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Coventry City Council

Summary

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
HousesUnicameral
Term limits
None
Leadership
Jaswant Singh Birdi,
Conservative
since 18 May 2023[1]
George Duggins,
Labour
since 19 May 2016
Julie Nugent
since 2023[2]
Structure
Seats54 councillors
Political groups
Administration (37)
  Labour (37)
Other parties (17)
  Conservative (15)
  Green (2)
Elections
First past the post
Last election
4 May 2023
Next election
2 May 2024
Motto
Camera Principis
Meeting place
Council House, Earl Street, Coventry, CV1 5RR
Website
www.coventry.gov.uk

The council meets at the Council House and has its main offices at Friargate. The council has been under Labour majority control since 2010, with the leader of the council since 2016 being George Duggins.

History edit

Coventry was an ancient borough. The earliest known charter, concerning the establishment of St Mary's Priory and its relationship with the town, dates from 1043.[3] Coventry gained city status in 1102 when papal authorisation was given for the Bishop of Lichfield moving the seat of the diocese to the priory at Coventry.[4]

The city was administered in a fragmented fashion between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries, with a "Prior's Half" controlled by the bishops and priory, and an "Earl's Half" controlled by the Earls of Chester. The halves were united in 1345 when a new charter was issued to the city by Edward III, which also granted the right to appoint a mayor. The city's powers were greatly increased in 1451 when Henry VI created the County of the City of Coventry, covering the city itself and a number of surrounding villages. The city's bailiffs acted as sheriffs within the county of the city, making the area a county corporate, administratively independent from Warwickshire.[3]

By the eighteenth century the city corporation had become inadequate to meet the needs of the growing city. A separate body of improvement commissioners was established in 1763 to pave, light and repair the streets, provide a watch, and supply water. Coventry was reformed in 1836 to become a municipal borough under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835, which standardised how many boroughs operated across the country. The city was then governed by a body formally called the "mayor, aldermen and citizens of the city of Coventry", generally known as the corporation or city council.[5] The reformed corporation absorbed the functions of the improvement commissioners later in 1836.[6]

Shortly afterwards questions arose regarding the relationship of the reformed city to the county of the city and to the surrounding county of Warwickshire. These were resolved in 1842 when the county of the city was abolished and the area (including the city itself) was restored to Warwickshire as it had been prior to 1451.[7]

When elected county councils were established in 1889 under the Local Government Act 1888, Coventry was considered large enough to provide its own county-level services, and so it was made a county borough, independent from the new Warwickshire County Council.[8] The county borough was enlarged on several occasions, notably in 1932, 1956 and 1965.[9]

 
Alice Arnold, wearing Coventry's mayoral regalia

Coventry's first female mayor, appointed in 1937, was Alice Arnold.[10][11] In 1953 the city's mayor was raised to the status of a lord mayor.[12]

In 1974 the city gained two parishes on its north-western edge, and was reformed to become a metropolitan borough within the new West Midlands county.[13] From 1974 until 1986 Coventry City Council was a lower-tier authority, with the West Midlands County Council providing county-level services. Following the abolition of the county council in 1986, Coventry took on county-level functions in the area again.

Since 2016 the council has been a constituent member of the West Midlands Combined Authority, which has been led by the directly-elected Mayor of the West Midlands since 2017.

Governance edit

Coventry City Council provides both county-level and district-level services, with some functions across the West Midlands provided via joint committees with the other West Midlands authorities, overseen by the combined authority and mayor. There are three civil parishes in the city, being Allesley, Finham and Keresley, which form another tier of local government for their areas; the rest of the city is an unparished area.[14]

Political control edit

The council has been under Labour majority control since 2010.

Political control of the council since the 1974 reforms has been as follows:[15][16]

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

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:[17]

Councillor Party From To
Arthur Waugh[18] Labour 1 Apr 1974 Apr 1977
Gilbert Richards[19][20] Conservative Apr 1977 May 1979
Arthur Waugh[21] Labour May 1979 1983
Peter Lister[22] Labour 1983 1988
Jim Cunningham[23] Labour 1988 1992
Brian Clack[24] Labour May 1992 14 Nov 1996
John Fletcher Labour 1996 May 2000
Nick Nolan[25] Labour May 2000 May 2003
John Mutton Labour May 2003 Jun 2004
Ken Taylor[26] Conservative Jun 2004 20 May 2010
John Mutton Labour 20 May 2010 16 May 2013
Ann Lucas[27] Labour 16 May 2013 19 May 2016
George Duggins Labour 19 May 2016

Composition edit

Following the 2023 election the composition of the council was:[28]

Party Councillors
Labour 37
Conservative 15
Green 2
Total 54

The next election is due in May 2024.

Elections edit

Since the last boundary changes in 2004 the council has comprised 54 councillors representing 18 wards, with each ward electing three councillors. Elections are held three years out of every four, with a third of the council (one councillor for each ward) being elected each time for a four-year term of office. Elections for the Mayor of the West Midlands are held in the fourth year of the cycle when there are no city council elections.[29]

Premises edit

 
1 Friargate, Coventry, CV1 2GN: Council's main offices.

The council meets at the Council House on Earl Street, which was completed in 1917.[30] In 2017 the council moved its main offices to 1 Friargate, a newly-built office building near Coventry railway station.[31][32]

 
Martin Reeves, Chief Executive 2008–2023, seen on 20 October 2012

References edit

  1. ^ "Jaswant takes chains of office of new Lord Mayor". Coventry City Council. 18 May 2023. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
  2. ^ Brown, Ellie (23 March 2023). "Coventry City Council appoints new chief executive to £200,000-a-year role". Coventry Live. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
  3. ^ a b "The City of Coventry: Local government and public services, Local government to 1451". A History of the County of Warwick: Volume 8. London: Victoria County History. 1969. pp. 256–263. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
  4. ^ "The City of Coventry: Churches, Introduction". A History of the County of Warwick: Volume 8. London: Victoria County History. 1969. pp. 316–321. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
  5. ^ Municipal Corporations Act. 1835. p. 459. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
  6. ^ "The City of Coventry: Local government and public services, Local government from 1451". A History of the County of Warwick: Volume 8. London: Victoria County History. 1969. pp. 263–275. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
  7. ^ "An Act to annex the County of the City of Coventry to Warwickshire, and to define the Boundary of the City of Coventry". legislation.gov.uk. The National Archives. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
  8. ^ "Local Government Act 1888", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1888 c. 41, retrieved 15 February 2024
  9. ^ "Coventry Municipal Borough / County Borough". A Vision of Britain through Time. GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
  10. ^ Hunt, Cathy (2007). A Woman of the People : Alice Arnold of Coventry 1881-1955. Coventry and County Heritage Series. Coventry Branch of the Historical Association.
  11. ^ Wilcox-Lee, Naomi (3 April 2018). "Alice Arnold of Coventry 1881-1955". Sheroes of History.
  12. ^ "Coventry's Mayors". Historic Coventry. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
  13. ^ Local Government Act 1972
  14. ^ "Election Maps". Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
  15. ^ "Compositions calculator". The Elections Centre. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  16. ^ "Coventry". BBC News Online. 19 April 2009. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
  17. ^ "Council minutes". Coventry City Council. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
  18. ^ Grimmer, Geoffrey (20 March 1974). "Ex-Lord Mayor head of Labour group in council". Coventry Evening Telegraph. p. 3. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
  19. ^ Grimmer, Geoffrey (20 April 1977). "Coventry's Lord Mayor dies: Labour lose control". Coventry Evening Telegraph. p. 6. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
  20. ^ "Council leader urges parties to co-operate". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 20 May 1977. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
  21. ^ "New council chief fears budget cuts". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 15 May 1979. p. 17. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
  22. ^ Arnot, Chris (19 June 2002). "Peter Lister". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
  23. ^ "Can't-lose Labour set for in-fighting". Birmingham Daily Post. 5 May 1992. p. 4. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
  24. ^ "Council leader gave his all for others". Birmingham Daily Post. 16 November 1996. p. 4. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
  25. ^ "City has been in great Nick". Coventry Live. 1 May 2003. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
  26. ^ "Former Coventry City Council leader receives OBE". Coventry Live. 23 November 2010. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
  27. ^ "Coventry City Council leader Ann Lucas ousted in Labour Party coup". Coventry Telegraph. BBC. 6 May 2016. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  28. ^ "Local elections 2023: live council results for England". The Guardian.
  29. ^ "The City of Coventry (Electoral Changes) Order 2003", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2003/2507, retrieved 15 February 2024
  30. ^ Historic England. "The Council House, Coventry (Grade II) (1342927)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
  31. ^ "Office locations". Coventry City Council. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
  32. ^ "Friargate Coventry". Retrieved 15 February 2024.

External links edit

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