A new survey has revealed that Manchesteris the top rated city to replace London as the capital of the UK.
Manchester has got a few new titles to its name in recent weeks, having been crowned the best UK city for retail and leisure in 2022, and just last week being named by The Economist as the 28th most liveable city in the world in the ‘Global Liveability Index 2022’ – being the highest-rated UK city on the list, and beating out big hitters like Barcelona, New York city, and our own country’s capital in the process.
But it looks like the titles just won’t stop coming for our city.
According to a YouGov poll conducted for Times Radio this week, one in six people – around 16% – are in support of moving the UK capital away from London, and among those who wanted a new capital city, more than half backed Manchester to take over.
From all the respondents who voted in the poll, even those who did not support changing the capital, Manchester beat out all the competition to take the top spot overall on the new rankings – with 25% of those polled picking the city, followed by 19% for Birmingham, and 17% for Edinburgh.
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Out of those people polled who supported the idea of a new UK capital, an impressive 55% of respondents voted for Manchester.
Nandy was talking to me about levelling-up for a discussion about moving the capital out of London.@YouGov poll for @TimesRadio shows 16% support changing the UK’s capital city. 20% Labour 2019 voters. 21% in North.
Trailing behind Manchester, 42% picked fellow North West city Liverpool, 39% went for Birmingham, and 37% chose to go for Leeds, while other major UK cities Newcastle, Sheffield, Edinburgh, Nottingham, Bristol, Glasgow, Cardiff, Cambridge, Portsmouth, and Belfast all also received votes.
The survey comes after a think-tank just yesterday said Greater Manchester would need “tens of billions of pounds of investment”, as well as more graduates working in the region and significantly more employment opportunities in order to level it up.
It also comes as Lisa Nandy, Labour MP for Wigan, discussed this ongoing levelling up debate with The Times.
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When asked about moving the prospect of moving the capital city away from London, Nandy comically said: “Just not Wigan is my plea. I don’t want a load of lords in ermine and a load of MPs sitting in my local pub.”
She also discussed the idea that reopening popular nightclubs may help struggling towns, adding that Wigan particularly misses its old northern soul past.
Manchester is the top rated city to replace London as the capital of the UK / Credit: Mangopear Creative (via Unsplash)
Nandy continued: “Every single town has lost a nightclub that they feel very strongly about, that was part of our history and our heritage.
“Live music venues that used to sustain bands like the Verve who come from Wigan, who could gig and play around Wigan, not just have to travel into Manchester to do it, those things have disappeared in the last couple of decades.
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“So there is a serious point behind this.
“Because as well as providing those opportunities for young people from every part of the country and the culture and the history and the identity that goes with it, it means that we’re reflected in the national story.”
Molly-Mae Hague has welcomed her first baby… according to boxer Jake Paul
Daisy Jackson
Jake Paul appears to have spilled the beans on Molly-Mae Hague, announcing that she has given birth to her first baby with his rival Tommy Fury.
Super influencer Molly-Mae, 23, has maintained radio silence on Instagram for the last week, leading to many fans speculating that she has welcomed her baby girl and is taking some privacy out of the public eye.
Many assumed that she would bide her time for a huge announcement video, as she did with her pregnancy announcement back in September.
But it appears that Jake Paul has jumped the gone and made the announcement for the young couple, who met on the fifth series of Love Island.
YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake posted on Twitter today, alongside a poster promoting his upcoming fight with Tommy: “Tommy has no excuses now…Baby’s born. Money’s massive. Immigration no issue.
Tommy has no excuses now…Baby’s born. Money’s massive. Immigration no issue.
Tyson promises he & Papa will make Tommy retire from boxing & change his last name if he can’t beat the YouTuber.
Tmw I’m coming to London to look at all 3 Fury’s in the eye & shake on that promise. pic.twitter.com/hMBFCabMoS
Another wrote: “ermmm did Jake Paul just let slip that Molly Mae’s given birth before she announced it or??”
Someone else commented: “Not Jake Paul announcing molly mae having her baby before molly mae what a prick.”
Molly-Mae and Tommy Fury have not yet addressed the message from Jake Paul.
Featured image: Instagram, @mollymae
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Tim Healy surprises fans with performance at The 1975’s Newcastle gig
Danny Jones
The 1975’s tour has seen some seriously memorable moments so far, including several special guest appearances, but seeing Tim Healy give a surprise performance has to be the jewel in the crown.
While the band might have formed in the Wilmslow and plied their trade in Manchester on their way to success, several members of the current lineup — including frontman Matty Healy himself — were born in Newcastle, so the gig at the Utilita Arena on Wednesday was very much a homecoming show.
With that in mind, when British TV royalty, Geordie icon and Matty’s old man, Tim Healy popped up on stage, the crowd understandably went wild.
There were no doubt plenty of confused faces when a trademark Matty monologue and sudden cut to black was followed by the bloke from Benidorm appearing up on stage, but there was also a scream bigger than any response Taylor Swift got.
Whipping out some significantly more dramatic thespian ability than the kind you’d associate with his Auf Wiedersehen, Pet days, albeit still fully aware of bizarre the entire spectacle was, he brought one of his son’s trademark digressions about method acting to a close.
But better than that, the 70-year-old ended up staying on stage to perform his own low-key ‘All I Need to Hear‘ cover as the band played in the background. Surreal.
To be honest, it might just be the wholesomeness of it all, but we think we might prefer the older Healy’s version.
Sing it, Tim!
Tim on stage for ‘All I Need To Hear’ tonight in Newcastle #The1975
Imagine bringing your dad onto the stage only for him to absolutely steal the show. Brilliant stuff.
Both he and Matty’s celebrity mum Denise Welch have been spotted at various shows as the band continue to perform their ‘At Their Very Best’ tour around the country, with various fans interacting with them in the crowd, but very few would have been expecting an impromptu song from one of them.
Both are obviously more closely associated with TV, with Welch known for appearing on the likes of Coronation Street, Hollyoaks, Loose Women and many more, but if we don’t up end up getting both of them on stage before this tour is over we’ll be genuinely fuming.
It also looks like the reaction meant a lot to him:
Thanks for all your kind messages after my surprise performance at Matty’s gig in Newcastle proud proud dad xxx pic.twitter.com/7izemLl9Id
Elsewhere in the show, The 1975’s Newcastle fans were treated to an equally ridiculous surprise appearance from Harry Styles. Well, not really…
In case you haven’t seen it already, the band conspired to prank the crowd by putting the former One Direction star’s name up on the screen, only to bring out Scottish singer Lewis Capaldi instead.
He obviously got just as lovely a reaction and fully leaned into bantering with the crowd — joking, “I know what you’re thinking: ‘Harry Styles‘ looks a bit different.'” — before performing a cover of ‘Antichrist’.
Emily Sergeant -
28th June 2022 
