City of Leicester

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Region: East Midlands
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.

Leicester’s city status was restored in 1919 in recognition of its scale and national contribution, capping a civic story from Roman Ratae through medieval trade to hosiery, engineering and today’s diverse services and higher education. A county borough until 1974, Leicester became a non-metropolitan district before moving in 1997 to unitary status as Leicester City Council, taking on both county and district functions. The council now works with regional partners on devolution and growth, but remains the single local authority for the city, leading regeneration, transport and skills alongside its established ceremonial Lord Mayoralty.

City Council Status

Leicester City Council is a unitary authority (since 1997) delivering all principal local services; Leicester’s city status was restored in 1919.

Civic Honours: Lord Mayors & Lord Provost

Leicester’s mayoralty was elevated to a Lord Mayoralty by Letters Patent on 10 July 1928 (confirmed 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 East Midlands