Guy Opperman, the work and pensions minister, then suggested his Hexham seat for royal status. Mr Dowden told a Telegraph fringe meeting that conferring a royal title on a northern town or city was “an excellent idea”.
“I could think of nothing better than the Queen honouring places north of Sutton Coldfield with royal status.” ‘Even the Government will recognise that would be a grave error’ Mr Crick’s suggestion swiftly received the backing of Jake Berry, chairman of the Northern Research Group of Tory MPs, who said: “We are hugely proud of the strong royal connections through our history and to the present day. How about some further north, to give northern towns a new boost? Royal Borough of Barrow, anyone?” The idea was first mooted by journalist Michael Crick, who pointed out on social media that “there are nine Royal Boroughs in England, nearly all in leafy places, none further north than Sutton Coldfield. However, it immediately triggered competing bids from MPs representing Lancaster and York – long and well-established rivals – that the title should be conferred on their cities.
MPs had hoped that the idea would correct an apparent injustice that there is no town with a “Royal” prefix in northern England. The idea to give royal status to a town in the North of England to coincide with the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee was backed by senior Tories including Oliver Dowden, the party chairman, at the party conference. A modern-day War of the Roses has broken out between Lancaster and York after ministers backed calls for a northern town to receive a royal title.
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