Wrexham to find out whether it is City of Culture 2025 live on BBC One Show
Wrexham will find out whether it is the UK City of Culture 2025 today, with the winner announced by Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries live on BBC’s The One Show.
Bradford, County Durham, Southampton and Wrexham County Borough are all in the running to be crowned the winner on Tuesday.
The shortlist was compiled from a record group of 20 that had initially registered bids to take over the title, currently held by Coventry.
The winner of the title, awarded every four years, will be announced by Ms Dorries on The One Show live from Coventry.
She said: “The UK City of Culture competition is a fantastic opportunity to shine a light on the contribution that art and culture make to all our lives.
“This title has been hotly contested and I’ve been hugely impressed by the quality of all four shortlisted bids from Bradford, County Durham, Southampton and Wrexham County Borough.
“Winning the competition can boost investment, attract tens of thousands of visitors and bring the local community together for an unforgettable year.
“I wish the best of luck to everyone involved.”
City status
The advisory panel, chaired by Sir Phil Redmond, visited the four shortlisted places before making their final recommendation in May, which was later approved by Ms Dorries.
For the first time this year, the eight longlisted winners received a £40,000 grant to strengthen their applications. They included Cornwall, Derby, Stirling and Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon.
Since winning the title, Coventry has seen more than £172 million invested in funding music concerts and the UK’s first permanent immersive digital art gallery, as well as a further £500 million for the city’s regeneration, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said.
It is a different bid to that of city status as part of the Queen’s jubilee celebrations, which Wrexham was awarded earlier this month.
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It will be interesting to see which of the places is chosen. Wrexham, as a “red wall” constituency that according to recent polling may well eject their Conservative MP’s, could be seen from a Tory political perspective as a worthy recipient.
A bribe to the good people of Wrexham before the next election.
Also tying in the notion of the much vaunted, but yet to materialise, policy of levelling up.
Good luck Wrexham.
For the reasons you state, it will never be Wrexham. This is going to some Tory town or a marginal seat that they want
Such as Wrexham.
I would be very happy if Wrexham did win and also very surprised have the English government ever given that sort of thing to any Welsh town or city
It will be Durham, which is a really nice place and people in my experience. Also, I am a fan of keeping a “low profile”, and being a Wrecsamian, do not want to attract people to my town. If we ever attain “luxury” status, this profile should be even lower for obvious reasons. I think this is the view of the majority, hence the spin on referendum.