UK City of Culture 2025: Wrexham loses bid

Wrexham has lost out to Bradford in its bid to become the UK's next City of Culture.

The announcement was broadcast live on the BBC's The One Show on Tuesday night.

After being short-listed alongside Wrexham, Southampton and County Durham, Bradford will take the mantle in 2025.

Wrexham and the other runners up will receive £125,000, for the first time in the competition, which is run every four years by the UK government.

Culture minister Nadine Dorries said: "There was stiff competition and I thank County Durham, Southampton and Wrexham County Borough for their excellent bids."

Previous winners include Derry-Londonderry (2013), Hull (2017) and Coventry (2021).

In Wrexham, despite losing out to Bradford, people were celebrating the county's achievement in reaching the final stages of the competition.

Some said they were disappointed, but added it was just the start for Wrexham.

Iolanda Banu Viegas, a member of the Portuguese community who organises events in the city said:"I feel quite sad but we're going to win next because we learn from our mistakes.

"It's a priority now to keep the momentum.

"We're not doing this just for the judges, we need to keep doing it for ourselves, for our communities, because we're proud of what we do and nothing will take that away from us."

Neal Thompson, co-founder of Focus Wales Festival and a key bid partner, said the story was not over for Wrexham.

"The reason Wrexham got so far in the City of Culture process is because of the things we've got here. It's a reflection of what's been going on and respect," he said.

"We were here before the bid and we will continue to carry on.

"Getting to where we did was well deserved. City of Culture will continue to happen and Wrexham is in a position to keep on trying year in year out for that accolade. I can only see good things coming from it."

The Welsh government agreed, tweeting: "Wrecsam will always be a winner in our hearts", adding, "What a journey it has been - this isn't the end!"

Wrexham council congratulated Bradford on their win, adding that the competition had "brought us all closer together and helped us realise just how special Wrexham is".

"We all have different backgrounds and different stories, but once we start joining the dots, we're a strong, supportive and resilient community who look out and support each other," they said in a statement.

"The work and achievements of the past few months has put us on a new trajectory that we aim to build upon over the coming years, creating an even more thriving community and generating opportunities in the process."

Chair of the Wrexham bid's steering group, councillor Hugh Jones, said: "As the only region on the shortlist from Wales, we flew the flag for our country as well as Wrexham."