What will the elected mayor do for Coventry?

  • Published
Coventry skylineImage source, Getty Images
Image caption,

With a population of around 345,000, Coventry is one of the largest areas covered by the elected mayor

Five candidates in the race to be the next West Midlands mayor have set out their visions for Coventry at an event in the city.

The BBC gave each candidate 60 seconds to make their pitches to voters while they attended hustings at the Centre for the New Midlands.

With a stopwatch ticking, here's what they had to say.

'We want to focus on the communities that are left behind'

Image caption,

Siobhan Harper-Nunes, Green Party candidate

Coventry is unique, with its own beautiful identity. But for everywhere in the West Midlands, my mayoral manifesto is the same.

We want to focus on the communities that are left behind, we want to focus on giving people a say on the decisions in the mayoral office. And finally we want to focus on immediate action around climate change.

So that's retrofitting people's homes and an amazing transport system that will support people to get around the region, costing them less money and reducing our climate footprint.

Every region needs to outline its own priorities.

'I want to see our high streets succeed'

Image caption,

Richard Parker is the Labour candidate

I'll start with more units of social housing - a commitment to build 2,000 a year, a big chunk of that coming to Coventry.

Revitalising our high streets - I want to see our high streets succeed. I'll set up a markets fund, and I want to roll out the best practices from business improvement districts across high streets that are being left behind in Coventry.

On jobs, I want to create 150,000 new jobs and training places. There's a great opportunity for everyone to benefit from that, particularly young people and their access to skills and green technology and advanced manufacturing.

On the buses, we're going to bring the buses back into public control. We'll increase routes and timetables - ensure more regularity of buses and keep fares down.

We'll help people get better access to shops, doctors, jobs and college.

'We've got £100m on the table for regeneration'

Image source, Reuters
Image caption,

Andy Street, Conservative Party candidate

First of all, city centre regeneration. We've got over £100m on the table for the City Centre South regeneration scheme to happen. That will be fulfilled. It will become an exemplar in the whole country for urban regeneration. It gives a new heart back to the city centre in Coventry.

Second thing, economic future. Everyone knows the negotiations for the gigafactory are going really promisingly. We will land that and make this the automotive capital once again.

And then the third big thing is the Very Light Rail system to complement the electric bus system that we have here in Coventry, and to make sure we've got new technology providing quick reliable and affordable transport right through the heart of Coventry. The demonstrator track is opening next year.

And let's talk about housing. We've got a great record of doubling the number of homes built across the West Midlands. And we've always done it on brownfield land. So there's a commitment to more housing in the city on brownfield land.

'I want to offer people £10,000 to upskill'

Image source, Liberal Democrats
Image caption,

Sunny Virk is the Liberal Democrat candidate

(I want) more social and affordable housing, especially for young people. More apprenticeships as they're coming out of schools and colleges.

I want to bring one thing to the forefront - the skills wallet. If I'm elected mayor, what I'm hoping to do is roll out the Liberal Democrat skills wallet, which gives everyone £10,000 up until to age of 55 to upskill.

Because the more people who are in skilled jobs, the more people can be useful to the economy, and the better it's going to be for living standards and transport. That is there to help people and that's what the Liberal Democrats want to do.

On transport, I want to see capped fares. I want to see a tap-and-go system. And I want to see franchisers operating for the people.

'We need to build more social housing fast'

Image caption,

Reform candidate Elaine Williams

Let's start with housing. It's an important subject across the region and in Coventry. We need to ensure that people have affordable homes but also social housing is the main topic.

We haven't built many social homes across the region. And we need to ensure we build them as fast and efficiently as possible. I won't be committing to numbers like the other candidates because that depends on a whole raft of factors. I just want to see as many built as possible.

There'll be tenants living in poor conditions. And I want to work with housing associations, to do things like deal with black mould.

*Akhmed Yakoob, who is standing as an independent candidate, did not appear at the hustings event

*Candidates are listed in surname alphabetical order

Related topics