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 Lincolnite has caught up with a Sleaford man who became the lead singer of T. Rex in the 90s and 00s – a week after he showed the band his Marc Bolan impression during a reunion gig he went to as a fan.
Rob Benson, a 60-year-old musician originally from Lincoln, had always been a big fan of notorious glam rockers T. Rex when he decided to watch Mickey Finn’s band in Northampton in 1998. Little did he know, that evening would change his life forever.
T. Rex are one of the most famous bands to ever emerge from the United Kingdom, with four number one singles in the 1970s and over 50 million album copies sold worldwide.
The centrepiece and foundation of the band was lead singer Marc Bolan, who founded T. Rex in 1967 and was the star of the show before his sudden death in a car crash in 1977.
The band split soon after losing its key cog, and it wasn’t until some 20 years later T. Rex decided to Get It On again.
In September 1997, to celebrate what would have been Marc Bolan’s 50th birthday, the former band members were invited to a reunion by their former tour manager Mick Gray.
It was the spark they all needed, and they decided to tour again under the name Mickey Finn’s T-Rex, due to the obvious lack of Bolan.
A year on from that, Finn and co. were playing a gig at the Chicago Rock cafe, a show which Rob Benson, living in Sleaford at this time, attended.
The band toured as Mickey Finn’s T-Rex when they returned in 1998.
“I was there as a fan”, he told The Lincolnite. “I did enjoy the gig, but I couldn’t help but feel there was something missing, the spirit of Marc Bolan was absent.
“I met the band after the gig and told them I could sing just like Marc, and they told me to send over a demo tape. They liked what they heard and invited me to rehearsals in the Isle of Wight.
“A week later I was performing at the Porsche festival in Germany in front of thousands of people, live on TV, as the lead singer of T. Rex. I didn’t know where to look. It was mad.”
Rob had gone from watching his heroes from the crowd to standing on stage performing with them in stadiums across the world, he was now a bonafide rock star. The largest crowd he performed to was 70,000 in a stadium in Germany.
“I was living a rock and roll dream, leather clad jackets and all.”
He continued: “It was utterly terrifying to start with, but Mickey and the rest of the guys were very helpful, we just built a chemistry up there on stage and eventually things were coming together great and I got more confident up there.
“I was truly thrown in at the deep end but I loved it. After that first show the stage manager walked into our room and said ‘great show guys’ then pointed at me and told me I looked like a scared rabbit! It was a very humbling experience.”
Rob saw the sights of stardom and got to hang around with countless celebrities during his time with the band, even befriending popular band Slade, but at that time it didn’t get much more famous than Oasis, the crown jewel of 90s Britpop.
Rob’s vocal resemblance to Marc Bolan caught the ears of not just his band members, but everyone who saw them perform.
“We did a festival in Copenhagen and were on the bill with Oasis, I got to spend the night partying with Liam Gallagher.
“Here I am, just an ordinary guy plunged into the world of show business, it was incredible.”
The good times kept rolling despite the death of the legendary conga player Mickey Finn in 2003, and Rob remained with the band until 2010, before he was replaced by current lead vocalist Jay Spargo.
Rob had the time of his life performing with T. Rex, a far cry from his previous work performing in pubs across Lincolnshire.
Rob now lives in Derbyshire, and before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, he performed a couple of shows a year in Germany with The Classic Rock All-Stars, comprising of famous musicians from the 60s and 70s.
Reflecting on his whirlwind time, in the band he grew up adoring, Rob concluded: “98% of the time I spent in the band was just hanging about, meeting people, I got really close with the band members which felt normal at the time.
“I knew the songs off by heart, I was a huge fan, and here I was touring the world with them. It’s certainly one that’s been helpful to have on the CV!”
A pair of anti-vaxxers have decided to temporarily stop sharing conspiracy theories on Facebook and stage a protest at a roundabout in Lincoln instead.
The duo were spotted on the Riseholme roundabout on the A15 on Friday afternoon, armed with misinformation signs that appear to suggest England’s Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty has an “evil agenda”.
The protest signs appeared to be against child vaccinations, which suggests that the UK’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation were against young people being jabbed, despite a statement in July saying the Pfizer dose had been authorised for use in people aged 12 and over.
They seem to be at loggerheads with Lincolnshire’s own Jonathan Van-Tam, none other than England’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer, who urged people this week to “trust professionals, not Instagram” as fake propaganda posted on social media is being attributed to vaccine hesitancy.
Another sign held up spouts rhetoric about heart problems from the COVID-19 vaccine, while a third notice shows children with masks on and reads: “Is this the future we want for our kids?”
For reference, in case you cannot make it to the Lincolnshire Showground for your vaccination, there will be a free shuttle bus service to take you to and from the jab site starting next week. Read more here.
Up to 86% of adults in Lincolnshire are double-jabbed, and over 25% of 12-15-year-olds.
A special lights show celebrating Lincolnshire’s plants will take place at Boultham Park on Saturday.
The Lincspirational Lightshow will start at 5.30pm on October 23 after the original event was postponed earlier this month due to the weather forecast.
The free show is the final of event of Lincolnshire Wildlife Trusts’ LoveLincsPlants project.
The evening will feature a lightshow parade, artwork projects, park illuminations and music inspired by nature from Sinfonia Viva. During the event the 30 artworks created by the public will be projected onto a large screen.
There will also be an opportunity to bid on the 130 artworks submitted as part of the exhibition. They will be available via an online action, with the 30 winning pieces starting at £40.
The evening will feature a lightshow parade, artwork projects, park illuminations, and more. | Photo: Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust
The money raised from the sale of the artworks will help fund nature’s recovery in Lincolnshire. It will also help the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust create wildflower rich habitats across the county.
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