At the Worcester City Council meeting on December 10th 2024, Green Party councillors proposed a motion to award Freedom of the City to COVID key workers. Proposing the motion, Alex Mace, councillor for St Stephen ward said: “March 2025 will be the fifth anniversary of the first COVID-19 lockdown. Covid killed over 230,000 people in the UK, including hundreds in our city, with local carers, local NHS staff and local key workers in the front line for exposure. The lockdowns in 2020 and 2021 affected our communities deeply and during this time of deep anxiety, sadness and loss, it was the key workers from the public, private and voluntary sectors that kept working and kept people alive.”
The Lower Hall of the Guildhall in Worcester contains a list of recipients of Freedom of the City going back to Lord Nelson in 1802. Freedom of the City is awarded to a person or group who has provided “eminent service” to the people of Worcester.
Worcester Green Party put the motion forward to the council to recognise that key workers provided dedicated and unstinting service to residents throughout the pandemic, and particularly through the three lockdowns. It was at least equal to that of many previous recipients of Freedom of the City.
When it was put to the vote, all Green Party councillors present voted in favour of the motion. The Labour administration and most Liberal Democrats voted against, so the motion was lost and key workers will not be awarded Freedom of the City.
Speaking after the council meeting, Alex Mace, who proposed the motion said “I am proud to have put this motion forward today and to have the opportunity to express my thanks to key workers. Many councillors spoke movingly of their experiences during the pandemic. I am disappointed that the Labour administration didn’t agree there was a practical way to award Freedom of the City to key workers, when other councils such as South Tyneside and Brighton have been able to do just that. Residents should ask them why they could not support this recognition.”