Our Chair Cllr James Lewis on the recent Anglo French Local Government summit hosted by Leeds celebrating the 120th anniversary of the Entente Cordiale.
French and English cities demonstrate success of Entente Cordiale
Share
19 December 2024
Ten core cities attended the UK-France Local Government Forum - funded by the UK Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office and hosted in Leeds - a sign of Core Cities UK’s commitment to joint working with French colleagues.
After all, Local government in France and the UK has a proud history of working together. Since the establishment of the very first twin town and city relationships in 1946, more than 2,000 French and UK local authorities have forged links of friendship and trust.
The Forum brings together national and local government from across the two nations to strengthen bilateral relations across borders. It was held in December and celebrated the 120th anniversary of the Entente Cordiale.
There were lots of examples of joint working between UK and English cities, including Bristol and Bordeaux sharing their work on memorialisation and legacy programmes related to the transatlantic trafficking of enslaved Africans.
Cardiff and Nantes have shared knowledge on youth inclusion through sports and Lyon and Birmingham have worked together on issues around homelessness. Representatives from Leeds/Lille and the Newcastle/Nancy partnerships explained their thinking on creating the best start for young people through education and youth exchanges.
We discussed how French and English local government is shaping the global debate on issues like climate and migration, feeding into COP, the G20 and the G7.
And a fascinating session on Ukraine looked at how UK and French cities are supporting their Ukrainian equivalents, not only through solidarity but also through links on culture, medicine and medical rehabilitation as well as mental health issues related to violence and conflict.
It was great to see local and national government coming together in the Core City I lead, particularly in a context of continued geopolitical uncertainty when relationships between places are more important than ever. We look forward to next summit in France in 2026.
