Lincolnshire County Council elections will go ahead in May

Lincolnshire County Council has confirmed that elections will take place this May.

Candidates from across 70 divisions will vie for a seat on the county council when polls open on Thursday, May 1, the same day residents will choose Greater Lincolnshire’s first mayor.

Although leaders signed a letter to the government suggesting they were open to a delay as part of an "expression of interest" in the priority programme for local government reorganisation, the area was not selected.

The Labour government first outlined its plans for reorganisation in its devolution white paper released in December. The plans aim to introduce a directly elected mayor in every region and restructure two-tier local authority areas, such as Lincolnshire, into unitary authorities with approximately 500,000 residents each under one body.

Jim McMahon OBE, Minister of State in the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities claimed the changes could the country about £2 billion in savings.

Coun Martin Hill (Conservative), leader of Lincolnshire County Council, stated: “We have been planning for our elections to go ahead as usual, and it is not a surprise that we are not included in the list of councils that are postponing theirs.

"We expressed an interest in Greater Lincolnshire being part of the first wave of local government reorganisation, and had said we would be open to deferring our elections if needed. We did not request specifically to defer our elections.

“Although it’s disappointing that we won’t be in the first phase of reorganisation, we will keep pushing for more straight-forward local government across Greater Lincolnshire. I believe we must look at what is best for residents and what will offer the best value for money, and develop proposals that deliver this."

Lincoln's Labour MP Hamish Falconer also took to social media to confirm the news. In a video posted on X formely Twitter, he said: "I'm really pleased to confirm we're having elections in Lincolnshire—the government has just set it out in a statement.

"I'm really pleased people are going to get a chance to vote for a Greater Lincolnshire mayor and for the county council. There are great candidates standing, particularly from the Labour Party.

"I'll be out knocking on doors over the next few weeks along with my colleagues, so please do have your say."