Dame Andrea Jenkyns has become Reform UK’s first regional mayor after a resounding victory in the new Greater Lincolnshire authority.
The 50-year-old, who joined the party from the Conservatives in November, won 42.0% of the vote, comfortably clear of the Tories in second place on 26.1% with a majority of almost 40,000.
In a speech following her victory, she said there would be “an end to soft touch Britain” while on immigration she would “say no to putting people in hotels”, instead suggesting tents were “good enough”.
Dame Andrea served as Tory MP for Morley and Outwood in West Yorkshire from 2015 until last year’s general election, when the constituency was abolished.
She defeated then-shadow chancellor Ed Balls to claim the seat by a slender majority of 422.
Last July, she was beaten to the new Leeds South West and Morley constituency by Labour’s Mark Sewards, picking up 23% of the vote, and caused a stir after her election campaign leaflet included an image of her and Nigel Farage at his 60th birthday party.
A staunch supporter of Brexit and Boris Johnson, she submitted no-confidence letters in both former prime ministers Theresa May and Rishi Sunak.
Dame Andrea was appointed assistant whip under the Johnson administration in September 2021 before becoming a Department for Education minister in July 2022.
There was considerable reaction from teachers’ leaders shortly after when Ms Jenkyns made an “obscene gesture” to the public outside Downing Street, as she went to watch Mr Johnson’s resignation speech.
In response, she said that a “baying mob outside the gates were insulting MPs on their way in as is sadly too common”.
She was reappointed in the role by Liz Truss that September, who she endorsed in the party leadership election, but remained part of the cabinet for only 49 days and left after Rishi Sunak became the new prime minister.
Ms Jenkyns was given a damehood in Mr Johnson’s resignation honours list in June 2023.
At a press conference in November last year, Dame Andrea announced her defection to Reform UK and said she had become the 100,000th member of the party.
Following the announcement, she said that she and Mr Farage were “politically aligned” and that the Conservative Party had “become tired”.
Speaking after her mayoral victory on Friday, Ms Jenkyns said: “To the people of Lincolnshire, thank you for putting your trust in me. I will work tirelessly for you every day.”
She continued: “To Nigel (Farage), to Richard (Tice) and to Zia (Yusuf), I thank you for your friendship, for your support and getting me through these last few difficult weeks. I’m immensely proud to be part of the Reform family, so thank you for welcoming me.
“I’ve fought many elections – four general elections, my third local election – but… I’ve never experienced such negativity and soul-destroying campaigns against me like this one.
“The dirty tricks in the US politics I believe has now been imported here into Britain.”
Ms Jenkyns also claimed the campaign “was also filled with irony as one of the candidates stated I was parachuted in, she said in her South African accent”.
UK’s new ‘StormShroud’ drones come into operation
Local elections live: Reform snatch Runcorn from Labour while Tories’ vote collapses
Reform ‘now main opposition party’, says Farage
Labour has ‘largely lost’ its gains in Scotland, says polling expert
Schoolgirl found in River Thames ‘likely to have died from effect of cold water’
NHS could offer weight-loss jabs at pharmacies ‘for £9.90 prescription price’
