Manchester is top choice to replace London as capital city, survey finds

According to a brand new survey Manchester is the top choice to replace London as the UK’s capital city.

It found that one in six people want to move the capital to somewhere else in the country, with more than half of those wanting a new capital choosing Manchester as the location.

This is according to a YouGov poll for Times Radio, which discovered that Manchester came out on top from all respondents – even those who don’t support moving the capital.

Of the people who wanted a new capital, 55% voted for Manchester, 42% for Liverpool, 39% for Birmingham and 37% for Leeds, while Newcastle, Sheffield, Edinburgh, Nottingham, Bristol, and Glasgow also received some votes.

David Dixon / Geograph

The survey comes as Lisa Nandy, the MP for Wigan, discussed the ongoing levelling up debate with The Times.

Just yesterday a think-tank said that to level up Greater Manchester you would need ‘tens of billions of pounds of investment’, as well as more graduates working in the region and a lot more employment opportunities.

Nandy replied, when asked about moving the capital city: “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 went on to add that she thinks the key to helping struggling towns might be reopening popular nightclubs that have since shut down.

The MP said: “Every single town has lost a nightclub that they feel very strongly about, that was part of our history and our heritage.

“You know, in Wigan we had northern soul and we miss all of that greatly… 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.

“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.”