May 10, 2021 1.55 pm
This story is over 14 months old
Why and how Labour lost two seats in the Lincoln council elections
Labour haemorrhaging support in Lincoln
From left, Conservative Councillor Matthew Fido who won in Moorland, Labour leader Ric Metcalfe and Liberal Democrat Councillor Clare Smalley who took Abbey Ward. | Images: Matthew Fido Facebook page, James Mayer for LDRS and supplied.
Labour lost two of the seven seats it was defending in the local elections for the City of Lincoln Council on May 6, Abbey and Moorland, with one of those seeing the Liberal Democrat party getting its first foothold in the city in almost a decade.
Ric Metcalfe, the Labour leader of the council, was surprised by the Abbey ward loss, but said his party did well in the grand scheme.
Nationally, the Conservatives gained 235 councillors across England and Labour lost 326. Lincoln’s Liberal Democrat gain was one of seven gained for the party nationally.
But a closer look at the voting figures for the Abbey and Moorland Wards — two of the most deprived areas of Lincoln — over the past five years reveals a downward trend for Labour.
Claire Smalley, who takes over from Labour’s Kathleen Brothwell in the Abbey Ward, said the party had a “fantastic campaign” and had built on support from the past few years. She said they were now looking to “secure the improvements they need”.
The ward has been a Labour stronghold since the 1970s, however, the party has been on a downward trend in the seat over the past few elections, declining from a 55% share of the vote following a boundary review in 2016 to a 28% share in Friday’s elections.
The results for the Abbey ward, on Friday, were
Hansard, Roger (Conservative) – 305 (16%)
Moore, Val (Labour) – 549 (28%)
Penman, Donald (Reform UK) – 36 (2%)
Smalley, Clare (Liberal Democrat) – 974 (50%)
Yates, Kenneth (Green) – 99 (5%)
The results mean Labour lost 14% of the vote, while Claire and her party won 21% more than her last time round.
Thanking residents, Councillor Clare Smalley said: “The hard work starts now in securing the improvements our community need and tackling the issues we campaigned on locally.
“We’ve had a fantastic campaign leading up to this May and have been building support locally for many years now – focusing on improving frontline services, tackling local street-level issues like graffiti and flytipping, and pushing the city council to listen more to residents about the matters that affect our community.”
Liberal Democrat Clare Smalley took the Abbey Ward. | Photo: Supplied
Kathleen Brothwell, the previous incumbent, was elected to her seat in 2016 with just 19.3% of the vote, however, her result followed a boundary review which saw all seats in Lincoln up for grabs rather than the usual third.
She was joined at the time by fellow Labour councillors Faye Smith and Peter West. The party as a whole took 55% of the vote. Prior to the review, in 2015 they took 42.9% of the vote.
In 2018, Bill Bilton won the seat with 52% of the vote, while Clare came in third after the Conservatives with 19%.
In 2019, Labour’s Jane Loffhagen held the seat for the party with 42% of the vote. Clare only managed to capture 29% of the votes but placed second.
Labour also lost a seat to the Conservatives, with Matthew Fido gaining the Moorland seat from Labour’s Geoff Ellis, by a majority of 95 votes.
In this ward again, the votes since 2016 show a decline in Labour’s popularity, going from 55.71% to 50.9% in 2018 and 45% in 2019.
Meanwhile the Conservatives had a rocky road to power with their 33.31% polling in 2016 rising to 41.8% in 2018 but decreasing to 36% in 2019 as the Green party managed to surge to 12% of the vote.
Following the election, Lincoln Conservatives party leader Thomas Dyer said: “Labour have been weakened on the City of Lincoln Council and we are now a stronger opposition party.
“The fight for city hall will continue – we have the momentum to take over the council.”
The final tally, means the party breakdown is:
Labour – 22 members
Conservatives – 10 members
Liberal Democrats – 1 member
Labour leader Ric Metcalfe saw two of the seven wards his party were defending lost to his opponents. | Photo: James Mayer for LDRS
Labour leader Ric Metcalfe said that “in the context of the national swing,” it was a “pretty good result for us”.
He called the Liberal Democrat win in Abbey a “surprise element”. “[Abbey has] generally been a fairly safe labour seat, but we had the problem of a, albeit very good candidate, nevertheless a much less well known than the outgoing person who retired.
“It’s always a bit difficult if you lose a long-standing incumbent and a new person has to come in, and obviously the Liberal Democrats have taken advantage of that and ran a very proactive campaign.
Despite the losses, however, he added: “We retain comfortable overall control and we shall carry on doing all the good things that we’ve been doing for a number of years.”
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Ukrainian Independence Day is this month, marking 21 years of freedom from the Soviet Republic, and after the tragedy of Russian invasion earlier this year, a march of solidarity and remembrance will be held in Lincoln.
The walk will take place on Wednesday, August 24, 21 years after the 1991 Declaration of Independence in Ukraine, to celebrate the country in all its glory.
It will take on added poignance this year given the tragedy of the Russian invasion of the Eastern European nation, which has seen a total of 5,514 civilian deaths verified by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Lincolnshire people have opened their homes to refugees from Ukraine | Photo: Bradley Wall
The walk begins at 5.45pm, leaving St Mary le Wigford Church – the base of the Ukrainian Cultural Centre of Lincoln – before meandering through the High Street, the Strait, Steep Hill and Exchequergate.
It will arrive at the intended destination of Lincoln Cathedral where a short ceremony will be held outside the monument in memory of the “Lost Children of Ukraine” – before people make their own way home.
| Photo: John Aaron for The Lincolnite
To embrace the true spirit of the event, participants are encouraged to either hold or wear something blue and/or yellow, signifying the colours of the Ukrainian flag.
Lincolnshire has been a keen player in Ukraine support since the initial fallout of the Russian invasion, with more than 800 Ukrainian people welcomed to safety in our county so far.
At the end of February, just days after Russian troops began their invasion, a well-attended candlelit vigil was held at Lincoln Cathedral, while the iconic landmark lit up in Ukraine’s blue and yellow colours.
Staff and students from the University of Lincoln stood in solidarity with Ukraine. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
As well as this, over 100 University of Lincoln staff and students stood shoulder to shoulder on campus in a defiant act of solidarity back in March – promising anyone affected by the conflict that they are not alone.
In April, the Lincoln Run for Ukraine, organised by those behind the annual Santa Fun Run – the Rotary Club of Lincoln Colonia – saw the community get their running shoes on for a good cause around the city.
A historic chapel will become a Greylees’ “premier venue” when it becomes a tea room and cocktail bar, the people behind it say.
The New Chapel on Kinross Road in Greylees, near Sleaford, has been granted a license following a major refurbishment.
The new establishment has been widely welcomed by the community.
However, there were worries from some that the 1am closing time on Friday and Saturday nights would lead to disruption for residents.
Owner Freida Alrashaid told North Kesteven District Council’s licensing committee: “The response on social media and in person has been overwhelming support. The community is very much excited for this.”
She took the late 19th century building on in 2014, and had been working to restore and bring it back into use ever since.
Ramal, who will be the Designated Premises Supervisor, said: “Blood, sweat and tears have gone into this – that shows you our level of passion.
“This will be the premier venue in Sleaford for people to come and enjoy themselves. We hope that people will be happy with what we have produced.”
He assured worried residents that they wanted to serve the local community, and not cause a nuisance to them.
The building was abandoned for a number of years. | Image: David Bosworth
The venue will be licensed to serve alcohol until 11pm Sunday to Thursday and 1am Friday to Saturday, although this will mainly be used for special events.
However, some local residents said at the meeting they still had concerns about late night noise.
Chris Cocks said: “This is a peaceful area to love – with such a late license in the evenings, we will hear the noise and it will be intrusive. We haven’t had assurances on noise limiting technology.
“I am in favour of this venture, but the disruption in the early hours of the morning does worry me.”
Sarah Freeman said she was also worried about the effect on nearby families with young children.
However, Jan Gunter told the committee: “I live around 150 yards away and have no objections at all. We know that 1am events will be the exception rather than the rule.
“We have been promised so many facilities for the area over the years and none have been realised. This is to be welcomed.”
The applicants said they would endeavour to stop noise travelling, and would ask large parties not to park on the street.
The committee has granted the license application, saying that “no evidence had been presented to show there will be problems with anti-social behaviour, increase in traffic noise and parking noise, and that the information was speculative.”
The building was previously Rauceby Hospital Chapel but fell into disrepair over the years.
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