City of Bradford

image
Region: Yorkshire and The Humber
Country: England

§ This page provides an overview of an officially designated city in the UK, bringing together various information to help you better understand this city.

Bradford received city status by letters patent in 1897 at the height of its global wool and worsted trade; the 1974 reorganisation created today’s City of Bradford metropolitan district, bringing together the city and nearby towns under a single authority, which now also works with the West Yorkshire Combined Authority on transport, skills and regeneration across the wider city region.

City Council Status

The City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council is a metropolitan authority (since 1974) covering Bradford and surrounding towns; it works within the West Yorkshire Combined Authority framework (mayoral since 2021).

Civic Honours: Lord Mayors & Lord Provost

Bradford received the dignity of a Lord Mayoralty by Letters Patent dated 16 September 1907 (confirmed to the metropolitan borough in 1974).

In the UK, city status and the dignity of Lord Mayor (or Lord Provost in Scotland) are separate honours, each granted by the monarch via letters patent. Of the 76 cities, 28 have a Lord Mayoralty and 4—Scotland’s four cities—have a Lord Provost; these titles don’t automatically follow from city status. A Lord Mayoralty exists in 24 cities in England, 2 in Wales, and 2 in Northern Ireland.

Only 24 cities in England have Lord Mayors: Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol, Canterbury, Chester, Coventry, Exeter, Kingston-upon-Hull, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, the City of London, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne, Norwich, Nottingham, Oxford, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Sheffield, Southampton, Stoke-on-Trent, the City of Westminster, and York.

In the UK, a city is not defined by size or population but by formal status granted by the monarch, often through historical charters or, more recently, civic honours competitions. There are 76 officially recognised cities, some of which are relatively small compared to other urban areas. In contrast, local authority districts (361 in total) are administrative areas created for local government purposes and may include a mix of urban centres, suburbs, and rural communities. Within districts, there may be one or more towns, which generally refer to sizeable urban settlements but do not hold city status unless it has been formally granted. In practice, a city can exist within a district, and a district can cover multiple towns, showing the clear distinction between legal status, administrative boundaries, and everyday usage.

Cities in Yorkshire and The Humber