The Labour party is hoping to make a comeback in North East Lincolnshire Council’s local elections as residents struggle with the cost of living.
The largest opposition group is running on the message that Conservatives are failing locally and nationally. They are hoping to regain some seats after a series of disappointing losses for the party.
Former cabinet members are returning to fight seats along with new, younger faces. Previous deputy leader Dave Watson and ex-councillor Sheldon Mill are among those who will be on the ballots again.
The local elections will take place on Thursday, May 5. All wards will elect one councillor, with an additional by-election taking place in the East Marsh.
Labour leader Councillor Matthew Patrick said: “I’ve been having conversations with a lot of residents and a lot of people are coming back to Labour. We have a lot of work to do yet, but I am confident that we are winning the argument and getting our voters back.
“First and foremost, people are worried about the cost of living crisis. We’ve got a billionaire chancellor in London who doesn’t relate to what’s happening to us, and we’ve got a council which has turned its back on ordinary residents and don’t want to hear the challenges they’re facing in their everyday lives.
“There needs to be a strong voice for those residents. People need a strong voice in the council chamber, and they can count on Labour to speak up against the Tories.”
Councillor Tim Mickleburgh is the only current Labour member who is up for re-election in the 2022 cycle. He has represented South ward since 2014, and believes voters will be receptive to Labour’s message in May.
“I feel we will do a lot better than last time. The cost of living crisis and rising council tax means that people are turning against the Tories in control,” he said.
“If wages are rising 3% and all the costs are going up 10%, people will feel it. Many people aren’t well off around here.
“We want to add enough seats to be able to challenge the council on what they’re doing.”
Former Councillor Dave Watson, who served as acting council leader for a several weeks in the previous administration, will be standing in Immingham. He will be hoping to return to the council after being defeated in last year’s local elections.
“I have a feeling we will quite well this year. The government is not doing well, and people are looking for someone visible and well-known to represent them locally – I have served on the town council since 2000,” he said.
“Immingham often gets forgotten about compared to Grimsby and Cleethorpes. Residents want to make our voice heard and balance that out, which I will do.”
Quibs Brown is standing for the fourth time at the age of 22. Quibs is the only Labour & Co-operative candidate on the ballot, and will be contesting Park ward.
“I am feeling very hopeful and looking forward to a promising campaign. I have stood in 2018, 2019 and 2021, and this is the most hopeful I have been. This is the year we will put the Conservatives on notice,” they said.
The full list of candidates standing in each ward will be published on Wednesday evening. Visit the council website for information on registering to vote and your local polling place.
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Nominations are open for schools and education settings to be recognised in the 2022 Lincolnshire Education Excellence Awards.
The event is organised by Stonebow Media, publishers of The Lincolnite, to celebrate the best school and teachers in Greater Lincolnshire.
The headline sponsors making the awards possible are Lincoln College Group.
Twelve categories are now open for nominations. The deadline for nominations is June 3, with a judging lunch scheduled for June 7.
Nominations are open from parents, carers, friends, families or education settings themselves, so if you know someone who deserving of winning now is the time to vote!
The awards ceremony will be held at the Engine Shed on July 7.
It’s been a week since the controversial statue of Margaret Thatcher was installed in Grantham’s St Peter’s Hill.
The £300,000 bronze monument immediately caused a stir and debate from both supporters and opponents of the first female Prime Minister of the UK.
Within hours of its 7am installation last Sunday, it had already been egged by a man later revealed to be 59-year-old Jeremy Webster, a deputy director at the Attenborough Arts Centre at the University of Leicester.
Mr Webster’s mother-in-law recently described his actions as “childish”.
Quoted in the MailOnline she said: “Margaret Thatcher lasted a long time in power. She was a trailblazer as the first woman prime minister and she had such energy, even though I know she slept very little.
“I’m very surprised to hear about all of this [egg throwing]. I’m going to have to call my daughter. I wouldn’t have thought Jeremy would be the sort of person to do this. It seems very childish to me – he has a responsible job.”
There have been reports of other antisocial behaviour taking place including people urinating up the statue, but investigations into these are yet to be confirmed by officials.
Away from the statue itself, others took to social media to react to the new monument.
Twitterer @BolsoverBeast thought Mr Webster’s actions should be expanded as a way to… get more people involved?
I think it would be a good idea to put Thatcher’s statue on a low loader and tow it slowly around the country so that we all have a chance to throw something at it. pic.twitter.com/uftMqr0LgR
— Chloe Schlosberg (@ChloeSchlosberg) May 19, 2022
Some called back to the fate of other statues
@Irritatedllama called back to the fate of slave trader Edward Colston who was thrown into the Bristol Harby in June 2020.
It's absolutely disgraceful that people are throwing eggs at the Margaret Thatcher statue in Grantham! We need to deploy a taskforce to give it jolly good wash!#Granthampic.twitter.com/RKftKUls4u
It wasn’t long before a parody account of the statue was set up on Twitter – nor before “she” was interacting with other parody accounts.
It was awful. I could see almost all of Grantham
— That Statue of Thatcher (@thatcher_statue) May 18, 2022
A… positive view?
There were supporters of the statue, however, Darren Grimes from GBNews was one of the few popular posts calling on people not to “give in to threats of petty vandalism”. He later posted the statue should be in parliament – where it was previously rejected from.
I honestly think Margaret Thatcher would have found this first round of petty vandalism of her statue to be utterly hilarious.
The statue looks absolutely glorious.
Almost a decade on from her passing, she’s still winding them up!
Some, like @Jonnyhibberd were more measured in their response.
I don't see a problem with a Thatcher statue and I also don't see a problem with people throwing eggs at it. Thatcher is an important part of our history, and so is what a lot of people thought about her.
— Jonathan Hibberd 🇺🇦 (@Jonnyhibberd) May 18, 2022
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