December 11, 2019 12.11 pm This story is over 59 months old

Lincoln in top 10 tightest election races

It’s going to be a close call

Lincoln will be one of the tightest races between Labour and Conservatives on election day on Thursday, December 12.

The latest YouGov pollster data (via Financial Times) puts the City of Lincoln constituency in the top 10 tightest contests in the county alongside Bedford and Stockton South.

Conservative Karl McCartney is hoping to regain his seat after losing to Labour’s Karen Lee in 2017 by 1,538 votes.

His majority in 2015 was of only 1,443 votes, as Lincoln remained a marginal seat since 2010, when McCartney ousted Labour’s Gillian Merron by just 1,058 votes.

Pollster YouGov indicates a very tight race in Lincoln. Graphic via FT

Meanwhile, 1,667 more Lincoln residents have registered to vote in Thursday’s election – 129 more people than Labour candidate Karen Lee’s majority of 1,538 at the last election.

This means a total of 74,778 people are registered to vote across the city for Thursday’s election compared to 73,111 in 2017.

In Greater Lincolnshire, according to the same YouGov poll, Grimsby and Scunthorpe appear to be ready to switch from Labour to Conservatives, in a first for decades.

Across the UK, the poll shows the Conservative party is on course to win the election, but the projected majority of 28 is down as much as 40 seats from an earlier survey.

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell told the BBC this morning: “We are in the margin of errors now about ensuring Boris Johnson is not in government, and I think we are in striking distance of a Labour government. It will all be to play for tomorrow.”

The Lincolnite will bring you live coverage of the results in the city from Yarborough Leisure Centre, where the count will be held on Thursday night.

In the meantime, you can catch up on The Lincoln Debate, with reactions from the candidates and the verdict from the audience.