Gillian Merron, selected from Labourís all-women shortlist in 1997, won this seat back for the party for the first time since 1979.
Lincoln, an ancient town with parts of it surviving from Roman times, is recognised by its magnificent cathedral which dates back to 1070. The building has become a major tourist attraction - an important industry for a local economy once principally based on heavy industry. Such industry is now in marked decline. More than a quarter of homes are council-rented, and manual workers make up the majority of the economically active population. Working-class voters were attracted to Thatcherism here as in other parts of the country in the 1980s, but the seat has more recently seemed to have settled back to its traditional Labour roots.
Lincoln has a notable past. In 1973 the sitting Labour MP Dick Taverne, opposed to his partyís drift to the left, resigned and fought a successful by-election as an Independent Democratic Labour candidate. However, Mr Taverne could only hold on to the seat for one term. In the general election of 1974 he was beaten by Labourís Margaret Jackson - nowadays known as Margaret Beckett - who could also only hold Lincoln for a single term until 1979.