Second City?

What is the second city in your country?

It’s a super interesting question to think about. Some countries have a very small gap between the first and second city; places like Australia (Sydney and Melbourne), Russia (Moscow and St Petersburg) and China (Beijing and Shanghai). Others are enormous; what is France’s second city? Marseille? Lyon? I hope not.

A recent poll asked Briton’s what they thought the nation’s second city was. The results are, in a word, fascinating.

A few things jump out:

1. Regional delusion pride is very much a thing. Newcastle has a great football team, but it is NOT the second city of Britain, and frankly, never has, or never will be.
2. Liverpool has a famous football team, and thus is very well known globally, BUT, only people who live there recognise its importance. A long way from it’s heydey as the “New York of Europe”
3. There is only three real candidates: Edinburgh, Manchester, and Birmingham. Manchester seems to have the most counties, but those living around Brum have higher conviction. Edinburgh as an option is obvious; it is the pearl of Scotland.

My thoughts? I haven’t been to Manchester, but I have been to Birmingham and Edinburgh. I had a wonderful weekend at the former with a good friend watching the cricket, and one of the best weeks of my life in Edinburgh watching the fringe.

So, with a gun to my head, I would have to pick Edinburgh, but it’s a tough one!