Reform UK candidate Dame Andrea Jenkyns makes a speech after winning the election for Greater Lincolnshire Mayor, (Alamy)
3 min read
Reform UK’s Andrea Jenkyns has won the newly established Greater Lincolnshire mayoralty with more than 40 per cent of the vote.
Reform won 104,133 votes with a majority of almost 50,000 votes. The Conservatives came second with 64,585 votes, while Labour on 33,384. Lincolnshire Independents came after with 19,911, Green with 15,040 and 6.2 per cent, and Liberal Democrats 13,728.
Jenkyns, a former Tory MP, who defected to Reform in November 2024, thanked the electorate for putting their trust in her and promised to work “tirelessly”. The new mayor of Lincolnshire added she had “never experienced” such a negative and soul-destroying campaign against her from opposition parties.
“It was soul-destroying. The dirty tricks in the US politics, I believe, is now being imported here into Britain,” she said.
“The Conservatives called the police on me and implied I slept with political friends. They contacted the mainstream media to smear me. The independent’s husband pushed for a hearing at the council. My barrister had to represent me, the case was dismissed.
“The campaign was also filled with irony, as one of the candidates stated I was parachuted in, she said, in her South African accent.”
Jenkyns thanked Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, deputy leader Richard Tice and the party’s chairman Zia Yusuf for her election victory.
“[Farage] has fought for decades, and he still fights for you here today, and I know one day He will make a magnificent Prime Minister.”
The new mayor added there was a “new dawn” in British politics and Reform’s success in the local elections marked the beginning of the end of “soft touch Britain”.
“The fight back to save the heart and soul of our great country has now begun. Now that Reform is in a place of power, we can help start rebuilding Britain inch by inch.”
A Reform source told PoliticsHome: “It’s clear from Runcorn and Lincolnshire that Reform are now the real opposition to Labour. Only Reform can beat Labour.”
Historically, the area has had a strong Conservative presence, with the party leading the local councils.
The new role will see the new regional mayor oversee a variety of areas in the region, including transport, skills, employment, and infrastructure.
Like the by-election in Runcorn and Helsby, the Lincolnshire mayoral race had been a focus area for Reform – with former Tory MP Andrea Jenkyns the party’s candidate.
In January, Reform’s deputy leader, the MP for Lincolnshire’s Boston and Skegness Richard Tice told PoliticsHome a win for Reform in the mayoral race would be a “seismic moment”.
Labour have held mayoralities in Doncaster, North Tyneside and the West of England by much-reduced margins. Reform came second in all three mayoral elections.
In Doncaster, Labour’s Ros Jones won 23,805 with 32.6 per cent of the vote while Reform UK won 23,107 with 31.7 per cent on a turnout of 32.1 per cent.
