|  Updated: 

Boris Johnson announces city status for Southend in honour of murdered MP Sir David Amess

By:

Add as a preferred source on Google
Tributes Are Paid To Murdered MP Sir David Amess
LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 18: A woman from the National Council of Resistance of Iran carrying a framed photograph of murdered MP David Amess walks past a row of images outside the Houses of Parliament on October 18, 2021 in London, England. Sir David Amess, MP for Southend West, was stabbed to death while meeting with constituents in Leigh-on-Sea on Friday. A 25-year-old man, Ali Harbi Ali, was arrested at the scene and the attack is being treated by police as a terrorist incident. (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)

Southend-on-Sea will be be given city status in honour of long-serving Essex MP Sir David Amess who was murdered on Friday, Boris Johnson today announced.

Amess, who was stabbed to death during a routine constituency surgery, had fought for decades for his constituency of Southend to be made a city.

“I’m happy to announce that Her Majesty has agreed that Southend will be accorded the city status it so clearly deserves,” Johnson told MPs.

“That Sir David spent almost 40 years in this house, but not one day in ministerial office tells you everything about where his priorities lay.

“He was not a man in awe of this chamber, nor a man who sought patronage or advancement, he simply wanted to serve the people of Essex. First in Basildon and then in Southend.

“It was in the act of serving his constituents that he so cruelly killed.”

More to follow