Perth’s bid for city status is now complete and has been personally delivered to the UK Cabinet Office in London today (Thursday) by Perth and Kinross Provost Dr John Hulbert and Perth MP Pete Wishart. The 50-page application details the fair city’s claim for the restoration of city status and includes messages of support from a large number of some of Scotland’s most prominent leaders, including the First Minister Alex Salmond.
Perth’s claim is based on its history as Scotland’s first capital and latterly as the official second city of Scotland and the application emphasises its strengths as a growing regional centre within Scotland.
The winner of the competition is expected to be announced early in 2012 as part of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations.
Provost Dr John Hulbert said:
“We have reached a crucial stage in our campaign to regain city status for Perth. This detailed document sets out clearly why we feel this civic honour should once again be ours, giving a wealth of information which I am sure will be food for thought.
“I now hope that Perth’s bid will be given its due consideration and we will await the announcement early next year. Until then I’d urge everyone to give us support and back our bid.”
Perth and North Perthshire MP Pete Wishart said:
“This is an excellent presentation outlining quite clearly why Perth should have city status restored. This is a bid that is backed by the local community, the First Minister of Scotland and all opposition leaders in the Scottish Parliament. It is Scotland’s bid and I know that Perth will be a worthy addition to Scotland’s official cities.
“Where we are obviously disappointed that the UK Government won’t hold a separate competition for each of the nations of the UK but we believe that Perth’s bid is good enough to take on all comers.
“I will continue to push for a fairer, truly inclusive competition that matches the ambitions of candidate towns across the UK. The Westminster Government should recognise the distinct civic traditions from each of the nations, and at even this late stage seek to extend this competition to allow a winner from each of the nations across the UK.”
