Greater Lincolnshire mayoral election 2025: Meet Reform UK candidate Andrea Jenkyns

Residents from Scunthorpe to Spalding and Grimsby to Grantham will choose the area’s first-ever mayor when polls open on May 1.

The winner will lead the newly established Greater Lincolnshire Combined County Authority, which controls a £24 million annual investment fund and holds powers over economic development, skills, transport, and planning.

Four candidates have so far announced their candidacy, representing the Conservative Party, Labour Party, Reform UK, and Lincolnshire Independents. The Green Party is currently fundraising the £5,000 deposit, which can be refunded if they secure more than 5% of the vote.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service met Ms Jenkyns for coffee after attending her rally in Lincoln’s Cornhill Quarter against the influx of solar developments on Lincolnshire farmland.

Previously serving as the Conservative MP for Morley and Outwood in West Yorkshire, she left the party after losing her seat in the 2024 General Election. Her constituency was changed to Leeds South West and Morley due to boundary changes, and she was defeated by Labour’s Mark Sewards.

Ms Jenkyns also served as a Lincolnshire County Councillor until 2013.

“I was sick of the Conservatives. I don’t feel they have been Conservative for quite a while,” she said.

“Reform asked me to go over before the election, but I am quite loyal. I thought I stood as a Conservative, got elected as a Conservative MP, and it was only right to go down with that. I knew I would lose my seat.

“I could have done the political thing, joined Reform, and kept my seat, but it was about being fair and right for me.”

Although she initially considered stepping away from frontline politics, she quickly realised she struggled to stay out and has embraced her role as a “disruptor”, aiming to challenge the Labour government and provide an alternative to the Conservatives, who control six of Greater Lincolnshire’s 11 parliamentary constituencies and all three upper-tier councils.

“Why am I standing? I think we need a disruptor. There are too many yes people in politics, in all parties, and I’ve never been a yes person.

“I warned people about what a Labour government would bring, and I think it’s far worse than anyone imagined.

“We need someone to break up this cosy consensus at a local level with the Conservatives and actually fight back against central government. It’s abhorrent what they are doing to farmers, pensioners, and businesses. That’s why I’m doing it.

“When they cut the winter fuel allowance for pensioners, I organised a small rally and petition immediately after. That made me realise—I don’t think I can stay away.

“I guess I’m a bit of a fighter. It’s about standing up for what I believe in and what’s right.”

If elected as Greater Lincolnshire’s first-ever mayor, Andrea has promised to introduce a Lincolnshire Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to ensure transparency and better use of resources.

“When I hear that North Lincolnshire Council is spending £800,000 of taxpayers’ money on air fryers—it’s crazy,” she said.

“When I hear Lincolnshire County Council spent £54,000 on a video from the makers of Wallace and Gromit, when we could have had the great university produce a video on flooding themselves, it’s maddening.

“I hate wastage of taxpayers’ money. They work hard, and we’ve got to respect that.”

Acknowledging the transport struggles across the county, the former county councillor also pledged to introduce Transport for Greater Lincolnshire, similar to Transport for London, in a bid to boost connections. She also intends to have discussions with other mayors from surrounding regions about cross-boundary cooperation.

Between September and October 2022, Andrea also worked as the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Skills) at the Department for Education. She hopes to use that experience, along with her “pro-business” approach, to establish a new skills board run by businesses. The focus would be on supporting the agricultural sector as well as the defence industry, while also investing in engineering and manufacturing careers.

Furthermore, she hopes to use the relationship between US President Donald Trump and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage to take delegations of businesses to the United States to seek inward investment.

“During Trump’s last administration, I got on very well with Woody [Johnson], who was the Ambassador, so I’ve still got those connections in the embassy, and I want to utilise them.

“It’s about global Britain and bringing it to Lincolnshire.”

When asked what made her a better candidate than her rivals, Andrea concluded: “Whereby the Conservative candidate has never really spoken out against the party, I told Theresa May to resign in Prime Minister’s Questions and got booed by our fellow Conservative MPs. I was fighting for Brexit because that was a democratic mandate.

“If you want somebody who is going to be disruptor, who gets things done, and who is not afraid to make difficult decision but will definitely put you first, then I’m the person.”

The Local Democracy Reporting Service will be putting together a series of profile pieces on candidates ahead of the mayoral election.