Is Manchester considered England's second city?

Is Manchester considered England's second city?49 minutes agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleKelly Foran,North WestandLauren Hirst,North WestPA MediaMany of the city's tallest buildings were not there 10 years agoIt is the age-old debate – where is England's second city?This hotely-contested question over the unofficial title has fiercely divided the Brummies and Mancunians for decades.After being named as the most entrepreneurial city outside of London according to data drawn from Companies House registrations in 2025, it has certainly reignited the debate.Hot off the back of Manchester hosting the Brit Awards and the Mobo Awards, has Manchester cemented its claim over Birmingham as the second city?"The second city debate to me is a league table that London is always going to be top of," said Andy Spinoza, author of Manchester Unspun which gives a detailed account of the city's recent transformation told through the lens of popular culture."So once you put London in that category of world cities, I think Manchester has a claim to be capital of the rest of everything."People are moving to Manchester for high-value jobs."In fact the most recent figures show more people left London for Manchester than the other way around, which is probably the first time it's ever happened in history."Andy Spinoza highlighted how people are moving to the city for high-value jobsHow has Manchester evolved?According to the BBC's economics editor Faisal Islam, there is a buzz around Manchester that is difficult to truly understand unless you spend time there."At a time when the UK economy has been spluttering along for some years, this place smells of growth, and it looks like growth too," he said."Look up and there are cranes and dozens of new skyscrapers. "Look down and there are thousands of young workers, graduates and apprentices, local and global, who work in offices and facilities, that were simply...