Southend-on-Sea to become a city in honour of MP David Amess

Sir David Amess championed the bid to make Southend a city

The town of Southend-on-Sea is to become a city, in honour of the MP Sir David Amess.

The Conservative MP had campaigned for many years for Southend to receive city status before his death.

On Monday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that the Queen had approved the change in status.

Mr Johnson said he was happy to fulfil one of Sir Amess's wishes.

He commented on Sir Amess's campaign to make Southend a city, saying he "never once witnessed any achievement by any resident of Southend that could not somehow be cited in his bid to secure city status for that distinguished town".

Where is Southend-on-Sea?

Southend-on-Sea, which is sometimes just called Southend, is about 40 miles outside of London in the county of Essex.

As you might have guessed from its name, it is a seaside town with a pier, funfair and illuminations.

For many years, Southend was a very popular holiday destination, particularly for people living in the city of London.

It has the longest pleasure pier in the world - stretching as far as 1.33 miles (around 2.1 kilometres)!

And in 2019, it had a new skate park named 'Skatey McSkateface' built!

Ely has city status despite its small size because of its cathedral which dates back as far as the year 1109

How does a town become a city?

Lots of towns would like to become cities, but not many have their requests granted.

Towns can now only become cities if granted that status by the reigning monarch, on advice of the government.

In the past, having a cathedral would usually indicate that somewhere is a city.

This is why some places like Ely and Salisbury have city status, despite their small size.

But this is not a requirement, and in 1899 Birmingham became the first town in the UK to become a city without a cathedral.

As well as bringing extra prestige, city status is an opportunity for areas to attract more tourism and boost the local economy.