May 5, 2022 8.49 am This story is over 22 months old

Local Elections 2022: Polling stations open in Lincoln and North East Lincolnshire

Don’t forget to vote
The Burton Road Polling Station on the morning of May 5. | Photo: Jamie Waller

Polling stations have opened in Lincoln and North East Lincolnshire today (Thursday, May 5) for this year’s local elections.

There are 11 seats up for grabs in the city and 16 in north east of the region.

In Lincoln there are currently 22 Labour councillors, 10 Conservatives and one Liberal Democrat councillor.

Although Conservatives might find it difficult to take a majority, however, they’ll be looking to strengthen their current councillors while making in roads into Labour territory in the footsteps of some of their nationwide counterparts.

In North East Lincolnshire, which switched from a Red to a Blue majority in 2019, the Labour party will be hoping to bounce back despite several defeats in by-elections since. The council currently includes 32 Conservatives, seven Labour and two Liberal Democrats. Again the possibility of achieving an outright majority would require some pretty heavy swings across the wards.

A YouGov report this morning looking at 16 Key Battlegrounds for this year’s local elections did not feature Lincoln or North East Lincolnshire.

However, it noted that several authorities could see Labour pick up some seats in Conservative strongholds such as Southampton and Wandsworth.

The report said Labour would be strong in London, be less likely to win in the South of England but have some real difficulties winning back voters in areas previously considered the “Red Wall”.

“Overall, we expect the Conservative to Labour swing to be much less in and around these councils than in other battlegrounds further South in the country,” said the YouGov report.

Polling stations close at 10pm and votes will be counted overnight.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service will be watching events unfold and you can keep up with any key moments here and via Twitter on @DanielJainesLDR

A full list of candidates can be found here.

You can also see all our latest local election stories, including analysis, party pledges and voter views here.