Coventry City Council

Coventry City Council is the local government body responsible for the governance of the City of Coventry in England, which has been a metropolitan district since 1974.

Coventry City Council
Third of council elected three years out of four
Coat of arms
Council logo
Type
Type	Metropolitan district council of Coventry
Houses	Unicameral
Term limits	None
History
Founded	1 April 1974
Preceded by	Coventry City Council (of the County Borough of Coventry) Meriden Rural District Council West Midlands County Council
Leadership
Lord Mayor	Cllr Linda Bigham since 2019/20
Leader of the Council	Cllr George Duggins, Labour since 19 May 2016
Deputy Leader	Cllr Abdul Salam Khan, Labour
Leader of the Opposition	Cllr Gary Ridley, Conservative
Chief executive	Martin Reeves since April 2009
Structure
Seats	54 councillors[1]
Political groups	Administration (40)   Labour (40) Opposition (14)   Conservative (13)   Independent (1)
Elections
Voting system	First past the post
Last election	2 May 2019 [2]
Motto
Camera Principis
Meeting place
Council House, Coventry
Website
www.coventry.gov.uk

Chief Executive Martin Reeves, seen on 20 October 2012

The city is divided up into 18 Wards each with three councillors. Coventry has usually been controlled by the Labour Party over the past few decades, and at times they appeared to be in safe control. However, the Conservatives held control for a short time in the 1970s, and they also held control from July 2004 until 2010. For a time they held control on the casting vote of the Lord Mayor, but they won clear control at the local elections of 4 May 2006. However, in 2010 the Conservatives lost control of Coventry City Council when Labour gained enough seats to have overall control.

The leader of the Conservative group is Gary Ridley who has held the post since May 2017 after John Blundell, stood down. The leader of the controlling Labour group is George Duggins. He has held the post of Leader of the Council since May 2016 after winning a leadership election against the incumbent Ann Lucas.[3] The Chief Executive is Martin Reeves.[4]

In 2017 the Council will move the majority of its staff to the Friargate development. It will be the first tenant in the new business district, located next to Coventry railway station.