Sir David Amess anniversary: Southend should go for City of Culture, says MP

The successor to murdered MP Sir David Amess says Southend should seek City of Culture status in his honour.

Sir David was stabbed to death while meeting constituents at Belfairs Methodist Church in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, on October 15 2021.

Ali Harbi Ali was given a whole-life jail sentence in April for murdering the Southend West MP.

Sir David's successor Anna Firth said she wanted to help make "Southend the city that he would have been proud of".

Sir David, a father-of-five, had long campaigned for Southend to become a city and this became a reality after his death.

The 69-year-old was posthumously made the city of Southend's first freeman at a ceremony attended by the then Prince of Wales in March.

Mrs Firth, who was elected as MP for Southend West in February, said Southend becoming a city had "given everyone a huge boost".

"Civic pride is important and it's given everybody a focus because what we all want to do now is to make the city of Southend the city that he would have been proud of," said the 56-year-old.

"We're all coming together and working out ways in which we can take Southend forward.

"Just one of the suggestions which I've come up with is that we go for UK City of Culture in 2029 because culture was really important to Sir David and he led the charge for Southend to be UK City of Culture in 2017, and we didn't get it.

"We missed out to Hull.

"So, what better legacy than for us to fulfil his dream and make us not only a city but a City of Culture."

John Lamb, chairman of the Southend West Conservative Association, said Sir David would be "over the moon" that Southend had become a city and it had "brought a lot of pride".

"You don't see everything that's actually come about through city status but in fact it is building," said Mr Lamb, 74.

"We've seen multinational businesses who want to move into the [city], bring the investment."

He said that Southend "is changing and for the good reasons".

Mr Lamb said that, after achieving city status for Southend, Sir David would have been looking forward.

"Now he'd be working on 'what's the next thing that Southend needs? Let's get that going'," he said.

"He would be determined to move that forward for us."

Sir David, from east London, was a Conservative MP for 38 years, first as an MP for Basildon from 1983, and for Southend West from 1997.

Constituency assistant Julie Cushion was at the church when he was fatally stabbed and gave evidence at the trial of his killer at the Old Bailey.

The court heard that 60-year-old Ms Cushion, who now works for Sir David's successor, made the first 999 call from the scene.

She said working with Sir David was "never ever boring", recalling how he "wanted to make Southend the alternative city of culture when he was really peed off we didn't get City of Culture".

"He used to do the most craziest of things," she said.

"He was that larger-than-life personality. He was very good at working a room.

"He would make sure he spoke to everybody.

"But I have to say his timekeeping was absolutely appalling."

A gathering is to be held at Chalkwell Park on the anniversary of his death, with a tree planted in his memory.

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