‘People everywhere should be able to celebrate figures who have shaped their community’ – official blue plaque scheme could be extended beyond London

While eye-catching plates commemorating famous and notable historical figures can currently be seen on buildings and dwellings in towns and cities across the UK, the official scheme is London-only.

The capital’s scheme was launched in 1866, with those in the rest of the country managed through various local bodies.

But there is now a move to create an official England-wide system, with the House of Lords set to debate an amendment to the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill to change the current capital-only approach.

The amendment is being tabled by arts and culture minister Lord Parkinson and is also backed by Baroness Pinnock and Lord Mendoza.

Lord Parkinson said: “London’s blue plaques are world renowned. For over 150 years they have helped to celebrate the rich and diverse heritage of our capital city and the people who have passed through it.

“But people everywhere should be able to celebrate the figures who have shaped their community – which is why we are seeking to extend this opportunity across the country, to allow people and buildings from anywhere in England to be nominated.

“I encourage people to get thinking about who has helped to define their community and makes them proud of where they live so that their impact on their home area, as well as the wider world, can be recognised and celebrated.”

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Historic England and English Heritage will together develop a new wider scheme.

Here in Portsmouth, there are numerous blue plaques throughout the city, including:

*Peter Sellers: A plaque for the actor and comedian can be found outside the house where he was born at 96 Castle Road, Southsea – now the Mayfair Restaurant;

*Rudyard Kipling: The writer and Nobel Laureate is commemorated with a plaque on his former house in 4 Campbell Road, Southsea, where he lived as a child;

*Charles Dickens: The much-loved author is celebrated with a blue plaque at his birth place in Old Commercial Road;

*Nevil Shute Norway: A plaque for the aircraft designer and Royal Naval officer can be found outside his former home in Helena Road, Southsea.

*Sir Alec Rose: The former Royal Navy sailor and fruit merchant circumnavigated the globe single-handedly in 1967–68, for which he was knighted. A plaque can be found along Southsea seafront on the wall by the hovercraft which commemorates his landing point after his epic voyage.

*Kate Edmonds: In 1918, she became Portsmouth’s first woman councillor. The plaque is at 2 Kent Road, Southsea, the former women’s suffrage HQ.