Elections to Kesteven County Council were held on Saturday, 2 March 1946. Kesteven was one of three divisions of the historic county of Lincolnshire in England; it consisted of the ancient wapentakes (or hundreds) of Aswardhurn, Aveland, Beltisloe, Boothby Graffoe, Flaxwell, Langoe, Loveden, Ness, and Winnibriggs and Threo.^[1] The Local Government Act 1888 established Kesteven as an administrative county, governed by a Council;^[2] elections were held every three years from 1889, until it was abolished by the Local Government Act 1972, which established Lincolnshire County Council in its place.^[3][4]

For the 1946 election, the county was divided into sixty wards, ten of which accounted for the town of Grantham, five for Stamford, three for Sleaford and two for Bourne.^[5] Only twenty-six were contested and most of these were in the towns: every seat in Stamford and Bourne and all but one in Grantham and Sleaford. The results were extremely close in two wards: in Sleaford no. 3 there was a tie, forcing the returning officer to cast his ballot; and in Corby, the difference between the two candidates was one vote.^[6] In summarising the result, the Lincolnshire Echo stated that "politics play little part in Kesteven County Council affairs";^[6] this was true at least insofar that Labour was the only political party to contest any of the wards. Having won five seats, the remainder went to independent candidates.