It’s a fitting tribute to David Amess for Southend-on-Sea to become a city

The town’s local MP, who was fatally stabbed on Friday, championed its case for city designation for years. Sean O’Grady explains why it’s right that his wishes have been honoured

Southend has been awarded city status in special recognition of the MP’s public service (David Amess/Twitter)

Among other memorials to Sir David Amess’ life and work, it seems entirely appropriate that Southend-on-Sea will be granted city status, something he had campaigned long for. It is in special recognition of the fact that he died because of his work and at his duties as a public servant, and because of his special affinity to the constituency of Southend West. It also seems inevitable, because it is granted by the Queen on the advice of the lord chancellor. In 2000, 2002 and 2011 there were some unseemly “competitions” for the prize, from which Brighton, Lisburn, Inverness and Chelmsford got promoted, but it doesn’t have to be won in that manner. The prime minister announced on Monday that the Queen had agreed Southend “will be accorded the city status it so clearly deserves’’.

Besides all of that, Southend has a case for city status in any case. Historically, though even then not invariably or automatically, a place calling itself “city” was linked to it being a Roman fort or having its very own cathedral, or the local authority being “incorporated”, a successor to the ancient appointment of mayor, sheriffs, burgesses and bailiffs, or being of a certain size, and industrial power, as well as being relatively “big” by contemporary standards. In Scotland, rules for burghs also historically differed. Nowadays it’s not exactly random, but it is discretionary. After all what is the difference between a large town and a small city? None, for the inhabitants, apart from that slight hint of prestige and impatience. There are 69 formal cities in the UK, and many more would love to be.

Southend plainly has a strong sense of identity, an airport, a rugby club in continuous existence for 150 years and a business park in development, it boasts a population of around 180,000 and is just as big as the City of Peterborough (granted its letters patent in 1541). Southend is also surely no lesser a place than Ripon (1836), say, or Newport (2002)?

Oddly, the biggest city in the country, London, ie the conurbation that we think of as London, isn’t technically a city – only the square mile in “the City of London” (since time immemorial) and the “City of Westminster”(1540) are cities; yet the huge conurbation of Greater London is merely an administrative region with a directly-elected mayor (as distinct from a lord mayor). Some other historical cities such as Leeds (originally granted status as late as 1893) and Bradford (1897) have more recently expanded and the towns and districts around them. Others, such as Leicester (1919) did not expand behind their original “corporation” borders; others, such as Rochester (1211 to 1998) actually got relegated and lost city status after a local government reorganisation.

There have been many city anomalies. On account of its ancient founding and fine cathedral, relatively tiny Ely has been entitled to call itself a city since 1109, whereas Manchester had to wait until 1853, Birmingham to 1889, Cambridge to 1951 and Derby, highly exasperated, until 1977. Most cities have city councils, but not all have operated continuously, and have lost their old traditional role running the local police (now conducted at county, cross-county, regional or national level and supervised by elected commissioners). All, though, retain their sense of civic pride and identity. There is every reason why Southend can now join the club.