Coventry council election results: Greens win first seat in city

The Green Party won their first ever seat in Coventry

The Green Party made history in Coventry as it took its first seat on the council 50 years after the political group was formed in the city.

The party won Holbrook from Labour, with candidate Stephen Gray saying he was "honoured and humbled" at the win.

Labour held on to the council overall, retaining 13 seats.

A hot topic for voters has been the ongoing bin strikes, which have caused disruption to rounds since the start of the year.

In Nuneaton and Bedworth, the Conservatives held 11 seats and gained Bede.

Labour held four seats but lost two and the Green Party made one gain, which means they now have two councillors in the borough.

In the Ericsson Exhibition Hall in Coventry, a smiling Mr Gray said his campaign was "very much a campaign fought on local issues - who's doing most for the local area".

He beat Labour candidate Raj Dhaliwal for the seat held by former party leader Ann Lucas since 1995, until she declined to run again this year.

In his victory speech, met with loud cheers, he referenced the city's historic links to his party and said he hoped he'd live up to the responsibility of being elected.

"In 1973, a group of four people met together here in Coventry to form a new political party," he said.

"This was the first party anywhere in the world to be founded on the principle that humanity can only truly prosper if we care for the planet we live on and the animals, plants and other life-forms we share it with.

"Since that day, Green parties have sprung up all over the world and Greens have been elected to every level of government, but it's only today that a Green has been elected in the city where this local movement first started."

Meanwhile in Rugby, the Conservatives retained control of the council despite losing two seats.

With 23 seats on the borough council, the Tories have a majority of four, down from eight since the last election in 2021.

Labour gained two seats, taking the party to 10 councillors, and the Liberal Democrats retained nine.

• POSTCODE SEARCH: What are the results in my area?