangor, County Down
- Blackburn, Lancashire
- Bolsover, Derbyshire
- Boston, Lincolnshire
- Bournemouth, Dorset
- Coleraine, County Londonderry
- Colchester, Essex
- Crawley, West Sussex
- Crewe, Cheshire
- Doncaster, South Yorkshire
- Dorchester, Dorset
- Douglas, Isle of Man
- Dudley, West Midlands
- Dumfries, Dumfries and Galloway
- Dunfermline, Fife
- Elgin, Moray
- George Town, Cayman Islands
- Gibraltar, Gibraltar
- Goole, East Yorkshire
- Greenock, Renfrewshire
- Guildford, Surrey
- Livingston, West Lothian
- Marazion, Cornwall
- Medway, Kent
- Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire
- Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire
- Newport and Carisbrooke, Hampshire
- Northampton, Northamptonshire
- Oban, Argyll and Bute
- Reading, Berkshire
- Peel, Isle of Man
- St Andrews, Fife
- Stanley, Falkland Islands
- South Ayrshire, Ayrshire and Arran
- Warrington, Cheshire
- Warwick, Warwickshire
- Wrexham, Clwyd
