City of Newcastle upon Tyne

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Region: North East
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.

Newcastle upon Tyne received city status in 1882 and this was confirmed for the reformed authority in 1974; rising from a Norman stronghold and medieval port to a powerhouse of coal, shipbuilding and engineering, it later shifted toward services, sciences and culture, supported by major urban renewal and the Tyne and Wear Metro; in local government it became a metropolitan borough in 1974 and, in 2024, joined the new North East Mayoral Combined Authority led by a directly elected regional mayor.

City Council Status

Newcastle City Council is a metropolitan district council in Tyne and Wear; regionally it sits within the North East Mayoral Combined Authority for strategic transport, skills and growth.

Civic Honours: Lord Mayors & Lord Provost

Newcastle upon Tyne received a Lord Mayoralty by Letters Patent dated 27 July 1906 (announced during the royal visit on 12 July 1906).

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 East