Labour’s onward march tripped up as Conservatives take control

In one of the shock results of the night, the Conservatives gained five seats, three from Labour and two from the Independents, who were wiped out in the borough.

It was a closely fought contest – with just a single vote securing a seat for the Tories in the Burton upon Stather and Winterton ward.

Conservative candidate Helen Rowson polled 1,860 votes to the 1,859 for Labour’s Matthew Buckley, one of three Tory gains in the ward.

The battle had become increasingly acrimonious in the run-up to the election, with Labour leader Mark Kirk reporting the Tories to police after claiming some of their election leaflets were “misleading and untrue”, which the Conservatives denied and in turn accused Labour of “dirty tricks”.

Victorious Tory group leader Liz Redfern said: “We didn’t think it was a surprise. We were elected on a strong mandate and on the doorstep that’s what they wanted from North Lincolnshire; policies that are fair and equitable.

“It’s going to be a challenge and we are up for the challenge. We now have to look carefully at the money and we won’t know more until we look at the books. Residents felt that Labour had run out of ideas and I think their confidence had gone.”

She added: “I’m tired but ecstatic and very proud of the whole team.”

Labour group secretary Steve Swift said: “I don’t think anything went particularly wrong. North Lincolnshire is set up in such a way that it’s always going to be close between the two major parties.

“One of our candidates failed to get in by one vote, which is a shame and replicated 2007 when the same thing happened in that ward. It’s a bit deja vu but the voters have delivered their verdict.”