Reform’s Andrea Jenkins is first Mayor of Greater Lincolnshire

The Party’s Deputy Leader and MP for Boston and Skegness Richard Tice predicted the win around 2.30am – and it was confirmed just before 7am with 104,133 votes (42%) going to Ms Jenkyns.

Boston was first of nine districts to declare with 53.97% chosing Ms Jenkyns

Local Conservative Rob Waltham came second with 64, 585 votes.

Labour’s Jason Stockwood was third with 30,384 votes

Lincolnshire Independents’ Marianne Jane Overton - 19,911 votes

Green Party’s Sally Horscroft – 15,040 votes

Liberal Democrats Trevor Young – 13,728

Mr Tice described early results as a "seismic shift" in British politics. "We have been parking our tanks on a former Tory lawn,” he said.

Following the declaration. Ms Jenkins said she was humbled to become Greater Lincolnshire’s first Mayor.

She said her party would deliver “once in a lifetime change” and she would be working very closely with Mr Tice and that they had a plan together for Lincolnshire, which included protecting the county’s food security.

"I want to ensure Lincolnshire is the best place to bring up your children, to retire and to live, that people with special educational needs get that start in life and that people can move around the county,” she said.

"We have a brain drain in Lincolnshire and we want to train our young people and there be jobs for them.”

The campaign for Mayor has not been without drama for Ms Jenkins, with a complaint being lodged claiming she was not entitled to be on the electoral roll in Lincolnshire, and therefore couldn’t stand for mayor.

The complaint, however, was dismissed following a private hearing at North Kesteven District Council, the authority where Ms Jenkyns is registered.

Her family moved to Lincolnshire when she was seven years old, and she lists New Holland, East Halton and Healing as some of the places she lived.

After leaving school, she went straight into work at Greggs bakery. She worked her way up through retail over the next 15 years to become a senior manager.

Her passion for music led her to become an amateur soprano singer. She has even co-written and released her own classical album, Andrea.

She once performed for the former Prime Minister of Pakistan, and also tutored music part-time in secondary schools.

In her thirties, she retrained and completed degrees in International Relations at the University of Lincoln and economics from the Open University.

Her political career began in 2009 when she was elected to Lincolnshire County Council as a Conservative, representing Boston North West.

She narrowly beat the BNP (British National Party), but lost the seat in the next election to Reform’s predecessor Ukip.

Shortly after, she was selected as the Tory candidate to take on Labour’s Ed Balls in the West Yorkshire seat of Morley and Outwood.

The race was seen as a long-shot for the Conservatives, but Ms Jenkyns managed to pull off an upset, defeating the Shadow Chancellor by less than one per cent.

Her early time in Parliament was dominated by the issue of Brexit, with Ms Jenkyns a strong Leave supporter.

After the EU referendum, this put her at odds with her party leadership. She submitted a letter calling for Prime Minister Theresa May to resign over difficulty in getting the deal done.

In 2017, she married fellow Conservative MP Jack Lopresti. Their son Clifford was born on the day that Article 50 to leave the EU was triggered, earning him the nickname ‘Brexit Clifford’.

Ms Jenkyns became an ally of new PM Boris Johnson and briefly served as the Secretary of State for Skills and Education.

On the day of his resignation speech, she caused controversy by giving the middle finger to protestors, before later saying she was “only human”.

Johnson appointed her a Dame in his resignation honours.

She has frequently spoken out against abuse aimed at politicians, saying she had received “a huge amount” including several death threats.

She has also been open about suffering with fibromyalgia, a condition which causes pain and fatigue across the body, and her son’s special needs.

In 2023, Ms Jenkyns again submitted a letter of no confidence against Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, but this was unsuccessful.

She lost her seat to Labour in the 2024 General Election, with her share of the vote tumbling from 56 to 23 per cent, and only just beating Reform.

She was pictured at the party’s conference that summer, where she said she was trying to help the Conservatives learn from their success.

However, in November 2024 Nigel Farage announced that she had defected to Reform and would stand as the party’s Mayoral candidate in Lincolnshire.

She accused the Conservative county council of wasteful spending and promised to set up a ‘DOGE’ (Department of Government Efficiency) similar to Elon Musk’s in the US.

She has promised to prioritise housing and jobs for local people, and invest in the county’s infrastructure.

Some of the mayoral election campaign was dominated by arguments over whether Ms Jenkyns could stand for mayor as a Yorkshire resident.

She described the attacks as “disingenuous”, saying she rented a home in North Kesteven and wouldn’t move her son full-time until after the campaign.

After a complaint by another candidate, a hearing found that she was legitimately on the Electoral Roll, meaning there was no barrier to her being mayor.

She has appeared with party leader Nigel Farage several times on the campaign trail.

And the result by each council area is below:

Boston Borough Council area:

Sally Horscroft – Green Party, 774

Dame Andrea Jenkyns – Reform UK, 7,285

Marianne Overton – Lincolnshire Independents, 1,193

Jason Stockwood – Labour Party, 897

Rob Waltham – Conservative Party, 2,695

Trevor Young – Liberal Democrats, 513

Rejected ballots 142. Turnout: 27.1 per cent.

City of Lincoln Council:

Sally Horscroft – Green Party, 2,016

Dame Andrea Jenkyns – Reform UK, 6,378

Marianne Overton – Lincolnshire Independents, 1,230

Jason Stockwood – Labour Party, 4,485

Rob Waltham – Conservative Party, 3,086

Trevor Young – Liberal Democrats, 1,996

Rejected ballots 193. Turnout: 30.06 per cent.

East Lindsey District Council:

Sally Horscroft – Green Party, 2,143

Dame Andrea Jenkyns – Reform UK, 19,875

Marianne Overton – Lincolnshire Independents, 2,540

Jason Stockwood – Labour Party, 3,299

Rob Waltham – Conservative Party, 9,397

Trevor Young – Liberal Democrats, 1,601

Rejected ballots 359. Turnout: 35.42 per cent.

North East Lincolnshire Council:

Sally Horscroft – Green Party, 1,225

Dame Andrea Jenkyns – Reform UK, 12,523

Marianne Overton – Lincolnshire Independents, 980

Jason Stockwood – Labour Party, 6,419

Rob Waltham – Conservative Party, 6,239

Trevor Young – Liberal Democrats, 1,022

Rejected ballots 84. Turnout: 23.98 per cent.

North Kesteven District Council:

Sally Horscroft – Green Party, 1,854

Dame Andrea Jenkyns – Reform UK, 11,919

Marianne Overton – Lincolnshire Independents, 5,233

Jason Stockwood – Labour Party, 2,939

Rob Waltham – Conservative Party, 7,215

Trevor Young – Liberal Democrats, 1,385

Rejected ballots 220. Turnout: 32.67 per cent

North Lincolnshire Council:

Sally Horscroft – Green Party, 1,604

Dame Andrea Jenkyns – Reform UK, 12,993

Marianne Overton – Lincolnshire Independents, 977

Jason Stockwood – Labour Party, 4,825

Rob Waltham – Conservative Party, 14,003

Trevor Young – Liberal Democrats, 1,021

Rejected ballots 77. Turnout: 27.29 per cent.

South Holland District Council:

Sally Horscroft – Green Party, 1,230

Dame Andrea Jenkyns – Reform UK, 10,454

Marianne Overton – Lincolnshire Independents, 1,545

Jason Stockwood – Labour Party, 1,329

Rob Waltham – Conservative Party, 6,260

Trevor Young – Liberal Democrats, 808

Rejected ballots 317. Turnout: 29.71 per cent.

South Kesteven District Council:

Sally Horscroft – Green Party, 2,591

Dame Andrea Jenkyns – Reform UK, 12,446

Marianne Overton – Lincolnshire Independents, 4,664

Jason Stockwood – Labour Party, 3,289

Rob Waltham – Conservative Party, 9,452

Trevor Young – Liberal Democrats, 1,936

Rejected ballots 367. Turnout: 31.53 per cent.

West Lindsey District Council:

Sally Horscroft – Green Party, 1,603

Dame Andrea Jenkyns – Reform UK, 10,260

Marianne Overton – Lincolnshire Independents, 1,549

Jason Stockwood – Labour Party, 2,902

Rob Waltham – Conservative Party, 6,238

Trevor Young – Liberal Democrats, 3,446

Rejected ballots 252. Turnout: 34.36 per cent.