12% say Bournemouth and Reading most deserving of city status; 28% say Tower Hamlets least so
Bournemouth and Reading have topped our poll as the towns most British people would like to see become cities as part of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations this year.
The same poll found Tower Hamlets and Croydon to be the least worthy of an upgrade in the eyes of the public.
Perth in Scotland deserves a mention as the town to receive the lowest numbers of negative votes while still being a very close third on the list of towns the public would like to see become cities.
Most deserving
- 12% chose Bournemouth, while the same number chose Reading
- Also high up on the list are Middlesbrough at 10% each, followed closely by Colchester (9%)
- Gateshead and Bolton meet in the middle (7%) as well as Doncaster, Chelmsford and Dorchester (6%)
As part of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations taking place this year, the Government has recently announced that a total of 25 towns will be able to compete for the right to become a city.
This accolade has become quite customary and reportedly began afresh in 2000 as a way to celebrate the new Millennium. The most recent new city statuses to be handed out heralded the Queen’s Golden Jubilee in 2002, and included Preston in England, Newport in Wales, Stirling in Scotland, and Lisburn and Newry in Northern Ireland.
Least deserving
The least deserving of the 26 candidate towns include Tower Hamlets (as a London borough already, arguably already within a city), Croydon and Luton.
- 28% of Britons chose Tower Hamlets as the least deserving city
- The next least deserving town is Croydon at 17%, followed by Luton (13%) and Milton Keynes (11%)
- Medway and Goole both received 10%, while Corby, Southend, Dudley and St Asaph came next, at 9% apiece
- Bournemouth and Reading, which received the highest percentage of MOST deserving, received 5% and 6% of votes for least deserving
- While Perth received the fewest votes for the least deserving town at only 3%
Bolton, Bournemouth, Chelmsford, Colchester, Coleraine, Corby, Craigavon, Croydon, Doncaster, Dorchester, Dudley, Gateshead, Goole, Luton, Medway, Middlesbrough, Milton Keynes, Perth, Reading, Southend, St Asaph, St Austell, Stockport, Tower Hamlets and Wrexham make up the full list of towns competing for city status this year.
Cabinet Office Minister Mark Harper has said the Queen will deliberate with the help of ministers, and the winner will be announced in early 2012.
See the survey details and full results here
