City of Plymouth

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Region: South 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.

Plymouth’s city status was conferred in 1928 and confirmed for the post-1974 authority; famed for its naval and maritime heritage, wartime Blitz devastation and post-war rebuilding, it became a unitary authority in 1998 restoring powers once held as a county borough, and continues to drive regeneration of its waterfront economy.

City Council Status

Plymouth City Council is a unitary authority (since 1998) providing all local services; Plymouth was granted city status in 1928.

Civic Honours: Lord Mayors & Lord Provost

Plymouth was granted a Lord Mayoralty on 6 May 1935 during King George V’s Silver Jubilee (reconfirmed 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 South West