Coventry City Council elections are generally held three years out of every four, with a third of the council being elected each time. Coventry City Council is the local authority for the metropolitan borough of Coventry in the West Midlands, England. Since the last boundary changes in 2004, 54 councillors have been elected from 18 wards.[1]

Political control[edit]

From 1889 to 1974 Coventry was a county borough, independent of any county council.[2] Under the Local Government Act 1972 it had its territory enlarged and became a metropolitan borough, with West Midlands County Council providing county-level services. The first election to the reconstituted city council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority before coming into its revised powers on 1 April 1974. West Midlands County Council was abolished in 1986 and Coventry became a unitary authority. Political control of the council since 1974 has been held by the following parties:[3][4]

Party in control Years
Labour 1974–1977
Conservative 1977–1979
Labour 1979–2003
No overall control 2003–2006
Conservative 2006–2008
No overall control 2008–2010
Labour 2010–present

Leadership[edit]

See also: List of mayors of Coventry

The role of Lord Mayor of Coventry is largely ceremonial, with political leadership provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 1974 have been:[5]

Councillor Party From To
Arthur Waugh[6] Labour 1 Apr 1974 Apr 1977
Gilbert Richards[7][8] Conservative Apr 1977 May 1979
Arthur Waugh[9] Labour May 1979 1983
Peter Lister[10] Labour 1983 1988
Jim Cunningham[11] Labour 1988 1992
Brian Clack[12] Labour May 1992 14 Nov 1996
John Fletcher Labour 1996 May 2000
Nick Nolan[13] Labour May 2000 May 2003
John Mutton Labour May 2003 Jun 2004
Ken Taylor[14] Conservative Jun 2004 20 May 2010
John Mutton Labour 20 May 2010 16 May 2013
Ann Lucas Labour 16 May 2013 19 May 2016
George Duggins Labour 19 May 2016

Council elections[edit]

Borough result maps[edit]

By-election results[edit]

1993-1997[edit]

Foleshill By-Election 6 June 1996
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour 1,674 49.0
Conservative 953 27.9
Militant Labour 535 15.6
Liberal Democrats 255 7.5
Majority 721 21.1
Turnout 3,417 28.9
Labour hold Swing

1997-2001[edit]

Henley By-Election 1 May 1997
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour 4,801 63.7 -7.2
Conservative 1,600 21.2 +2.4
Liberal Democrats 1,136 15.1 +4.8
Majority 3,201 42.5
Turnout 7,537 62.0
Labour hold Swing
Wainbody By-Election 13 November 1997
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative 1,741 61.8 +11.9
Labour 673 23.9 -7.8
Liberal Democrats 360 12.8 -5.6
Socialist Alliance 44 1.6 +1.6
Majority 1,068 37.9
Turnout 2,818 22.2
Conservative hold Swing

2001-2005[edit]

Cheylesmore By-Election 7 June 2001
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour 2,998 46.9 -5.2
Conservative 2,146 33.6 -23.2
Liberal Democrats 987 15.5 +13.9
Unknown 257 4.0 +4.0
Majority 852 13.3
Turnout 6,388
Labour hold Swing
Radford By-Election 20 September 2001[16]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Tony Skipper 873 53.5 +2.2
Liberal Democrats Peter Simpson 442 27.1 +11.8
Conservative Gary Ridley 316 19.4 -8.4
Majority 431 26.4
Turnout 1,631 13.0
Labour hold Swing

2006-2011[edit]

Lower Stoke By-Election 6 October 2011[17][18][19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Catherine Elizabeth Miks 1,366 53.9 -3.3
Conservative Jaswant Singh Birdi 563 22.2 -0.1
Socialist Alternative Robert McArdle 254 10.0 +3.6
BNP Keith Oxford 149 5.9 +0.2
Green Laura Vesty 114 4.5 -3.2
Liberal Democrats Mark Edward Widdop 79 3.1 N/A
Majority 803 31.7
Turnout 2,532 18.51
Labour hold Swing

2016–2021[edit]

Lower Stoke By-Election 11 February 2016[20]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Rupinder Singh 1,237
Conservative Ellane Francoise Yebkal 344
UKIP Harjinder Singh Sehmi 290
Green Aimee Challenor 165
Liberal Democrats Christopher Mark Glenn 124
Majority 893
Turnout 2,160
Labour hold Swing
Wainbody By-Election 5 September 2019[21]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Mattie Heaven 1,560 53
Liberal Democrats James Frederick Morshead 634 22
Labour Abdul Jobbar 544 19
Brexit Party George Stuart Ronald Beamish 193 7
Majority 926
Turnout 2,948
Conservative hold Swing
Upper Stoke By-Election 19 March 2020[22]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Gurdev Singh Hayre 639 53
Conservative Gurdeep Singh Sohal 350 29
Green Chrissie Lynn Brown 120 10
Socialist Alternative Jane Elizabeth Nellist 101 8
Majority 289
Turnout 1,210
Labour hold Swing

2022–2026[edit]

Binley and Willenhall By-Election 14 July 2022[23]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Seyi Agboola 934 36
Conservative Amarjit Singh Khangura 765 30
Coventry Citizens Paul Nichalos Cowley 746 29
ADF Marianne Angela Fitzgerald 91 4
TUSC Michael James Morgan 46 2
Turnout 2,582
Rejected ballots 20
Labour hold Swing

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "The City of Coventry (Electoral Changes) Order 2003", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2003/2507, retrieved 10 September 2022
  2. ^ "Coventry Municipal Borough / County Borough". A Vision of Britain through Time. GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
  3. ^ "Compositions calculator". The Elections Centre. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  4. ^ "Coventry". BBC News Online. 19 April 2009. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
  5. ^ "Council minutes". Coventry City Council. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
  6. ^ Grimmer, Geoffrey (20 March 1974). "Ex-Lord Mayor head of Labour group in council". Coventry Evening Telegraph. p. 3. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
  7. ^ Grimmer, Geoffrey (20 April 1977). "Coventry's Lord Mayor dies: Labour lose control". Coventry Evening Telegraph. p. 6. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
  8. ^ "Council leader urges parties to co-operate". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 20 May 1977. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
  9. ^ "New council chief fears budget cuts". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 15 May 1979. p. 17. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
  10. ^ Arnot, Chris (19 June 2002). "Peter Lister". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
  11. ^ "Can't-lose Labour set for in-fighting". Birmingham Daily Post. 5 May 1992. p. 4. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
  12. ^ "Council leader gave his all for others". Birmingham Daily Post. 16 November 1996. p. 4. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
  13. ^ "City has been in great Nick". Coventry Live. 1 May 2003. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
  14. ^ "Former Coventry City Council leader receives OBE". Coventry Live. 23 November 2010. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
  15. ^ "Coventry council". BBC News Online. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
  16. ^ "Tony's win keeps Labour hold". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 21 September 2001. p. 5.
  17. ^ "Notice of By-election". Coventry City Council. 1 September 2011. Archived from the original on 23 July 2012. Retrieved 17 September 2011.
  18. ^ "Statement of Persons Nominated". Coventry City Council. 9 September 2011. Archived from the original on 23 July 2012. Retrieved 17 September 2011.
  19. ^ "Statement of results". Coventry City Council. 7 October 2011. Retrieved 8 October 2011.
  20. ^ "Labour win by-election after deputy leader's death". Coventry Telegraph. 13 February 2016. p. 8.
  21. ^ "Election results for Wainbody". Coventry City Council. 5 September 2019. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  22. ^ "Election results for Upper Stoke". Coventry City Council. 19 March 2020. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  23. ^ "Election results for Binley and Willenhall". Coventry City Council. 14 July 2022. Retrieved 21 July 2022.

External links[edit]