# City of Lincoln Council

The City of Lincoln Council is the local authority for the district of Lincoln, in the county of Lincolnshire, England. The council consists of 33 councillors, three for each of the 11 wards in the city. It is currently controlled by the Labour Party, led by Naomi Tweddle. The administrative headquarters is at Lincoln City Hall although council meetings are held at the guildhall.

## History

The city of Lincoln had been an ancient borough and was made a county corporate in 1409 with its own sheriff and court of quarter sessions, making it independent from the Lindsey Quarter Sessions. The borough corporation was reformed in 1836 to become a municipal borough. When elected county councils were established in 1889 under the Local Government Act 1888 to take over the local government functions of the quarter sessions, Lincoln was considered large enough to provide its own county-level services and so it was made a county borough, independent from the new Lindsey County Council.
On 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, Lincoln was reconstituted to become a non-metropolitan district, altering its powers and responsibilities but keeping the same area and name. The separate county councils which had existed for each of the Parts of Lincolnshire were also amalgamated to create a single Lincolnshire County Council for the first time, with responsibility for county-level services in the city of Lincoln too.

## Governance

City of Lincoln Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Lincolnshire County Council. There are no civil parishes in the city, which is an unparished area.

## Political control

The council has been under Labour majority control since 2011.
Political control of the council since the 1974 reforms has been as follows:
| Party in control | Years |
| Democratic Labour | 1974–1978 |
| No overall control | 1978–1979 |
| Conservative | 1979–1982 |
| Labour | 1982–2007 |
| Conservative | 2007–2010 |
| No overall control | 2010–2011 |
| Labour | 2011–present |

### Leadership

The role of Mayor of Lincoln is now largely ceremonial. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 1974 have been:
| Councillor | Party | From | To |
| Fred Allen | Democratic Labour | 1 Apr 1974 | May 1975 |
| Jean Bates | Democratic Labour | May 1975 | 3 Oct 1978 |
| Cecil Robinson | Conservative | 3 Oct 1978 | May 1979 |
| Jim Sullivan | Conservative | May 1979 | May 1982 |
| Peter Archer | Labour | May 1982 | May 1984 |
| Derek Miller | Labour | May 1984 | May 1993 |
| Chris Meanwell | Labour | May 1993 | May 1995 |
| Roland Hurst | Labour | May 1995 | May 1999 |
| Ric Metcalfe | Labour | 18 May 1999 | 22 May 2007 |
| Edmund Strengiel | Conservative | 22 May 2007 | May 2008 |
| Darren Grice | Conservative | May 2008 | 24 May 2011 |
| Ric Metcalfe | Labour | 24 May 2011 | 7 May 2024 |
| Naomi Tweddle | Labour Co-op | 14 May 2024 | |

### Composition

Following the 2024 election, the composition of the council was:
| Party | Party | Councillors |
| | Labour | 23 |
| | Conservative | 5 |
| | Liberal Democrats | 5 |
| Total | Total | 33 |
The next election is due in 2026.

## Elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2016 the council has comprised 33 councillors representing 11 wards, with each ward electing three councillors. Elections are held three years out of every four, with a third of the council (one councillor for each ward) elected each time for a four year term of office. Lincolnshire County Council elections are held in the fourth year of the cycle when there are no city council elections.

## Premises

Council meetings are held at the Guildhall on Saltergate; the current building was completed c. 1520 on a site which had been used as a guildhall since 1237, having been created from part of one of the gates in the city wall.
The council's main offices are at City Hall on Beaumont Fee, which was built in 1973 and formally opened on 16 March 1974.