Conservative politicians have accused Labour of “going backwards” and having a “disastrous night” in this year’s local elections despite the party keeping control of City of Lincoln Council. The Tories held onto the one ward they had up for election, while Labour won eight of 11 wards.
Of the authority’s 33 seats, a third were up for election. Labour has kept control of 20 seats and the Conservatives retain nine, while the Lib Dems now have four.
Karl McCartney, the Conservative MP for Lincoln, said: “We finished the night having successfully defended and won the seat in Witham that Cllr Tom Dyer continues to represent – very well, obviously. The Labour Party in Lincoln had a disastrous night considering they lost one in five of the seats they held in the city – a 20% loss cannot be viewed as anything but a nightmare for Labour and their overconfidence.
READ MORE: Labour keep control of City of Lincoln Council – full results
“The people of Lincoln both like and are proud of the city’s Christmas Market and associated heritage. Labour’s dismal performance compared to four years ago is a lesson in complacency and taking the voters for granted.”
Cllr Thomas Dyer, opposition leader at City of Lincoln Council, said: “Firstly, I am both honoured and delighted to have been re-elected by the people of Witham ward for a third term. Despite a poor night for the Conservative Party nationally we held all of our seats in Lincoln.
“The only party that went backwards this year in Lincoln was the Labour Party with their two losses to the Lib Dems.”
Labour leader Ric Metcalfe expressed disappointment at the results, saying: “It’s a matter of considerable regret that we lost a couple of seats to the Liberal Democrats. Unfortunately in those particular wards it seems that Conservative voters were feeling pretty fed up about the Conservatives and switched their votes to the Liberal Democrats.”
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