Councils in Greater Manchester spent over £126,000 on Coronation events last weekend, an investigation by openDemocracy has revealed.
Data gathered by over 300 freedom of information requests shows at least £3.8 million was spent on royal-themed events by UK councils altogether.
Oldham Council was Greater Manchester’s highest spender, putting £52,000 towards coronation celebrations.
Amanda Chadderton, the previous leader of Oldham Council who lost her seat at the recent council elections, had earlier said: “The Coronation is set to be a fantastic weekend of celebration across the country and here in Oldham we’re going big.”
Wigan followed closely behind, spending £40,000. The council hosted a ‘Big Coronation Lunch’ on Sunday 7 May at Leigh Town Hall, but cancelled its Coronation Party in Mesnes Park due to take place the following day.
Bury Council spent £14,000 on local coronation celebrations despite its budget being cut by 22 per cent, as reported by Bury Times.
Rochdale Borough Council and Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council were the county’s other big spenders, allocating £19,610.50 and £1210 to coronation celebrations respectively.
Nationally, the largest coronation related spend by a UK council was Ealing Council, at £182,268.85. The council planned a live coronation screening, as well as performances and fireworks to commemorate the event.
The amount, if any, spent by Bolton, Manchester, and Trafford councils is not clear, as all organisations did not reply to the freedom of information request.
Stockport and Salford City Council were the only two Greater Manchester respondents that did not spend anything on coronation celebrations. Salford City Council instead encouraged communities to host their own street party or ‘street meets’.
Some have criticised the decision of local councils to allocate large amounts to coronation celebrations. Anti-monarchy campaign group Republic claim the coronation is expected to cost £250 million altogether.
Featured Image: Shannon Beck
