Councillor Duggins was first elected to represent the Longford Ward in Coventry in May 1993 and has served on the City Council for 29 years.  He is the current Leader of Coventry City Council and was previously the Deputy Leader (2003-2004 and 2010-2013) and has held a variety of Cabinet positions.  He also held a number of Committee positions prior to 2000.

His first position was Co-ordinator for Leisure (1997-98) followed by Co-ordinator for Education (1998-2000).   He was Cabinet Member for Education and Libraries (2000-04) which he combined with the role Deputy Leader from 2003-04.

From 2010-13 Councillor Duggins combined the Deputy Leader role with Cabinet Member for Finance and Human Resources.   He was Cabinet Member for Children’s Services (2013/14), Chair of Scrutiny Board Business and Enterprise (2014-15) and Chair of Scrutiny Co-ordinating Committee (2015-16).  He became Leader of Coventry City Council in May 2016.