UK City of Culture 2025 winner to be announced tonight by Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries

UK City of Culture 2025 winner to be announced tonight in Coventry, with Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries will announce winner live on The One Show at about 7:20PM.

Bradford, County Durham, Southampton and our own Wrexham County Borough are the running for the title

This year’s competition received a record 20 initial bids from places across the UK

Tonight the winner of the UK City of Culture 2025 will be crowned live on The One Show by Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries.

Following months of intense competition, Bradford, County Durham, Southampton and Wrexham County Borough will find out if they will take on the prestigious title from Coventry as the UK’s City of Culture.

The winning city will be at the centre of the UK’s cultural spotlight in 2025 and use culture as a catalyst for levelling up, attracting visitors to the area and sparking investment.

Previous winners, including Hull and Derry-Londonderry, have shown the huge economic benefits the title can bring. Hull received £15 million in government investment to help build a lasting legacy, and £18 million of government funding in Coventry has led to a total of £172 million inward investment, funding music concerts, the UK’s first permanent immersive digital art gallery, a new children’s play area in the centre of the city, and improvements to public transport.

The status also brings together the local community, gives people new cultural experiences and attracts thousands of visitors. Coventry UK City of Culture 2021 used the title to transform the city through a spectacular year-long cultural programme, engaging an audience of over one million through more than 700 ticketed, unticketed and online events.

Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries said: “The UK City of Culture competition is a fantastic opportunity to shine a light on the contribution that art and culture make to all our lives.

“This title has been hotly contested and I’ve been hugely impressed by the quality of all four shortlisted bids from Bradford, County Durham, Southampton and Wrexham County Borough.

“Winning the competition can boost investment, attract tens of thousands of visitors and bring the local community together for an unforgettable year. I wish the best of luck to everyone involved.”

The winner is approved by the Culture Secretary based on independent advice from a panel of experts led by TV writer-producer Sir Phil Redmond. The experts visited each of the four shortlisted places, Bradford, County Durham, Southampton, and Wrexham County Borough, to learn more about the bids before making their final recommendation.

In the last 24 hours betting appears to be suspended on those taking markets, with Coventry being a clear winner ahead of time based off that data. Wrexham moved to joint favourite, then favourite, but then a last minute flurry of bets saw Bradford emerge as final favourite before markets closed.