City of Kingston upon Hull

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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.

Kingston upon Hull (Hull) was created a city in 1897 by Queen Victoria’s letters patent, marking centuries of growth from medieval port to fishing, trading and, later, petrochemicals and renewables on the Humber. After the 1974 reforms it briefly became a second-tier borough within Humberside, before a re-grant of city status in March 1975 and, in 1996, restoration as a unitary authority (Kingston upon Hull City Council). Recent governance has added a strategic devolution layer: the Hull and East Yorkshire Combined Authority was established in 2025 with a directly elected mayor, giving the area extra powers over transport, skills and investment alongside the city council’s local services.

City Council Status

Kingston upon Hull City Council is the unitary authority (since 1996) for the city; Hull’s city status dates to 1897 and was reconfirmed after the 1974 reforms.

Civic Honours: Lord Mayors & Lord Provost

Kingston upon Hull’s mayoralty was raised to a Lord Mayoralty on 26 June 1914 (reconfirmed in 1975).

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