The ex-Conservative minister Andrea Jenkyns, who was given a Damehood by Boris Johnson, will run to be Reform UK’s candidate for the newly-created mayor of Lincolnshire
Andrea Jenkyns: Former Tory MP joins Reform UK
Boris Johnson’s pal and former Tory MP Dame Andrea Jenkyns has joined Nigel Farage’s Reform UK – despite insisting she wasn’t going to defect to the party in an unearthed clip.
The ex-Conservative minister, who was given a Damehood by Mr Johnson, will run to be Reform UK’s candidate for the newly-created mayor of Lincolnshire in May next year. Speaking at a Reform UK press conference on Thursday, she said she “always respected” Mr Farage and noted her work with Reform UK MP Richard Tice during Brexit. It is despite her posted a clip on social media just two months ago on her way to Reform UK’s conference insisting she wasn’t going to defect to the party.
Dame Andrea, who lost her seat as an MP in July, sparked anger during the election this summer when her campaign leaflets featured two pictures of her grinning alongside Mr Farage and zero images of her with Rishi Sunak. Asked how long she had been thinking about defecting, given her Tory campaign leaflets, she said: “I always like to push the boundaries and be a bit cheeky.”
She added that she is “politically aligned” with Reform UK. “How long have I been thinking about it? Well, I mean, I was tempted before the general election, but I am a loyal person to a party… I believed, as I said, in going down with that ship fighting. I was elected as a Conservative, and I got knocked out as a Conservative, but I feel, unfortunately, the party has become tired.”
In September Dame Andrea posted a video on Twitter/X insisting she wasn’t going to join Reform UK. Speaking outside the party’s conference, she said: “I’m a former Tory MP and I’m not defecting… I’m actually keen to find out what it’s all about. Is this the true home of Conservatism and why have we lost so many members to the Reform party?”
About a week later she gushed about how “amazing” the energy was at Reform UK’s conference – while she was herself sitting on a panel at the Tory party conference. The former Tory said she snuck into Reform UK’s event after getting “hold of a press pass” and apparently entering under the guise of a journalist.
The Tory figure was a close ally of Mr Johnson and in summer 2022 she was captured sticking her middle finger up at ‘Bye Boris’ crowds outside Downing Street sparking fury. Dame Andrea, who was the MP for Morley and Outwood, also served as a minister under Liz Truss.
After her defection to Reform UK, Labour staffer Jennifer-Anne Scott posted on social media: “A minister in Liz Truss’ disastrous government who gave the middle finger to the public. Lincolnshire deserves much better than this…”
