Lincolnshire County Council

Lincolnshire County Council
Type
Type	Non-metropolitan county
Leadership
Chair	Stephen Bunney, Liberal Democrat since 23 May 2025 [1]
Leader	Sean Matthews, Reform UK since 23 May 2025
Chief Executive	Debbie Barnes since 1 January 2020 [2]
Structure
Seats	70 seats
Political groups	Administration (44)   Reform UK (44) Other parties (26)   Conservative (14)   Liberal Democrats (5)   Labour (3)   Independent (3)   Lincolnshire Ind. (1)
Length of term	4 years
Elections
Voting system	First-past-the-post
Last election	1 May 2025
Next election	May 2029
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]

In 2025 the council became a member of the new Greater Lincolnshire Combined County Authority, along with North Lincolnshire Council and North East Lincolnshire Council. ^[5] The combined authority is chaired by the directly-elected Mayor of Greater Lincolnshire. ^[6]

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: ^{[7] [8]}

• Boston
• Lincoln
• East Lindsey
• North Kesteven
• South Holland
• South Kesteven
• West Lindsey

Much of the county is also covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government. ^[9]

Political control

The council has been under Reform UK majority control since 2025. ^[10]

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: ^{[11] [12]}

Party in control		Years
	No overall control	1974–1977
	Conservative	1977–1993
	No overall control	1993–1997
	Conservative	1997–2013
	No overall control	2013–2017
	Conservative	2017–2025
	Reform UK	2025–present

Leadership

The leaders of the council since 1974 have been:

Councillor	Party		From	To
Anthony Thorold [13] [14]		Conservative	1 April 1974	May 1981
David Guttridge [14] [15]		Conservative	May 1981	8 Sep 1987
Bill Wyrill [16] [17]		Conservative	Nov 1987	May 1993
Rob Parker [17] [18] [19]		Labour	May 1993	May 1997
Jim Speechley [20] [21] [22]		Conservative	May 1997	13 Sep 2002
Ian Croft [23] [24]		Conservative	4 Oct 2002	18 Mar 2005
Martin Hill [23] [25]		Conservative	24 Mar 2005	May 2025
Sean Matthews [26]		Reform UK	23 May 2025

Composition

Following the 2025 election, the current composition of the council is: ^[27]

Party		Councillors
	Reform UK	44
	Conservative	14
	Liberal Democrats	5
	Labour	3
	Independent	3
	Lincolnshire Independent	1
Total		70

The three independent councillors and the Lincolnshire Independent councillor form the "Independent Group." ^[28] The next election is due in 2029. ^[29]

Elections

See also: Lincolnshire County Council 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. ^[30]

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. ^[31]

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. ^[32]
• 1999–2004: David Bowles
• 2005–2018: Tony McArdle ^{[33] [34]}
• 2018: Keith Ireland ^{[35] [36] [37] [38]}
• 2020–present: Debbie Barnes ^[39]

References

1. Turner, James (29 May 2025). "West Lindsey councillor is new chairman of Lincolnshire County Council". Lincolnshire World. Retrieved 19 June 2025.
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. Phillips, Holly (5 February 2025). "Council elections go ahead as authority confirmed". BBC News. Retrieved 22 June 2025.
6. Maslin, Eleanor (2 May 2025). "Reform's Andrea Jenkyns elected Lincolnshire mayor". BBC News. Retrieved 22 June 2025.
7. "Local Government Act 1972", legislation.gov.uk , The National Archives, 1972 c. 70, retrieved 31 May 2023
8. "Understand how your council works". www.gov.uk. HM Government . Retrieved 15 October 2016.
9. "Election Maps". Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
10. Hemmingham, Nathan (2 May 2025). "Lincolnshire County Council election results: Reform take control". BBC News. Retrieved 2 May 2025.
11. "Compositions Calculator". The Elections Centre. University of Exeter. Retrieved 21 May 2025. (Put "Lincolnshire" in search box to see specific results.)
12. "Lincolnshire". BBC News Online . BBC. 5 June 2009. Retrieved 11 June 2009.
13. "Obituaries: Capt. Sir A. H. Thorold". Grantham Journal. 14 May 1999. p. 36. Retrieved 19 June 2025.
14. "Tory line to stay the same". Sleaford Standard. 14 May 1981. p. 2. Retrieved 19 June 2025.
15. "County council leader dies". Lincolnshire Standard. 10 September 1987. p. 26. Retrieved 19 June 2025.
16. "County leader". Sleaford Standard. 19 November 1987. Retrieved 19 June 2025.
17. "Tories give up control". Gainsborough Standard. 21 May 1993. p. 16. Retrieved 19 June 2025.
18. Ionescu, Daniel (6 May 2013). "Lincolnshire Labour leader Rob Parker steps down". The Lincolnite. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
19. "Tories win control of the county". Lincoln Target. 8 May 1997. p. 5. Retrieved 19 June 2025.
20. "...and Jim is the leader of the gang". Skegness Standard. 16 May 1997. p. 12. Retrieved 19 June 2025.
21. Fear, Victoria (26 April 2021). "Tributes paid to former Crowland councillor who died aged 84". Spalding Today. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
22. "Council leader resigns". BBC News. 13 September 2002. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
23. "Council Leaders 2003–2014 - Find a freedom of information request". Lincolnshire County Council. Retrieved 19 June 2025.
24. "Council leader leaves after audit". BBC News. 18 March 2005. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
25. McKenna, David (6 May 2025). "Tory group leader steps down after 20 years". BBC News. Retrieved 19 June 2025.
26. Turner, James (23 May 2025). "Sean Matthews officially elected new leader of Lincolnshire County Council". Lincolnshire World. Retrieved 19 June 2025.
27. "Your Councillors". Web Team, Room 5 City Hall, Orchard Street, Lincoln LN1 1XX [e-mail]. 8 May 2012. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
28. "Your Councillors by Political Grouping". Lincolnshire County Council. Retrieved 19 June 2025.
29. "Lincolnshire". Local Councils. Thorncliffe. Retrieved 19 June 2025.
30. "The Lincolnshire (Electoral Changes) Order 2016", legislation.gov.uk , The National Archives, SI 2016/1226, retrieved 18 November 2023
31. "Contact us". Lincolnshire County Council. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
32. "People", Times Education Supplement, 18 August 1995. Retrieved 12 November 2017.
33. "Lincolnshire County Council chief executive Tony McArdle to step down after 12 years", Lincolnshire Echo, 11 January 2018.
34. "Lincolnshire County Council leader pays tribute to outgoing chief executive", 23 February 2018.
35. "Lincolnshire County Council appoint Keith Ireland as new chief executive",Lincolnshire Echo, 8 May 2018.
36. "'We do not share the same approach' - chief executive of Lincolnshire County Council to leave just months after joining",Lincolnshire Echo, 26 November 2018.
37. "KEXIT: Lincolnshire County Council chief leaves after just four months", Lincolnite 26 November 2018.
38. "Sacked or resigned? County Council CEO set to serve notice", Lincolnshire Reporter, 26 November 2018.
39. "County council leaders gagged over departure of chief executive", Boston Standard, 16 December 2018.