WE WOULDN'T WANT TO HOG THE LIMELIGHT

This is from the Mercury Opinion column in today's Leicester Mercury:

We wouldn't want to hog the limelight

The 2017 UK City of Culture contest has been debated in Parliament, with politicians from the 11 rival locations saying why their area should win. Leicester South MP Jon Ashworth listed many of our city's assets, but said our main strength was our people. His comments, and those of some of the other MPs in the debate, reminded us just how much we have to be proud of in Leicester.

Whether you want history, art or to experience a wealth of different cultures, you would be hard pressed to find a city in the competition that beats ours.

However, whether we will take up Southend West MP David Amess's suggestion for increasing our cultural appeal is unlikely.

Mr Amess said the city's "secret weapon", Leicester East MP Keith Vaz, who entertained internet viewers with his rendition of a song from the film Grease, should represent the UK in the Eurovision song contest next year.

Leicestershire has already had a shot in the Eurovision spotlight, when our beloved Engelbert performed in the competition last year.

It would be greedy of us to hog the limelight.