Hundreds of candidates across the county will be hoping for your X in their box tomorrow (Thursday, May 6) as no fewer than three elections take place.
Voters will be asked to vote for their Lincolnshire Police and Crime Commissioner, along with their ward representatives on Lincolnshire County Council, North East Lincolnshire Council and City of Lincoln Council.
In total there are nearly 100 positions to be filled by 366 candidacies – so how will this year’s elections work?
Polling, counting and results
Polling stations across the area will be open from 7am to 10pm tomorrow, and voters will find the address for their venue on their polling cards.
This year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there will be several noticeable changes, with thousands of items of personal protection equipment stored at councils across Lincolnshire as officers ramp up preparations.
For instance, queues will look much longer due to social distancing. But don’t worry, staff will be working to get people through the door as fast as possible.
Polling stations will have hand sanitiser on arrival, voters will be asked to wear face coverings and socially distance.
Speaking of staff, you may notice they will be protected this year, from masks all the way to protective screens.
Due to the changes, the councils will not be counting votes overnight. Instead, the next few days will look like this:
Thursday, May 6 – Voting takes place from 7am to 10pm
Thursday night – Votes in Lincolnshire will be verified
Friday morning – County council votes will be counted and announced, North East Lincolnshire will verify its votes
Friday afternoon – City council and North East Lincolnshire council votes will be counted and announced
Saturday – Votes for the Lincolnshire Police and Crime Commissioner counted and announced
Lincolnshire County Council
Leaders of the four main parties in Lincolnshire.
More than 250 candidates in almost 70 wards are standing in the Lincolnshire County Council elections.
The Conservatives have overall control of the council with 54 of 70 seats, with Labour having five and needing to gain 50 seats for a majority.
The Independents currently have six seats, independent (non-aligned councillors) have two, Liberal Democrats have one and Lincolnshire Independents also have one. There is a vacancy currently at Market Rasen Wolds ward.
Counts for the county council will take place within each of the seven district councils, with returning officers relaying the information back to a main results centre at the County Offices in Lincoln.
From left, Green candidate Matt Parr, Labour leader Ric Metcalfe, Conservative leader Thomas Dyer and Liberal Democrat candidate Clare Smalley.
Almost 50 candidates in 11 wards are standing in the City of Lincoln elections next month.
Labour has overall control of the council with 24 seats, while the Conservatives have nine and needing to gain eight seats for a majority.
In a series of interviews with Local Democracy Reporters, Labour Party leader Ric Metcalfe said he wanted to build on the success of the party over its last decade in power.
He said his party’s record for the city would help his members to victory, praising the council’s help for residents during COVID-19, significant resistance to the financial crisis, building new car parks and bus stations and moving forward on delivering 500 new homes.
However, Conservative Thomas Dyer said it was “time for change” and said his party hoped to topple their opponents.
He promoted pop-in parking in the town centre, better infrastructure, more action of climate change and bringing forward the £25million Town Deal schemes.
Parties hoping to get their foot in the door included the Liberal Democrats whose priorities include tougher measures on fly-tipping and protecting front-line services, while the Greens wanted to ensure energy efficient homes were in the right place and away from flood plains, while wildflower habitats along grass verges would promote the storage of CO2 and reduce the frequency of mowing.
Labour leader Councillor Matthew Patrick (left) and Conservative boss Councillor Philip Jackson.
There are 61 candidates contesting 14 ward seats in the North East Lincolnshire Council elections next month.
Conservatives took overall control of the council in 2019 after gaining five sears to a total of 23. The party wrestled control from a Labour/Liberal Democrat alliance, with the former party now holding 14 seats and the latter now having four.
Ahead of the election Labour had faced a number of controversial decisions, including the Toll Bar Roundabout and their former party leader being arrested (and later in the year convicted) for drink-driving.
However, it’s entirely possible the red wall in the unitary authority could be rebuilt with just a few reclaimed chairs in the council hall.
Despite some successes over the past two years the Conservatives have seen their own choices questioned and their own controversy around their (now resigned) deputy leader Councillor John Fenty’s dealings with a convicted fraudster.
He said the party had been and would continue to “slowly but surely” rebuild residents trust, and his party this year are focusing on clean streets, tackling fly-tipping, boosting the economic growth of the area, protecting support for more vulnerable residents and increasing mental health support.
However, Conservative leader Philip Jackson felt his party had proved themselves in their first two years in power and said residents recognised the good progress made despite COVID-19.
He pointed to the party’s immediate success with the Toll Bar Roundabout.
His plan is to build on things like street cleaning, the Town Deal, the regeneration of Grimsby and Cleethorpes and increasing recycling rates.
The Lincolnshire Police and Crime candidates faced off on a live streamed hustings.
The Lincolnshire Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) elections has five candidates all fighting for the position.
Votes will be asked to select their first and second preference at the polling booths.
The PCC oversees the strategy and finances of the force, and also hires and fires chief constables, who are responsible for the daily policing operations.
Marc Jones was the second-elected PCC of Lincolnshire in May 2016 and this time his role is being challenged by Labour City of Lincoln councillor Rosanne Kirk and Chair of the Lincolnshire Police Independent Advisory Group (IAG), David Williams from the Lincolnshire Independents party, Ross Pepper from the Liberal Democrats and Peter Escreet from the Reform Party.
She also wants to scrap the “unelected” position of deputy PCC, estimated at £72,000 across four years, and put that money towards tackling rural crime.
David wants to use his experience of working for Lincolnshire Police Independent Advisory Group as well as with youth offenders to increase community engagement and boost the visibility of the PCC and its deputy who, he said, will be a female and from a diverse background if he is elected.
He said that as PCC he would not just attend meetings, but drive the agenda for the county going forward.
Ross Pepper said the current “crime and punishment approach doesn’t seem to work” and he wants to look at the root causes of crime to prevent it from happening, claiming that “fighting crime when it happens is crucially vital, but crime prevention is equally as, if not more, important as well.”
His other key priorities are fair funding for Lincolnshire Police, a return to community policing, tackling serious crime, support for victims, safer streets and a crackdown on speeding traffic.
All the candidates have said they will call for more money from Central Government for Lincolnshire Police – the worst funded force in the country.
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The return of Spalding’s renowned flower parade could make the town known “nationally and internationally” once again.
The long-awaited event is set to make a return in May 2023 after a gap of ten years.
It was held for 1959 to 2013 to celebrate the tulips grown around South Holland, and is being revived by volunteer Stephen Timewell.
It will see parade of flower-covered floats through the town centre once again, and could include marching bands, vintage cars and a craft fair.
Councillors hope that the event will help the South Holland town’s reputation to bloom.
At a recent meeting of the Spalding Town Forum, Councillor Gary Taylor said: “Well done and congratulations to the organisers for getting us to this stage in only a few months.
“Many of us were aware of Spalding’s flower parade which put it on the map for something very positive nationally and sometimes internationally. It’s an opportunity for that to come back.
“We have support from residents, businesses, communities and councils.
“It’s coming home, it’s different, it’s fresh and it’s modern.”
Spalding is gearing up for the retune of the parade | Photo: Adobe Stock
Councillor Taylor, the South Holland cabinet member for communities, added that productive meetings had been held between the Cabinet and organisers, and they were happy with the progress.
“We want to make it clear to Steven and his colleagues that we’re supporting him, and are here with any guidance or advice if he needs,” he said.
The town forum agreed to withdraw £10,000 from the Spalding Special Expenses Reserve to contribute their own float to the parade.
The date has been set for Saturday, May 6, and the theme is Spalding through the decades.
The organisers have posted online: “So far, the community support has been incredible which makes this event even more special. We have proved that people want it back.”
They said that the offers of help have been “astonishing”.
Follow updates on the flower parade through the Facebook page or its website, which includes ways to support it.
A man who bit a police dog and assaulted an officer has been sentenced to eight months in jail.
Matthew Boulter (34), of Ainslie Street, Grimsby, was sentenced in court on Tuesday 16 August after pleading guilty to assaulting an emergency services worker, causing unnecessary suffering to an animal, assault, criminal damage and two counts of battery.
Boulter was arrested on the evening of Sunday 14 August after we received reports of a series of incidents earlier that evening.
During his arrest, Boulter punched and kicked some fencing towards a police officer, causing minor injuries.
A police dog was dispatched to assist with the arrest, but Boulter bit the dog on the head and then grabbed and twisted the collar.
The arrest was in relation to events earlier that evening when Boulter was seen to assault three people and cause criminal damage outside a venue on Bethlehem Street.
Detective Sergeant Thomas Crosfill said: “Assaulting emergency service workers is not acceptable, and our police dogs provide vital assistance to us. They are part of the police family.
“The earlier incidents occurred in a very public location and will have caused distress for the victims and passers-by. We want to ensure our towns are safe for people to live, work and visit, so I am pleased that Boulter was quickly arrested and sentenced for these offences.
“Thankfully, PD Xander quickly made a full recovery and was back at work the next day.”
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