City of Liverpool

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Region: North West
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.

Liverpool was granted city status in 1880 by Queen Victoria, formalising a meteoric rise from medieval port to global hub of Atlantic trade, shipbuilding and migration. A county borough until 1974, it became a metropolitan district within Merseyside; after the abolition of the metropolitan county in 1986, Liverpool City Council continued as the principal authority. Since 2014 the city has sat within the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, with a directly elected metro mayor from 2017 adding a strategic tier over transport, skills and regeneration—supporting major waterfront renewal, knowledge-economy growth and cultural investment alongside the council’s local services.

City Council Status

Liverpool City Council is a metropolitan district council within Merseyside; strategic functions operate through the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority with an elected metro mayor.

Civic Honours: Lord Mayors & Lord Provost

Liverpool was granted a Lord Mayoralty on 3 August 1893.

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 North West