Bradford has been named the UK’s City of Culture for the year 2025.
Nadine Dorries, the Culture Secretary, made the news live on the BBC’s One Show this evening.
Bradford won the prestigious award after outbidding three other finalists: Wrexham, Southampton, and County Durham.
As the announcement was made on live, BBC presenter Richie Anderson chatted with volunteers and bid teams in Coventry, the UK’s current City of Culture.
The winner was approved by Ms Dorries based on based on independent advice from a panel of experts led by TV writer-producer Sir Phil Redmond.
The expert panel were said to be impressed by the ambition of Bradford’s bid, which was centred around celebrating its residents, the power of diversity and aiming to ‘create new opportunities for everyone’.
Ms Dorries said: ‘Congratulations to Bradford, which is a worthy winner of UK City of Culture 2025.
‘Art and culture should be accessible to everyone and this prestigious title will help Bradford deliver unforgettable events for communities on their doorstep.
‘There was stiff competition and I thank County Durham, Southampton and Wrexham County Borough for their excellent bids.
‘Coventry has shown us how powerful the UK City of Culture title is at boosting investment, attracting visitors and leaving a lasting legacy for local people.’
Labour MP for Bradford East Imran Hussain said he is ‘beyond delighted’ at the announcement.
The shadow employment rights and protections minister tweeted: ‘Bradford is beautiful, Bradford is brilliant, and Bradford is the now the £UKCityofCulture2025!!
‘There really is no better place, and I’m beyond delighted that the Minister agrees with me.’
Prime Minister Boris Johnson also congratulated Bradford, tweeting: ‘The Prime Minister tweeted: ‘Congratulations to the city of Bradford on becoming the UK’s City of Culture for 2025.
‘This title builds on the rich history and dynamism of the city, bringing investment and opportunity for everyone who lives and works there.’
Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer has congratulated Bradford on being named the UK City of Culture for 2025.
He tweeted: ‘Congratulations, Bradford for becoming the UK’s City of Culture for 2025! A huge success for a city built on rich history, art and culture.’
The Leader of Bradford Council said the win will bring ‘so many opportunities’ to the area.
Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe said: ‘We’re delighted that our district has been recognised in this way.
Being UK City of Culture brings with it so many opportunities for people not only in terms of creativity and culture, but also for employment, attracting inward investment, boosting the local economy and opening up opportunities for young people to enhance their skills.
‘The way that people from across the district have got behind the bid and the confidence people are now starting to show, the Bradford district has started to come to life like never before.’
Shanaz Gulzar, chairwoman of Bradford’s bid, said the area had been ‘overlooked and underestimated for so long’ but the win was its ‘time to shine’.
The artist said: ‘This fantastic result is down to the ambition, belief and hard work of thousands of people across the district who were behind our bid.
‘We are thrilled that Bradford district has been chosen as the next UK City of Culture. This is a huge opportunity to celebrate our extraordinary cultural heritage and for our young, diverse population – who have been so involved in shaping our bid – to become leaders and changemakers and begin a new chapter in our story.
‘Bradford has been overlooked and underestimated for so long – it’s now our time to shine.’
The Bradford 2025 official bid account added: ‘This is our time to celebrate our extraordinary district – and for our young population to become leaders and change-makers to begin an exciting new chapter in our story.’
Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire, said no city is more deserving of the win, and that 2025 will be ‘a fitting showcase’ for the ‘cultural and artistic talent’ in Bradford.
She said: ‘No city deserves this more. As one of the youngest and most diverse places in the UK, Bradford will benefit so much from this platform to highlight everything it has to offer.
‘The entire year will be a fitting showcase for the incredible cultural and artistic talent in this amazing city.
‘And the City of Culture judging process has also helped us to highlight the breadth of talent and the vibrant cultural offer throughout West Yorkshire. There’s no doubt we have some of the finest creative and cultural talent, events, festivals, and destinations anywhere in the UK.’
She described 2025 as the ‘crowning glory’ for the region, adding: ‘I send my congratulations to all the team involved in this bidding process and I know the people of Bradford are ready to take this opportunity and shine on a national stage. Here’s to the future!’
The final four cities were whittled down from a record 20 initial bids.
Experts then reduced the process to eight outstanding long list applications, which included bids from Cornwall, Derby, Stirling and Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon.
An expert panel visited each of the four final locations to learn more about the bids before making their final recommendation.
Each city was asked to explain how they would use culture to ‘grow and strengthen their local area’ and to recover from the impact of Covid.
Bradford will now receive £275,000 in initial seed funding to make sure the city can hit the ground running and get the wheels in motion early as it develops its plans for 2025.
Sir Phil Redmond, Chair of the Independent Advisory Panel, said: ‘The selection is never about whether one bid is better than another, it is more that one bid has the potential to make a bigger and deliverable impact.
‘For 2021 we asked Coventry to raise the bar previously set by Derry-Londonderry 2013 and then raised by Hull 2017.
Challenged by the pandemic, Coventry have certainly done that and I am looking forward to seeing how far the cultural bar can be raised in BD25.’
As part of its status as UK City of Culture 2025, Bradford will be eligible for a £3 million grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund and now has three years to prepare for a year of groundbreaking cultural activities.
Ms Dorries will also host a roundtable with the three unsuccessful bidders to discuss how best they can be supported.
Elsewhere, the losing finalists have congratulated Bradford on their win.
Michael Ockwell, who was on the Southampton2025 City of Culture steering group, said: ‘Even though Southampton hasn’t been successful in the bid to be City of Culture in 2025, the work of the organising team over the past two years has been fantastic.
‘Arts and culture are so important to our city, we will help to build on the great foundations made through our two venues. Congratulations to Bradford on their winning bid’.
Southampton residents also spoke of their disappointment.
Helen Cutler, a 54-year-old retired accounts manager, said: ‘Bummer, another northern city wins. But we’ve done so well to get to the last four nominated and it’s good that all the runners up get £125,000.
‘We are a city proud of the arts with the Mayflower Theatre and the Guildhall and the Nuffield theatre allowing all age groups to have access to theatre, music and comedy… We’ve just had The Killers play at St Mary’s Stadium.
‘There is such a choice of art galleries too and we are a city full of young people with two universities offering so much to younger generations.
‘Then there’s the history too with the Titanic story and all the historic buildings like the tudor house and the old walls round the city.’