Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 11:39 am on 19 March 2015.
It was indeed a footnote to my career. I thank my hon. Friend for that.
There are periodic opportunities and competitions for towns to compete for city status and for cities to request an increase in their status. I do not think that that will be able to happen in the coming week, however. Leicester will have many important claims for advancing its status but I do not think that the connection with Richard III would be decisive, given that he lost the battle of Bosworth and that the royal line that flowed from him was rather weakened as a result.