Local elections in England are now only a month away.
There are Humberside and council-level elections to take place in northern Lincolnshire on May 2.. Candidates are yet to be finalised.
The policy differences of party groupings, what individual candidates have to offer to voters, and a closer look at specific voting areas will follow as the campaign begins in earnest.
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For now, here is a lowdown to what elections will take place in northern Lincolnshire on May 2, and what you need to vote.
Which councils and wards are up for election in northern Lincolnshire?
Just under a third of North East Lincolnshire Council‘s council seats are up for election. Twelve of the local authority’s 15 wards will see contests for a councillor each to be elected.
If you live in Waltham, West Marsh and Wold wards, there are no councillors to be elected here. An Immingham Town Council by-election is also to be held.
North Lincolnshire Council held all-out elections last year. Two by-elections will take place later this year after the deaths last month of Cllrs John Briggs and Steve Swift. But these will not occur on May 2.
What is the current make up of North East Lincolnshire Council?
The Conservatives control the council and have done since 2019. There are 42 councillors in total. The Conservatives hold 27, Labour have nine, the Liberal Democrats three, and the Independents for North East Lincolnshire also have three.
The twelve councillor posts up for election this time around were elected in the 2021 cycle. Three years ago, the Conservatives fared exceptionally well in North East Lincolnshire and Labour not so much.
This means there are no Labour-held councillor positions up for election this time. In fact, 11 of the 12 councillor posts to be elected are currently Conservative. The other is one from the all-Liberal Democrat ward of East Marsh.
What Scunthorpe voters can vote in – and Grimsby’s too
Do not worry Scunthorpe voters – you will still get the chance to exercise your democratic right on May 2. That is because the Humberside Police and Crime Commissioner election is to take place.
Voters across the North and North East Lincolnshire, Hull and East Riding local authority areas choose the region’s Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC). Previously, voters could indicate their first and second preferences for the role, in what is known as the Supplementary Vote electoral system.
PCCs are now elected by first past the post, same as MPs and councillors. Conservative Jonathan Evison won the PCC election overall by 8,000 votes in 2021. The post was previously Labour-held.
What do I need to be able to vote?
You need to be registered on the electoral roll, which you can sort easily online, here. Provided, that is, you are 18 or over, and a British, Irish or EU citizen, or a qualifying Commonwealth country citizen.
2023 was the year when voter ID was introduced. This remains a requirement to vote at ballot boxes on the day.
There are a number of acceptable forms of ID, including passport and driving licence. As with last year, voters can apply for free for a voter authority certificate ID if they do not possess any of the accepted forms of ID. View the fact box below for more details on how to register to vote, and voter ID.
Local Elections 2024 – Voter ID and other things to know
At the local elections on May 2, 2024, people in England will again only be allowed to vote at polling stations if they have an accepted form of photographic ID.
The deadline to register to vote is Tuesday April 16. The last day for new applications to vote by post, or to change existing postal or proxy vote arrangements, is 5pm on April 17. You can apply online here. To help check if you are on the electoral register already, or register to vote by paper form, simply contact the electoral services team in your council area.
Contact details for the electoral services team of whichever council area you live in are available by a postcode search tool you can visit here. The original versions (note, copies are not accepted) of the following will be accepted at polling stations as valid forms of photo ID on May 2:
- UK, EEA state or Commonwealth passport
- UK or EEA state issued driving licence, including provisional licence
- Blue Badge
- Local travel – older person’s bus pass funded by UK government, disabled person’s bus pass funded by UK government, Oyster 60+, Freedom Pass and eight other travel ID schemes spread across Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales
- An ID card bearing the Proof of Age Standards Scheme hologram (a PASS card)
- Biometric immigration document
- Ministry of Defence Form 90 (Defence Identity Card)
- National identity card issued by an EEA state
- Electoral identity card issued in Northern Ireland
- Anonymous Elector’s Document
The name on your ID should be the same you used to register to vote. You can also use an out-of-date accepted photo ID, so long as it looks like you. The other accepted ID is the ‘Voter Authority Certificate’, which people without or unsure if they have a recognised form of ID have until 5pm on April 24 to apply for. This is also the same deadline for a new application for a proxy vote.
The Voter Authority Certificate can be applied for online, here, and to apply for a postal or proxy vote online, view here. You can also apply by post for these by filling out a paper application form and sending to your local council’s electoral registration office.
What dates should I be aware of?
The deadline to register to vote is Tuesday, April 16. The last day for new applications to vote by post, or to change existing postal or proxy vote arrangements, is 5pm on April 17.
The deadline for a voter authority certificate, or a new application to vote by proxy, is 5pm on April 24. Candidates for council elections must be published by the local authority no later than 4pm on April 8. The PCC candidates will be published after April 5.
Why do local elections matter?
The purse strings of government do significantly shape what local authorities can do. But it is councillors who ultimately debate and decide how local services are run and can be improved, what to invest public cash into locally, and how much to increase council tax by. Most contentious planning applications are also decided by councillors.
Whether passionate about the state of a public park, or interested in the provision of local authority-maintained educational settings, a voter’s often best opportunity at the ballot box to influence these decisions is through local elections.
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Original artice: https://www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/all-about/scunthorpe