Politics of Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire is a ceremonial county in England, United Kingdom. It includes the non-metropolitan county of Lincolnshire and two unitary authority areas in the north. The non-metropolitan county is governed by the Lincolnshire County Council, which is controlled by the Reform and Conservative parties, and is divided into seven district councils.

Two districts, North East Lincolnshire and North Lincolnshire, are unitary authorities. They were once part of Humberside county, which was abolished in 1996. Even today, some services in these districts are shared with the East Riding of Yorkshire ceremonial county.

Lincolnshire is represented by 11 Members of Parliament (MPs). After the 2019 general election, all 11 constituencies were represented by the Conservative Party. This shows the strong support for this political group in the area.

UK Parliament

Lincolnshire has 11 Members of Parliament, also called MPs, who help make decisions for the area. After the elections in 2019, all of these MPs belong to the Conservative Party. This means that this party represents all the different areas within Lincolnshire in the UK Parliament.

2019 general election: Lincolnshire
Conservative	Labour	Liberal Democrat	Green	Others	Turnout
348,325 (66.0%) 34,217	120,808 (22.9%) 54,307	35,049 (6.6%) 16,645	10,564 (2.0%) 4,532	13,271 (2.5%) 7,870	528,0069,266

Overall numbers of seats as of 2019
Conservative	Labour	Liberal Democrat	Green	Others
11	0	0	0	0

Parliamentary constituencies
Constituency	District	MP	Party
Boston and Skegness	Boston, East Lindsey	Matt Warman	Conservative
Brigg and Goole	North Lincolnshire (plus part in East Riding of Yorkshire)	Andrew Percy	Conservative
Cleethorpes	North East Lincolnshire, North Lincolnshire	Martin Vickers	Conservative
Gainsborough	West Lindsey, East Lindsey	Edward Leigh	Conservative
Grantham and Stamford	South Kesteven	Gareth Davies	Conservative
Great Grimsby	North East Lincolnshire	Lia Nici	Conservative
Lincoln	Lincoln, North Kesteven	Karl McCartney	Conservative
Louth and Horncastle	East Lindsey	Victoria Atkins	Conservative
Scunthorpe	North Lincolnshire	Holly Mumby-Croft	Conservative
Sleaford and North Hykeham	North Kesteven, South Kesteven	Caroline Johnson	Conservative
South Holland and The Deepings	South Holland, South Kesteven	John Henry Hayes	Conservative

Local government

The Lincolnshire County Council is controlled by Reform UK, which holds 44 of the 70 seats. North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire are separate unitary authorities and are not part of the non-metropolitan county.

The Conservatives were in control after the 2009 local election, but lost their majority in 2013. They won again in 2017 and 2021. In the 2025 election, Reform UK took control, with Andrea Jenkyns becoming the Mayor of Greater Lincolnshire.

National referendums

1975 EC membership referendum

The 1975 EC membership referendum was an important vote held in the county on June 5, 1975. Voters were asked whether the United Kingdom should stay in the European Communities, which later became the European Union. The majority of people in Lincolnshire voted to stay in.

2011 AV referendum

Main article: Results of the 2011 United Kingdom Alternative Vote referendum

In 2011, another referendum asked voters if they wanted to change how Members of Parliament were elected. Most people in Lincolnshire voted against changing the voting system.

2016 EU membership referendum

Main article: Results of the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum

On June 23, 2016, Lincolnshire held another vote about staying in the European Union. Voters chose whether to remain a member or leave. The seven districts and two unitary authorities in Lincolnshire were used as voting areas.

Choice		Votes	%
1975 United Kingdom European Communities(Common Market) membership referendum Non-metropolitan Lincolnshire
	Yes	180,603	74.75%
	No	61,011	25.25%

Valid votes		241,614	99.82%
Invalid or blank votes		445	0.18%
Total votes		242,059	100.00%

Registered voters and turnout		370,518	63.70%

Referendum results (without spoiled ballots):
Yes: 180,603 (74.7%)	No: 61,011 (25.3%)
▲

Choice		Votes	%
United Kingdom Alternative Vote referendum, 2011 Lincolnshire
	No	232,034	75.19%
	Yes	76,570	24.81%

Valid votes		308,604	99.49%
Invalid or blank votes		1,593	0.51%
Total votes		310,197	100.00%

Registered voters and turnout		722,210	40.17%

Referendum results (without spoiled ballots):
Yes: 76,570 (24.8%)	No: 232,034 (75.2%)
▲

Counting areas	Turnout %	No votes	Yes votes	No %	Yes %
Boston	39.58	13,337	3,958	77.11	22.89
East Lindsey	42.60	34,045	10,571	76.31	23.69
Lincoln	36.68	16,099	6,951	69.84	30.16
North East Lincolnshire	34.23	29,484	9,549	75.54	24.46
North Lincolnshire	39.57	36,031	12,542	74.18	25.82
North Kesteven	42.95	27,397	7,926	77.56	22.44
South Holland	39.83	20,542	5,603	78.57	21.43
South Kesteven	42.63	32,217	11,247	74.12	25.88
West Lindsey	43.70	22,882	8,223	73.56	26.44

Choice		Votes	%
United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, 2016 Lincolnshire
	Leave the European Union	380,556	65.98%
	Remain a member of the European Union	196,184	34.02%

Valid votes		576,740	99.95%
Invalid or blank votes		308	0.05%
Total votes		595,954	100.00%

Registered voters and turnout		780,761	73.91%

Referendum results (without spoiled ballots):
Leave:380,556 (66%)	Remain: 196,184 (34%)
▲

Voting areas	Turnout %	Remain votes	Leave votes	Remain %	Leave %
Boston	77.2%	7,430	22,974	24.4%	75.6%
East Lindsey	74.9%	23,515	56,613	29.3%	70.7%
Lincoln	69.3%	18,902	24,992	43.1%	57.0%
North East Lincolnshire	67.9%	23,797	55,185	30.1%	69.9%
North Lincolnshire	71.9%	29,947	58,915	33.7%	66.3%
North Kesteven	78.4%	25,570	42,183	37.7%	62.3%
South Holland	75.3%	13,074	36,423	26.4%	73.6%
South Kesteven	78.2%	33,047	49,424	40.1%	60.0%
West Lindsey	74.5%	20,906	33,847	38.2%	61.8%

Police and Crime Commissioners

Main articles: Lincolnshire Police and Crime Commissioner and Humberside Police and Crime Commissioner

Elections for important leaders called Police and Crime Commissioners for the areas covered by Lincolnshire and Humberside police happened on May 2, 2024. These leaders help make sure that police services in their areas work well and meet the needs of the community. The leaders for both Lincolnshire and Humberside police areas were chosen by people voting in these elections.