Lincolnshire County Council
Coat of arms or logo
Logo
Type
Type
Leadership
Robert Reid,
Conservative
since 19 May 2023[1]
Martin Hill,
Conservative
since March 2005
Debbie Barnes
since 1 January 2020[2]
Structure
Seats70 seats
Political groups
Administration (54)
  Conservative (54)
Other parties (16)
  Labour (4)
  South Holland Ind. (4)
  Independent (4)
  Liberal Democrats (3)
  Lincolnshire Ind. (1)
Length of term
4 years
Elections
First-past-the-post
Last election
4 May 2021
Next election
1 May 2025
Meeting place
County Offices, Newland, Lincoln, LN1 1YL
Website
www.lincolnshire.gov.uk

Lincolnshire County Council is the county council that governs the non-metropolitan county of Lincolnshire in England. The non-metropolitan county is smaller than the ceremonial county; the latter additionally includes North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire which are both unitary authorities and therefore independent from the county council.

History

Lincolnshire was one of the historic counties of England. From the middle ages it was administered in three parts, called Holland, Kesteven and Lindsey, each of which had their own quarter sessions. From 1409 the city of Lincoln was also an independent county corporate. When elected county councils were created in 1889 taking over the administrative functions of the quarter sessions, each of Lincolnshire's three parts became a separate administrative county with its own county council, and Lincoln was made a county borough, maintaining its independence.[3]

That arrangement continued until 1974 when the Local Government Act 1972 abolished Holland County Council, Kesteven County Council and Lindsey County Council and the County Borough of Lincoln, creating a Lincolnshire County Council for the first time.[4]

Governance

Lincolnshire mobile library at Pode Hole.

Lincolnshire County Council provides county-level services. District-level services are provided by the area's seven district councils:[5][6]

Much of the county is also covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government.[7]

Political control

The council has been under Conservative majority control since 2017.

The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities before coming into its powers on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows:[8][9]

Party in controlYears
No overall control1974–1977
Conservative1977–1993
No overall control1993–1997
Conservative1997–2013
No overall control2013–2017
Conservative2017–present

Leadership

The leaders of the council since 1974 have been:[10]

CouncillorPartyFromTo
Anthony Thorold Conservative19741981
David Guttridge Conservative19811987
Bill Wyrill Conservative19871993
Rob Parker[11] LabourMay 1993May 1997
Jim Speechley[12][13] ConservativeMay 199713 Sep 2002
Ian Croft[14] Conservative4 Oct 200218 Mar 2005
Martin Hill ConservativeMar 2005

Composition

Following the 2021 election and a change of allegiance in summer 2023, the composition of the council was:[15]

Party Councillors
Conservative 54
Labour 4
South Holland Independents 4
Independent 4
Liberal Democrats 3
Lincolnshire Independent 1
Total 70

Of the four independent councillors, three sit with the Lincolnshire Independent councillor as the "Independent Group", and one does not belong to any group.[16] The next election is due in 2025.

Elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2017 the county has been divided into 70 electoral divisions, each of which elects one councillor. Elections are held every four years.[17]

Premises

The council has its main offices and meeting place at County Offices on Newland in Lincoln. The building was built in 1926–1932 as the headquarters for the former Lindsey County Council, one of Lincolnshire County Council's predecessors.[18]

Chief executives

Chief executives have included:

  • 1973–1979: David Drury Macklin
  • 1983–1995: Robert John Dudley Proctor
  • 1995–1998: Jill Helen Barrow, who was the first woman chief executive of a county council in England.[19]
  • 1999–2004: David Bowles
  • 2005–2018: Tony McArdle[20][21]
  • 2018: Keith Ireland [22][23][24][25]
  • 2020–present: Debbie Barnes [26]

References

  1. ↑ "Council minutes, 19 May 2023". Lincolnshire County Council. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
  2. ↑ Hodkin, Sharon (30 December 2019). "New Lincolnshire County Council chief executive appointed". Newark Advertiser. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
  3. ↑ Local Government Act 1888
  4. ↑ Local Government Act 1972
  5. ↑ "Local Government Act 1972", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1972 c. 70, retrieved 31 May 2023
  6. ↑ "Understand how your council works". www.gov.uk. HM Government. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
  7. ↑ "Election Maps". Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
  8. ↑ "Compositions calculator". The Elections Centre. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  9. ↑ "Lincolnshire". BBC News Online. BBC. 5 June 2009. Retrieved 11 June 2009.
  10. ↑ "Council minutes". Lincolnshire County Council. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  11. ↑ Ionescu, Daniel (6 May 2013). "Lincolnshire Labour leader Rob Parker steps down". The Lincolnite. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  12. ↑ Fear, Victoria (26 April 2021). "Tributes paid to former Crowland councillor who died aged 84". Spalding Today. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  13. ↑ "Council leader resigns". BBC News. 13 September 2002. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  14. ↑ "Council leader leaves after audit". BBC News. 18 March 2005. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  15. ↑ Boothroyd, David (4 August 2023). "Conservative majority disappears over Beachy Head". Local Councils. Thorncliffe. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
  16. ↑ "Your Councillors by Political Grouping". Lincolnshire County Council. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
  17. ↑ "The Lincolnshire (Electoral Changes) Order 2016", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2016/1226, retrieved 18 November 2023
  18. ↑ "Contact us". Lincolnshire County Council. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  19. ↑ "People", Times Education Supplement, 18 August 1995. Retrieved 12 November 2017.
  20. ↑ "Lincolnshire County Council chief executive Tony McArdle to step down after 12 years", Lincolnshire Echo, 11 January 2018.
  21. ↑ "Lincolnshire County Council leader pays tribute to outgoing chief executive", 23 February 2018.
  22. ↑ "Lincolnshire County Council appoint Keith Ireland as new chief executive",Lincolnshire Echo, 8 May 2018.
  23. ↑ "'We do not share the same approach' - chief executive of Lincolnshire County Council to leave just months after joining",Lincolnshire Echo, 26 November 2018.
  24. ↑ "KEXIT: Lincolnshire County Council chief leaves after just four months", Lincolnite 26 November 2018.
  25. ↑ "Sacked or resigned? County Council CEO set to serve notice", Lincolnshire Reporter, 26 November 2018.
  26. ↑ "County council leaders gagged over departure of chief executive", Boston Standard, 16 December 2018.
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