May 3, 2013 12.38 pm This story is over 130 months old

UKIP gain as Conservatives lose overall control of County Council

No majority: The County Council Conservative group lost its overall control after the local elections and will have to form a coalition in order to avoid issue by issue votes.
UKIP gained 16 County Council seats, making them the second largest party on the council. Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

The Conservative group at Lincolnshire County Council has lost its overall control after the May 2 local elections and will have to form a coalition in order to avoid issue by issue votes.

Conservatives won just 36 seats this year, down from 61 at the last election. UKIP gained 16 seats, Labour 12 seats, Lincolnshire Independents 8 seats, Liberal Democrats 3 seats, Independent 2 seats.

To control the County Council, a party needs at least 39 councillors.

Martin Hill, the Leader of the County Council, held his seat in Folkingham Rural, and will now have to look at how he can retain overall control of the authority.

Nick Smith, UKIP Lincoln and Gainsborough Branch Chairman, explained UKIP is now the second biggest party on the County Council after their 16-seat win.

Lincolnshire UKIP MEP Derek Clark said: “These are magnificent results for UKIP in Lincolnshire with the party taking no less than 16 seats. We look forward to their work on the county council and to their injection of common sense.

“In Boston UKIP took five of the seven seats with the Ransome family in three of them. It might have been six seats but Don Ransome had to take second place in Boston South where the Tories intervened and split the vote.

“Their 310 votes in a two horse race prevented Don’s 786 from overtaking the Independent candidate’s 889 votes. Of course we congratulate the winning candidate and look forward to his Independent contribution to local affairs.”

Rob Parker, Labour Lincoln West winner and Labour group leader at the County Council, was positive that Labour gained more seats in Lincoln, with a total of 12 in the county.

Poor turnout

In total 161,315 votes were cast across the county out of an electorate of 551,106, which equates to a turnout of just 29% county-wide. In Lincoln the turnout was even lower at 26%.

After the elections, there are 38 new councillors, and discussions will take place over the next few days to form an administration.

You can review the full results from the Lincolnshire local elections with our interactive map and Thursday’s live blog.

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