Coventry¹

 

(kŏv'əntrē, kŭv'–) , city (1991 pop. 318,718) and metropolitan district, central England. Coventry is an industrial center noted for its automobile production. Tractors, airplanes, machine tools, synthetic textiles, electrical equipment, and engineering products are also made. Telecommunications are important.

Lady Godiva and her husband founded a Benedictine abbey there in 1043. By the 14th cent., Coventry, a flourishing market and textile-weaving town, was one of the five largest towns in England. The entire central portion of the city, including the 14th-century Cathedral of St. Michael, was destroyed (Nov., 1940) in one of the worst air raids to be suffered by Britain during World War II. A new cathedral, alongside the ruins of the old one, was completed in 1962.

Of interest are a statue of Lady Godiva; St. Mary's Hall (1340–42, with 15th-century additions); Holy Trinity Church (13th cent.), with a spire 237 ft (72 m) high; the spire (230 ft/70 m high) of Christ Church; and Ford's Hospital, a restored Tudor almshouse. The city's educational institutions include the Univ. of Warwick, Lancaster College of Technology, Coventry College (a teacher training school), and two old public schools.

City of Coventry
The Precinct in Coventry city centre. The spire of the ruined cathedral is visible in the background.
Shown within West Midlands
Geography
Status:	Metropolitan borough, City (1345)
Region:	West Midlands
Ceremonial County:	West Midlands
Historic Counties:	Warwickshire, County of the City of Coventry
Area: - Total	Ranked 246th 98.64 km²
Admin. HQ:	Coventry
Telephone Code:	024
Grid reference:	SP333790
ONS code:	00CQ
Demographics
Population: - Total (2006 est.) - Density	Ranked 14th 306,600 / km²
Ethnicity:	78.0% White 11.3% S.Asian 7.8% Black British 2.2% Mixed Race 0.7% Chinese.
Politics
Coventry City Council http://www.coventry.gov.uk/
Leadership:	Leader & Cabinet
Executive:	Conservative

Coventry is a metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. With a population of 303,475 at the 2001 Census (306,000 est. 2007), Coventry is the ninth largest city in England and the eleventh largest in the United Kingdom.^[1] It is also the second largest city after Birmingham in the English Midlands by population. Coventry is situated 95 miles (153 km) northwest of London and 19 miles (30 km) east of Birmingham, and is notable for being further from the coast than any other British city. Although harbouring a population of almost a third-of-a-million inhabitants, Coventry is not amongst the English Core Cities Group due to its proximity to Birmingham.

Coventry was also the world's first 'twin city' when it formed a twinning relationship with the Russian city of Stalingrad (now Volgograd) during World War II. The city is also twinned with Dresden, Germany and 27 others around the world.

Coventry is famous for its modern Cathedral, which was built following the World War II bombing of the old cathedral by the Luftwaffe. Coventry has since developed an international reputation as one of Europe's major cities of peace and reconciliation,^[2] centred around its Cathedral, and holds an annual Peace Month^[3]. Coventry is also notable because Coventry motor companies have contributed significantly to the British motor industry, and also because it has two universities, the city centre-based Coventry University and the University of Warwick on the southern outskirts. Coventry is also famous for the legendary 11th century exploits of Lady Godiva.

History

Main article: History of Coventry

Coventry is traditionally believed to have been established in the year 1043 with the founding of a Benedictine Abbey by Leofric, Earl of Mercia and his wife Lady Godiva. Current evidence suggests that this abbey was probably in existence by 1022, therefore Leofric and Godiva most likely endowed it around 1043. In time, a market was established at the abbey gates and the settlement expanded.

By the 14th century Coventry had become an important centre of the cloth trade, and throughout the Middle Ages was one of the largest and most important cities in England. Coventry was granted city status in 1345, and later became a county in its own right.

Hostile attitudes of the cityfolk towards Royalist prisoners held in Coventry during the English Civil War are believed to have originated the phrase "sent to Coventry", which in Britain means "to be ostracised"; literally, although Cromwellian Civil War era prisoners' physical needs were catered for, nobody spoke to them during their captivity.

In the late 19th century Coventry became a major centre of bicycle manufacture, with the industry being pioneered by Rover. By the early 20th century bicycle manufacture had evolved into motor manufacture, and Coventry became a major centre of the British motor industry.

Coventry suffered severe bomb damage during World War II, most notoriously from a massive German air raid (the "Coventry Blitz") on 14 November 1940. This destroyed most of the historic city centre and Coventry's historic Cathedral. Aside from London, Hull and Plymouth, Coventry suffered more damage than any other British city during the Luftwaffe attacks, with huge firestorms devastating most of the city centre. The city was targeted due to its high concentration of armaments, munitions and engine plants which contributed greatly to the British war effort. Following the raids, the majority of Coventry's historic buildings could not be saved as they were in ruinous states or were deemed unsafe for any future use, although several were later demolished simply to make way for modern developments.

In the postwar years Coventry was largely rebuilt under the general direction of the Gibson Plan, gaining a new pedestrianised shopping precinct (the first of its kind in Europe on such a scale) and the much-celebrated new St Michael's Cathedral in 1962 (incorporating the world's largest tapestry).

Coventry's motor industry boomed during the 1950s and 1960s but during the 1970s the British motor industry underwent decline and Coventry suffered badly as a result. By the early 1980s Coventry had one of the highest unemployment rates in the country. In recent years the city has recovered with newer industries locating there, although the motor industry continues to decline.

In 1967, the first ever Mosque was built in Coventry - the Eagle Street Mosque.

City boundaries

Unlike other major UK cities, Coventry does not have an extensive 'greater' urban area, partly because the city boundaries are very tightly drawn, and partly because it does not have any directly continuous satellite towns or large outer suburbs.

The M6 motorway directly to the north of Coventry acts as an artificial boundary which precludes expansion into the Bedworth-Nuneaton urban area, as does the protected West Midlands Green Belt which surrounds the city on all sides. This has circumvented the expansion of the city into both Warwickshire and the Solihull Metropolitan Borough, and has helped to prevent the coalescence of the city with surrounding settlements such as Kenilworth, Leamington Spa, Rugby, Meriden and Balsall Common.

Suburbs or areas

A Allesley Allesley Green Allesley Park B Ball Hill Bell Green Binley Bishopsgate Green Brownshill Green C Canley Cannon Park Chapelfields Cheylesmore Clifford Park Coundon Courthouse Green

D Daimler Green E Earlsdon Eastern Green Edgwick Ernesford Grange F Finham Fenside Foleshill G Green Lane Gibbet Hill Gosford Green

H Hearsall Common Hillfields Holbrooks I J K Keresley L Little Heath Longford M Mount Nod

N O P Pinley Potters Green Q R Radford S Spon End Stoke Stoke Heath Stoke Aldermoor Stivichall

T Tanyard Farm Tile Hill U V Victoria Farm W Walsgrave-On-Sowe Westwood Heath Whitley Whitmore Park Whoberley Willenhall Wood End Woodway Park Wyken

Places of interest

St. Michael's Cathedral is Coventry's best-known landmark and visitor attraction. The original 14th century cathedral was largely destroyed by German bombing during World War Two, leaving only the outer walls and spire. The new Coventry Cathedral was opened in 1962 next to the ruins of the old. It was designed by Basil Spence. The cathedral contains the tapestry Christ in Glory by Graham Sutherland. The bronze statue St Michael's Victory over the Devil by Jacob Epstein is mounted on the exterior of the new cathedral near to the entrance. Benjamin Britten's War Requiem, regarded by some as his masterpiece, was written for the opening of the new Cathedral.

The spire of the ruined cathedral forms one of the Three Spires which have dominated the city skyline since the 14th century, the others being those of Christ Church (of which only the spire survives) and Holy Trinity Church (which is still in use).

Another major visitor attraction in Coventry city centre is the free-to-enter Coventry Transport Museum, which has the largest collection of British-made road vehicles in the world. The most notable exhibits are the world speed record-breaking cars, Thrust2 and ThrustSSC. The museum received a major refurbishment in 2004 which included the creation of a striking new entrance as part of the city's Phoenix Initiative project. The revamp saw the museum exceed its projected five-year visitor numbers within the first year alone, and it was a finalist for the 2005 Gulbenkian Prize.

The Herbert Art Gallery and Museum is a major art gallery in the city centre. About 4 miles from the city centre and just outside Coventry in Baginton is the Lunt Fort, a reconstructed Roman fort. The Midland Air Museum is situated just within the perimeter of Coventry on land adjacent to Coventry Airport and near to Baginton.

The city's main Police Station in Little Park Street also hosts a museum of Coventry's Police Force. The museum, based underground, is split into two sections - one representing the history of the city's Police Force, and the other compiling some of the more unusual, interesting and grisly cases from the force's history. The museum is funded from charity donations - viewings can be made by appointment.

Major improvements continue to regenerate the city centre. The Phoenix Initiative reached the final shortlist for the 2004 RIBA Stirling Prize and has now won a total of 16 separate awards. Further major developments are potentially afoot, particularly the Swanswell Project, which is intended to deepen Swanswell Pool and link it to Coventry Canal Basin, coupled with the creation of an urban marina and a wide Parisian-style boulevard. A possible second phase of the Phoenix Initiative is also in the offing, although both of these plans are still on the drawing-board. The redevelopment of the Belgrade Theatre and the building of IKEA's first city centre multistorey store are the two major developments currently in progress.[1]

Coventry City Football Club have also recently started playing at their new home, The Ricoh Arena, a 32,000 capacity stadium in the Foleshill area of the city. The old stadium has now been demolished to make way for new housing.

Coventry City Farm is a small farm in an urban setting. It is mainly to educate city children who might not get out to the countryside very often.

Education

Coventry has two universities; Coventry University situated on a modern city centre campus and the University of Warwick, which lies 6 km (3.5 miles) to the south of the city centre on the border with Warwickshire. The University of Warwick is one of only five universities never to have been rated outside the top ten in terms of teaching excellence and research and is a member of the prestigious Russell Group. It won the prestigious BBC TV University Challenge trophy in April 2007.

Coventry also has three colleges within city boundaries, City College, Henley College and Hereward College

Many of the secondary schools in and around Coventry are specialist colleges, such as Finham Park School, which is a Mathematics and IT college and now a teacher training school and Coventry Blue Coat Church of England School which has recently become a specialist college of Music, one of only a few in the country. Bishop Ullathorne RC School became a specialist college in Humanities in 2006. Woodlands School in Coventry is now also a sports college, which has a newly built sport centre. Ernesford Grange School, in the South East, is a specialist science college. Pattison College, a private school opened in 1949, specialises in the performing arts. There is also Caludon Castle School, a business and enterprise school, which has been rebuilt over 2005-2007. Exhall Grange School and Science College is in the North of the City, although, its catchment area is north Warwickshire.

The Coventry School Foundation is comprised of the independent schools King Henry VIII School and Bablake School together with Coventry Preparatory School.

The Woodlands School, which is an all boys' school, and Tile Hill Wood School are the only single-sex schools left in Coventry. However, their sixth forms have been joined to form the "West Coventry 6th Form", whose lessons take place in mixed classes on both sites.

Arts and culture

• During the early 19th century Coventry was well known due to author George Eliot who was born near Nuneaton. The city was the model for her famous novel Middlemarch (1871).
• The Coventry Carol is named after the city of Coventry. It was a carol performed in the play The Pageant of The Shearman and Tailors, written in the 15th century as one of the Coventry Cycle Mystery Plays. These plays depicted the nativity story, the lyrics of the Coventry Carol referring to the Annunciation to the Massacre of the Innocents, which was the basis of the Pageant of the Shearmen and Tailors. These plays were traditionally performed on the steps of the (old) Cathedral, and the plays are believed to have been performed for both Richard III in 1484 and Henry VII in 1584.
• The Belgrade Theatre was Britain's first purpose-built civic theatre, opened in 1958. In 1965 the world's first Theatre-in-Education (TiE) company was formed to develop theatre as a way of inspiring learning in schools. The TiE movement spread worldwide, but many UK companies were closed in the 1980s and 1990s, including the Belgrade TiE company which was closed by the theatre's management and the city council in 1996.
• During the late-1970s and early-1980s, Coventry was the centre of the Two Tone musical phenomenon, with bands such as The Specials and The Selecter coming from the city, spawning several major hit singles and albums. The Specials achieved two UK #1 hit singles between 1979 - 1981, namely "Too Much Too Young" and "Ghost Town". Notable singles by The Selecter included "On My Radio" and "Three Minute Hero".
• Today Coventry is recognised for its range of music events including one of the UK's foremost international jazz programmes, The Coventry Jazz Festival, and the award-winning Godiva Festival. On the Saturday of the Godiva Festival, a carnival parade also starts in the city centre and makes its way to the War Memorial Park where the festival is held.
• In the film The Italian Job, the famous scene of Mini Coopers being driven at speed through Turin's catacombs was actually filmed in Coventry, using what were then the country's biggest sewer pipes. More recently various locations in Coventry have been used in the BAFTA nominated film "Bouncer" starring Ray Winstone, All in the Game, also starring Ray Winstone (Ricoh Arena), the medical TV series Angels (Walsgrave Hospital), the BBC sitcom Keeping Up Appearances (Stoke Aldermoor and Binley Woods districts) and in August 2006 scenes from "The Shakespeare Code", an episode of the third series of Doctor Who, were filmed in the grounds of Ford's Hospital.

Venues

Theatre, art and music venues in Coventry include:

• The Warwick Arts Centre: situated at the University of Warwick, Warwick Arts Centre includes an art gallery, a theatre, a concert hall and a cinema. It is the second largest arts centre in the UK, after London's Barbican.

• The College Theatre: the city's main community theatre, housed at the Butts Centre of City College, Coventry. It's a fully functioning theatre with flying scenery, full sound and lighting boxes.

• The Belgrade Theatre: one of the largest producing theatres in Britain, the 866 seat Belgrade was the first civic theatre to be opened in the UK following World War II.

• Also currently being built is the Belgrade Plaza.

• The Ricoh Arena : located 5.5 km (3.5 miles) north of the city centre, the 32,000 capacity Coventry City FC stadium is also used to hold major rock concerts for some of the world's biggest acts, including the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Bon Jovi. The adjacent Ricoh Exhibition Hall is a 6,000-seater events venue for hosting a multitude of other acts.

• The War Memorial Park, which holds various festivals including the Godiva Festival, every year.

• The Butts Park Arena, home of Coventry Rugby Football Club, holds music concerts occasionally.

• The Colosseum, a nightclub in Hillfields.

Sport

Sporting teams include Coventry City (Football), Coventry Sphinx (Football), Coventry Copsewood (Football), Coventry Rugby Club (Rugby Union), City Of Coventry Swimming Club (Swimming), Coventry Blaze (Ice Hockey), Coventry Bears (Rugby League), Coventry Godiva Harriers (Athletics), Coventry Bees (Speedway), Coventry Crusaders (Basketball) and Coventry Cassidy Jets (American Football).

In football, Coventry City won the FA Cup on 16 May 1987 in what is considered to be one of the best finals in the competition's history. ^{[citation needed]}. The team finished the 2006-2007 Football Championship season disappointingly in a lower mid-table position (17th) in May 2007, having narrowly missed-out on the Premiership play-offs the season before.

In 2003, Coventry Blaze won the British National League and Playoffs. Between 1998 and 2000, Coventry hosted the Speedway Grand Prix of Great Britain at Brandon Stadium.

2005 was a good year for sport in Coventry. Not only did it become the first city in the UK to host the International Children's Games, [2] and [3], but 3 of the city sports team won significant honours. The Blaze won the treble consisting of Elite League, playoff and Challenge Cup, the Jets won the BAFL Division 2 championship and were undefeated all season, while the Bees won the Elite League playoffs. In 2007, Coventry Blaze won the Elite League and the British Challenge cup and narrowly missed out on the treble by losing in the semi-finals of the playoffs.

Famous Coventrians

Arguably Coventry's most famous resident was Lady Godiva who, according to legend, rode through the city naked on horseback in protest at high taxes being waged on the cityfolk by her husband Leofric, Earl of Mercia. According to the legend the residents of the city were commanded to look away as she rode, but one man didn't and was allegedly struck blind. He became known as Peeping Tom thus originating a new idiom, or metonym, in English. There is a statue of her in the city centre, which used to stand out in the open but is now situated under the much-maligned Cathedral Lanes shopping centre canopy (see right). There is also a bust of Peeping Tom looking out from a bridge that crosses one branch of the shopping precinct.

Other famous people from Coventry include Frank Whittle, the inventor of the jet engine, the poet and novelist Philip Larkin, the noted trade union organiser Tom Mann, the actors Nigel Hawthorne and Clive Owen, musician Cliff Wagstaff, the broadcaster Brian Matthew, the record producer Pete Waterman, the athlete and former 5,000m world-record holder David Moorcroft, Ian Bell, the Ashes winning cricketer and the 2003 Rugby Union World Cup winners Neil Back and Danny Grewcock, Jerry Dammers, writer of the song "Free Nelson Mandela" and the driving-force behind The Specials, the Cyborg Scientist Kevin Warwick, Terry Hall, lead singer with The Specials, Fun Boy Three and The Colourfield (and a celebrated solo artist in his own right), Hazel O'Connor, a rock singer of the 1980s-1990s, Paul King (lead singer of the mid-80s band King), Clint Mansell (lead singer of the 1990s indie band Pop Will Eat Itself), Julianne Regan (lead singer of the 80s-90s band All About Eve), Jason John (aka Jason Herbert) of the 1990s boy band Big Fun, Lee Dorrian, (a founder member of Napalm Death and later Cathedral - both well known bands in the grindcore / death metal and doom metal scenes respectively), and Bolt Thrower, (another band well known in the death metal scene). Roy Allbrighton, the lead guitarist and vocalist from Prog Rock group Nektar, who have been recording and touring since the early 1970s and are still popular in the US and Europe, is from Coventry.

In the 19th century the inventor James Starley and his nephew J.K. Starley lived in the city, and were both instrumental in the development of the bicycle, and for starting the British bicycle industry. J.K Starley was also responsible for founding Rover. A statue near Warwick Row commemorates James Starley.

The late politician Mo Mowlam who was famous for being a Northern Ireland secretary grew up in Coventry. Joseph Paxton, the designer of the Crystal Palace, was a Member of Parliament for the city from 1854 to 1865.

Two Tone ska bands The Specials and The Selecter are both from Coventry – one of The Specials' best known hits, Ghost Town is often thought to written about the city. Other bands from the city which found success include The Primitives, Fun Boy Three, The Colourfield, King and The Flys. More recently, indie-band The Enemy, hailing from the suburb of Holbrooks, succeeded in reaching no.1 in the UK album charts with their debut We'll Live & Die In These Towns in July 2007.

2004 Olympics 4x100m relay gold medallist Marlon Devonish is also from Coventry, and in November of the same year he was awarded with an MBE. He also appeared at the opening ceremony of the International Children's Games held in 2005.

Show Jumping World Cup champion Nick Skelton who has jumped for the Great Britain team on 152 occasions.

Sky Sports presenter Richard Keys, who has presented more than 1,000 football matches making him British television's most presented anchorman.

West End theatre producer and entertainment entrepreneur Dominic Madden, responsible for the re-development of the Elephant and Castle theatre into The Coronet music venue.

Celebrity dad Shakeel Goulthorp appeared on the BBC1 and BBC3 programme He's Having A Baby hosted by Davina McCall and Danny Wallace from May 2005 to October 2005. Shakeel used to reside in Bedworth until 2001 where he moved to Coventry. He is an avid Coventry City F.C. supporter and works as a Train Guard in the city.

The city's list of more infamous individuals includes:

• Porn star Debee Ashby, who achieved notoriety during 1983 when she appeared nude with her mother in an adult magazine.
• Nazi Colin Jordan who led the National Socialist Movement during the 1960s.

Economy

This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Coventry at current basic prices published (pp.240-253) by Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.

Year	Regional Gross Value Added 1	Agriculture 2	Industry 3	Services 4
1995	3,407	3	1,530	1,874
2000	4,590	3	1,873	2,714
2003	5,103	2	1,529	3,572

Notes:

1. Components may not sum to totals due to rounding
2. Includes hunting and forestry
3. Includes energy and construction
4. Includes financial intermediation services indirectly measured

Coventry has long been a centre of motor and cycle manufacturing, dating back from 1896, the car and cycle industry has been a strong centre point for this town. Starting out with some less familiar names such as Coventry Motette, Great Horseless Carriage Co, Swift Motor Company and more familiar names like Humber, Riley, Francis-Barnett and Daimler and the Triumph motorcycle having its origins in 1902 in a Coventry factory. Although the motor industry has declined almost to the point of extinction, the Jaguar company has retained its corporate and research headquarters in the city (at Allesley and Whitley), and Peugeot still have a large parts centre in Humber Road. The famous London black cab taxis are produced in Coventry by LTI and these are now the only vehicles still wholly built in Coventry.

The manufacture of machine tools was once a major industry in Coventry. The Alfred Herbert company became one of the largest machine tool companies in the world. Unfortunately in later years the company faced tough competition from foreign machine tool builders and ceased trading in 1983. Another famous Coventry machine tool manufacturer was the A.C.Wickman company.

Coventry's main industries include: cars, electronic equipment, machine tools, agricultural machinery, man-made fibres, aerospace components and telecommunications equipment. In recent years the city has moved away from manufacturing industries towards business services, finance, research, design and development, creative industries as well as logistics and leisure.

Transport

Coventry is near the M6, M69, M45 and M40 motorways. It is also served by the A45 and A46 dual carriageways.

Coventry has a much used inner ring road opened in the 1960s (approx). Phoenix Way, a dual carriageway running north-south opened 1998 (approx), has improved traffic flows through the City.

For rail, Coventry railway station is served by the West Coast Main Line, and has regular rail services between London and Birmingham (and stations beyond). It is also served by railway lines to Nuneaton via Bedworth. There is a line linking it to Leamington Spa and onwards to the south coast. Coventry also has 2 Suburban Rail stations in Canley and in Tile Hill.

Bus service operators in Coventry include Travel Coventry, Travel De Courcey and Stagecoach Warwickshire. Pool Meadow Bus Station is the main bus and coach interchange in the city centre.

The nearest major airports are Birmingham International Airport, some 17 km (11 miles) to the west of the city and Coventry Airport in Baginton, from which Thomsonfly operates commercial scheduled flights to more than 20 European destinations, located 8 km (5 miles) south of the city centre.

The Coventry Canal terminates near the city centre at Coventry Canal Basin and is navigable for 61 km (38 miles) to Fradley Junction in Staffordshire.

Waste management

Coventry has a large incineration plant which burns rubbish from both Coventry and Solihull and in the process produces electricity for the National Grid and some hot water that is used locally. In addition some rubbish is put into landfill.

Coventry City Council is assisting recycling, in line with national trends :-

• many areas of Coventry have kerb-side paper and garden-green rubbish collection.
• a wide range of waste materials can be taken by car to the recycling depot, which is adjacent to the incineration unit.
• there are many recycling points throughout the City for paper, glass bottles and metal cans.

In October 2006 Coventry City Council signed the Nottingham Declaration, joining 130 other councils in committing to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of the council and to help the local community do the same.

Politics

Traditionally a part of Warwickshire (although it was a county in its own right for 400 years), Coventry became an independent county borough in 1889. It later became a metropolitan district of the West Midlands county under the Local Government Act (1974), even though it was entirely separate to the Birmingham conurbation area (this is why Coventry appears to unnaturally "jut out" into Warwickshire on political maps of the UK). In 1986 the West Midlands County Council was abolished and Coventry became administered as an effective unitary authority in its own right.

Coventry is still strongly associated with its traditional county, Warwickshire. This may be because of its geographical location, forming a large protrusion into the county.

Coventry is administered by Coventry City Council. The city is divided up into 18 Wards each with three councillors. Coventry had long been considered a stronghold or source of safe seats for the Labour Party. The city council was for years described as a "one party state", but has been Conservative-controlled since the local elections on 4 May 2006, (although the Conservative group held the administration on the casting vote of the Lord Mayor since June 2004). A notable politician serving with Coventry City Council is former Militant Labour MP Dave Nellist who now represents the Socialist Party (England and Wales).

The leader of the controlling Conservative group is Ken Taylor who holds the post of Leader of the Council.

The leader of the opposition Labour group is John Mutton.

Certain local services are provided by West Midlands wide agencies including the West Midlands Police, the West Midlands Fire Service and the West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive (Centro) which is responsible for public transport.

In 2006 Coventry and Warwickshire Ambulance Service was merged with the West Midlands Ambulance Service. The Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulance service is based at Coventry Airport in Baginton.

Coventry is represented in Parliament by three MPs all of whom are Labour. These are:

• Bob Ainsworth - (Coventry North East)
• Jim Cunningham - (Coventry South)
• Geoffrey Robinson - (Coventry North West)

At the Annual Meeting of the City Council on Thursday, 17 May 2007 Councillor Dave Batten was elected as the new Lord Mayor of Coventry. Councillor Batten describes himself as a Coventry kid and has been a Labour councillor for 16 years representing the Westwood Ward. Councillor Batten's wife, Lyn, is Lady Mayoress. The Deputy Lord Mayor is Councillor Andy Matchet. He has been a Conservative councillor in Earlsdon since 1999.

Ken Taylor [4](Conservative) has served as Leader of Coventry City Council since 2004.

The Bishop of Coventry since April 1998 has been the Rt Revd. Colin Bennetts, who will be retiring from the post on 1 December 2007.

Demographics

Like most larger British cities, Coventry now has a fairly large ethnic minority population, non-whites making up 16.0% of the population at the 2001 census. The breakdown of the ethnic minority population is not typical, the Sikhs are the largest non-Christian religion, there are significant numbers of other South Asians, but the black population is rather low (1.8%). The ethnic minority population is mainly concentrated in the Foleshill ward (where whites are a minority) and the St. Michael's ward.

Closest cities, towns and villages

Destinations from COVENTRY
Birmingham, Wolverhampton	Nuneaton, Bedworth	Leicester
Solihull	N W E S	Rugby
Redditch, Stratford-upon-Avon	University of Warwick, Kenilworth, Leamington Spa, Warwick	Northampton

Cities (within 80 km / 50 miles) Birmingham (30 km / 19 miles) Leicester (38 km / 24 miles) Lichfield (48 km / 30 miles) Wolverhampton (59 km / 37 miles) Derby (80 km / 50 miles) Nottingham (80 km / 50 miles) Towns (within 32 km / 20 miles) Bedworth (10 km / 6 miles) Kenilworth (10 km / 6 miles) Nuneaton (14.5 km / 9 miles) Leamington Spa (16 km / 10 miles) Warwick (19 km / 12 miles) Rugby (19 km / 12 miles) Hinckley (19 km / 12 miles) Atherstone (20 km / 12.5 miles) Solihull (21 km / 13 miles) Southam (21 km / 13 miles) Stratford-upon-Avon (30 km / 19 miles) Sutton Coldfield (32 km / 20 miles) Tamworth (32 km / 20 miles)

Villages Baginton, about 4 miles south Neal's Green/Ash Green - about 4 miles north Burton Green, about 4 miles west Binley Woods, about 5 miles southeast Stoneleigh, 5 miles south Ryton-on-Dunsmore, about 5.5 miles southeast Hawkesbury, about 5.5 miles north Ansty, about 6 miles north east Corley, about 6 miles northwest Bulkington, about 6 miles northeast Brandon, about 6 miles southeast Shilton, about 7 miles northheast Berkswell, about 7 miles west