| Description | In 2012 the Queen celebrated 60 years on the British throne. In advance of this occasion and as a part of the special events arranged to mark her Diamond Jubilee, the Queen pledged to award city status to one town in the United Kingdom. Therefore, in 2011 local authorities were invited to submit bids for their towns to take on city status (in a process overseen by the Deputy Prime Minister's Office). This was the first time Tower Hamlets had made a bid for city status and the application itself was sent off on 26 May 2011 from the Tower of London. In support of the bid the Tower of London raised a flag (at the Jewell Tower) which was emblazoned with the logo of Tower Hamlets Council.
When the results were announced in March 2012, Tower Hamlets was unfortunately not successful in its bid to become a city. Only one title was expected to be awarded but, in fact three towns, Chelmsford (Essex, England); Perth (Scotland) and St Asaph (Denbighshire, Wales) were granted city status. Acccording to BBC reports on 14 March 2012, the government said the multiple awards were made due to the 'high quality' of the bids submitted and 'in recognition of the significance of every part of the UK' in Jubilee year. The BBC also reported that 'Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said the three teams had won out from an "exceptional" field of entrants'. [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-17364651, accessed on 16 August 2012].
The material collected here consists of the bound volume of Tower Hamlets' bid submission and also electronic newsletter updates on the progress and outcome of the bid process, which were disseminated by Tower Hamlets Council's City Status Bid Team. |