The 11 places that have registered their initial interest in bidding are:
Aberdeen, Chester, Dundee, East Kent (covering Ashford, Canterbury, Dover, Folkestone and Thanet), Hastings and Bexhill on Sea, Hull, Leicester, Plymouth, Portsmouth and Southampton, Southend on Sea, Swansea Bay (covering Swansea, Carmarthenshire, Neath, and Port Talbot).
Labour in Dundee made making such a bid one of our manifesto commitments at the local government elections in May 2012. I am pleased that there is now cross party support on the Council to pursue submitting such a bid.
Bearing in mind our existing cultural assets of vibrant and engaged communities, Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee Rep, the McManus and Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, with the VandA at Dundee the icing on the cake, I am convinced we have a compelling case to make to the judges and we should be able to see off the competition.
Click on this link to listen to my colleague, Councillor Richard McCready, making the case for Dundee's bid on Radio Scotland.
All eleven places have until 30 April 2013 to submit their initial bids to an independent advisory panel which will be chaired by Phil Redmond. The panel will then decide on a shortlist which will be announced in June 2013.
The chosen place will succeed Londonderry, which is the UK City of Culture for 2013 and the first place to be awarded this prestigious title.