Gary Ridley

Gary Ridley was born in Coventry in 1980 and is a politician in Coventry serving as a City Councillor between 2002 and 2012 and 2016 onward. Having been elected at the age of 21 he was the youngest Councillor to be elected in the City for some years. He worked for the European parliament between 2011 and 2015 so did not seek re-election as a Councillor in 2012 before returning to the Council in 2016. Gary is currently Leader of the Opposition on the Council and rose to prominence as a Cabinet Member between 2004 and 2010. He's probably best remembered for taking action to return Broadgate to a square by removing the Cathedral Lanes canopy. In 2010 Gary stood for Parliament in the seat of Coventry North West where he was defeated having substantially reduced the majority. He then stood for Coventry South in 2015 narrowly missing out by 3,000.