Catch up with our live coverage of the results for the City of Lincoln Council local elections.
Labour maintain overall control of the council – 27 Lab | 6 Con (no change)
Council Leader Ric Metcalfe (Lab) re-elected in Glebe ward for 4 years
Lincoln saw a 31.27% turnout for local elections and 29.97% (almost double from 2012) for PCC elections
PCC elections count begins on Friday from 10am
Live blog finished. Updates are displayed chronologically.
5th May 2016 9:20pm
Good evening and welcome to our City Council elections results liveblog. Reporting for you tonight are Emily Norton, Daniel Ionescu and photography and videos from Steve Smailes.
We are at the Drill Hall already, where the counters are preparing to go through the ballots after 10pm.
5th May 2016 9:24pm
Polling stations opened at 7am and you can vote until 10pm for the City of Lincoln Council and PCC elections.
5th May 2016 9:54pm
Order of proceedings tonight
The Returning Officer is Angela Andrews, the Chief Executive of City of Lincoln Council, who has overall responsibility for the conduct of the count. She will declare the results for both the local and Police and Crime Commissioner elections from the stage at the Drill Hall.
We spoke with Angela Andrews about what to expect tonight — and the results should come between 3-5am this morning.
5th May 2016 10:01pm
The polling stations are closed. Ballot boxes will now be transported to the Lincoln Drill Hall where verification will commence. Counters are waiting in anticipation.
5th May 2016 10:04pm
City council Chief Executive Angela Andrews is welcoming the counting teams at the Drill Hall. She explains there is a new team of ballot runners who will be collecting the boxes as they arrive.
The first task is to verify the votes. “It’s not a race” she says. “Accuracy is key”.
Verification will take around two hours. The PCC votes will then be locked away ready for the PCC vote in the morning.
It is not known yet what the turnout has been this year.
5th May 2016 10:10pm
The counters this year are wearing all-black – this is to denote their apolitical stance, and it’s the first time for a political count in Lincoln.
5th May 2016 10:21pm
Verification of votes cast in Moorland is underway.
5th May 2016 10:24pm
Voting in the City Council elections
All 33 seats on the city council are being contested – three in each ward, with a total of 114 candidates standing. Residents could vote for up to three candidates in each ward today.
Following boundary changes, Bracebridge ward has been renamed Witham.
5th May 2016 10:33pm
All-out elections
All 33 councillor seats are up for re-election.
Three councillors are not standing for re-election. These are:
Cllr Brent Charlesworth (Park ward)
Cllr David Jackson (Park ward)
Cllr Carol Daniel (Minster ward)
City Council Leader Ric Metcalfe (Labour) is running for re-election in the Glebe ward.
From 2018, City of Lincoln Council will return to elections three in every four years. This means the member in each ward with the most votes will be up for re-election in 2020; the member with the second most votes in 2019, and the member with the third most votes in 2018.
5th May 2016 10:37pm
The specially appointed ‘ballot runners’ are on hand to assist the arrival of each ward’s box. Waste documents and papers have already been sorted into brown paper sacks, which are being put aside for disposal.
5th May 2016 10:40pm
How vote counting works
Ballot boxes are checked and ballot papers are counted to check that the number in the box corresponds with that shown on the Ballot Paper Account . Ballots are split according to candidate , then they are counted .
Candidates are invited to check the spoiled ballot papers and may object . Draft declarations for each ward can be discussed with candidates and agents . Candidates may, at this point, request a recount . And then the results are declared by the Returning Officer.
5th May 2016 10:42pm
Ballot boxes are now coming in thick and fast. The previously quiet hall is now bustling with noise, green and white papers stacking up for each ward as the ballot boxes arrive.
5th May 2016 10:49pm
Political make up of City Council
The current political make up of City of Lincoln Council is 27 Labour and 6 Conservative. Will this change significantly after tonight? The count is on.
5th May 2016 10:58pm
The last ballot box to be verified has arrived. It’s from the Minster ward.
5th May 2016 11:11pm
Postal votes in Lincoln
Some 7,800 postal votes were sent out in Lincoln, of which around two thirds have been returned, the Returning Officer Angela Andrews has said.
5th May 2016 11:17pm
The Conservative candidate in the race for the Lincolnshire Police and Crime Commissioner position Marc Jones has arrived to support his local candidates. He said “I’m feeling very tired. I’ve been across the whole of Lincolnshire and delivered over 300,000 pieces of literature. I don’t want to say I feel confident as I think being too confident is a bad thing.”
5th May 2016 11:26pm
A UKIP Lincoln councillor?
UKIP candidate in the City of Lincoln Council elections Nick Smith says ‘it’s not looking good’ for his party’s chances of breaking onto the City of Lincoln Council.
5th May 2016 11:40pm
Labour PCC candidate Lucinda Preston said: “I’m feeling optimistic both for my campaign and for my fellow candidates in the City of Lincoln Council elections. Speaking to people I think there was a lot of anxiety about the Tory promises.”
5th May 2016 11:54pm
There are just a few wards left to verify. An announcement will be made shortly to reveal this year’s local election turnout.
Previous election turnouts:
2015 – 60.5% (general election)
2014 – 30%
2012 – 26.8%
2011 – 36.4%
2010 – 60.4% (general election)
2008 – 31.2%
2007 – 33.8% (Last all-out election)
6th May 2016 12:13am
Results are beginning to flood in across the country already, while in Lincoln the verification process is being finalised.
6th May 2016 12:16am
The council’s principal democratic officer Steve Swain has the responsibility of overseeing the count.
6th May 2016 12:19am
Verification is now complete. Some 63,270 people were registered to vote in Lincoln.
The number of votes cast for the local election is, 19,791 which equals 31.27%.
For the PCC election the number of votes cast was 18,965, 29.97%
6th May 2016 12:20am
The number of people who have voted in the Lincolnshire Police and Crime Commissioner elections has almost doubled compared with the first election in 2012.
6th May 2016 12:36am
Counting is officially underway and the Drill Hall is packed out with party members watching nervously over their ward’s growing ballot papers.
6th May 2016 1:08am
Liberal Democrat candidate Ross Pepper told The Lincolnite his party members have been talking to people in their target wards about the issues they’re facing. “Flytipping is a particular issue in Park ward”, he said.
“It would be great if we could gain a couple of seats. We really are aiming for a better Lincoln.”
6th May 2016 1:16am
The view from the Lincoln Labour leader
Ric Metcalfe says Labour could win seats or lose them as the national interest in the party’s performance in local elections grows.
6th May 2016 1:52am
Higher turnout in Lincoln, lower outside
While Lincoln saw a 31.27% for local elections and 29.97% (almost double from 2012) for PCC elections, neighbouring authorities saw lower turnouts:
The turn out for the election in West Lindsey was 20.6 per cent which equalled 14,921 votes! The count starts tomorrow at 10.30am!
Green party candidate Peaceful Warrior explained that having a Green councillor would mean they could open up more discussions about city planning. “We also need to address emissions and restrictions on vehicle movement through the city with the rail barriers being down for too many hours of the day.”
6th May 2016 2:06am
Conservative speculates on UKIP seats
Conservative Lincoln candidate Matthew Fido (Carholme ward) is speculating that UKIP and Green candidates will gain some seats in the city council.
6th May 2016 2:18am
The first ward declaration is to be made in a few minutes time.
6th May 2016 2:19am
Final counts underway, results are expected soon.
6th May 2016 2:25am
The first results are in!
Castle ward is first result to be declared: Donald Nannestad (Lab), Jim Hanrahan (Lab) and Loraine Woolley (Lab) elected #LincolnElections
Donald Nannestad will have the councillor seat for four years, Jim Hanrahan will be in post for three years and Loraine Woolley will be up for election again in two years.
6th May 2016 2:29am
Next results, due in around three minutes, will be Boultham ward
Anglian Water has “a lot to answer for” after a long-running sinkhole debacle, Holbeach’s MP has claimed.
Nearly £500,000 has been spent over the last three years by various authorities attempting to repair the hole on Boston Road South.
People whose lives had been disrupted demanded answers from the water company and council at a town meeting on Wednesday evening.
The delayed sewer works have now been completed, and the road repairs are currently expected to be completed by Friday, August 26.
Most of the anger was directed against Anglian Water for not keeping people informed of what was happening.
Sir John Hayes, MP for South Holland and the Deepings, said: “There has been a breakdown between Lincolnshire County Council. Local people have been put out. Anglian Water have a lot to answer for,” he said.
“It is not acceptable that the people I represent have had to have this since 2019. This cost is our money.
Problems have persisted on Boston Road South for years | Photo: The Lincolnite
“It is not acceptable people not knowing what is happening next. There is also the noise which is affecting people’s lives.
“Only Lincolnshire County Council are taking responsibility and not Anglian Water. People will know who to hold accountable.”
He also called for people to be compensated for their trouble as a gesture of goodwill.
Anglian Water said they were very sorry for not communicating better, and claimed that they had been working closely with the council to fix the problems.
A spokesperson said they would look into compensation.
One resident told the meeting that they hadn’t been informed about recent roadworks, and hadn’t been able to get off their drive for work on Monday.
Lincolnshire County Council apologised for not dropping letters off to all houses affected.
Questions also revealed that tankers full of sewage and storm water were being taken away from the sinkhole daily.
Anglian Water has spent approximately £350,000 trying to rectify the problem, and another £115,000 has come from Lincolnshire County Council.
The road repairs were pushed back from July 4 after Anglian Water said that more time was needed to repair the sewer.
A former pub in Boston will be merged with a neighbouring building to create larger residential home.
Plans have been granted for a new use for the Red Cow Hotel on Wide Bargate.
The pub has had a turbulent history recently, briefly closing and reopening in 2014, before shutting again shortly after.
Planning documents say it’s fallen into a poor sate of repair. However, applicant SHWilkinson Architects Ltd is now working to bring it back into good condition.
Boston Borough Council has granted permission to build a two-storey extension to link it with the Georgians, an 18th century townhouse used as a care home for the elderly.
The extension will be set back from the road so it doesn’t detract from the historic architecture.
Artists impressions show what the larger, combined care home would look like.
The extended care home on Wide Bargate, Boston Photo: SHWilkinson
The recently-approved application states: “The link will allow both buildings to operate under a combined management and staffing rather than two independent staffing units, were they kept separate.”
It adds that the plans are an “opportunity to bring the derelict and deteriorating building back into use and to address localised issues with vermin appearance.”
The buildings’ external features will be restored and replaced where needed.