A thunderous, thumping, reformational coup de foudre has just erupted in Greater Lincolnshire, and it has a name: Dame Andrea Jenkyns.
My dear friend, the lioness of the North, soprano of sovereignty, scourge of stale consensus, has pulled off something extraordinary. She has become Reform UK’s very first regional mayor, leaving her nearest rival coughing in the dust, more than 40,000 votes behind.
But this is not just a win. It is a moment. A movement. A message in capital letters to every Brit who has ever felt overlooked, overruled, and patronised by a detached political class. It is a new dawn, a reawakening, a defiant, full-blooded reassertion of that indomitable British fighting spirit… the kind that built empires, broke tyranny, and brews its tea strong.
And at the heart of it all stands Andrea, a woman who, during this campaign alone, has endured smears, threats, lies, even a break-in at her home. And yet, never once did she flinch. She smiled. She stood tall. She kept buggering on. Churchill would be proud.
Let’s pause and appreciate this: here is a former Greggs girl and beauty queen, a woman who once sold sausage rolls and now commands a £24 million budget, directing skills, transport, and economic growth for a historic English region. It’s not just a personal triumph, it’s a seismic statement about this country: that grit, talent, and integrity still matter.
She may drink pints of Yorkshire grit for breakfast but Andrea Jenkyns has got the singing voice of a superstar diva, the mind of a master tactician, and the sheer guts of a political streetfighter. And unlike so many who clamber up the greasy pole only to forget where they came from, Andrea never lost touch. She is the people. She sings for them. She fights for them. She wins for them.
Now, I may be relatively fresh to the British political jungle after 15 years Stateside, but Andrea? She caught my attention the very moment I saw her stood outside Westminster, middle finger in the air, defiant in defence of Boris, radiating the raw, righteous fury of a patriot betrayed. I thought: Yes. She gets it. She understands the stakes. I like this woman.
When I set up the then Conservative Democratic Organisation (CDO) with Lord Cruddas, Andrea was one of the first people I called. She didn’t hesitate. She said yes, instantly. Not only did she show up, but she gave a rousing speech, helped bring MPs onboard, advised behind the scenes and, God bless her, even sang the national anthem to open the event. No ego. No drama. Just boundless, unfiltered love of country.
Since then, we’ve built a truly wonderful friendship. We’ve laughed over swanky dinners at the Carlton and toasted victories with the best of British conservatism. We’ve cried through heartbreaks, talked late into the night, planned, plotted, and dreamed big. Together, we ran the Leave the ECHR campaign. She’s also been instrumental behind the scenes supporting this very publication and my new venture with Ben Habib, the Great British PAC.
When she lost her seat last year, thanks to that cursed Reform-Tory split at the General Election, I called her from the count to warn her before she arrived. Many would have turned the car around and gone home. Not Andrea. She arrived like a champ, took it on the chin like a prizefighter, gave a brave speech and then, almost immediately, began planning her comeback.
And what a comeback. Greater Lincolnshire – the crucible of her political journey. Where she first ran in 2009. Where she took on the BNP. Lost. Won again. Lost again to UKIP. Then stunned the nation by toppling Ed Balls in 2015. The first to call for Theresa May’s resignation. A fearless opponent of Rishi’s Windsor fudge. She doesn’t bend. She neverbreaks. Andrea doesn’t just bounce back… she rockets back.
And this time, the establishment wrote her off again. Big mistake. Huge. Because here she stands not just as mayor, but as a beacon. A lodestar. A shining reminder of what politics on the right can be: passionate, principled, patriotic. While the Champagne socialists sip their lukewarm Prosecco and preach to their echo chambers, Andrea Jenkyns is out there getting it done.
She’s not just a political force, she’s a wonderful mum to Clifford, a Dame with the soul of a rebel, a lioness with the voice of Verdi. She is, in all sincerity, one of the most loyal, decent, authentically brave human beings I’ve had the honour to call a friend.
However, as she said in her speech, this victory isn’t hers alone. It belongs to the people of Lincolnshire… and to Britain. To every lad and lass who has been lied about, sneered at, written off. It is their moment of vindication. A cry of defiance. A song of hope. A bloody great rocket launch of optimism aimed squarely at the Blob and stale elites in Westminster. Andrea is coming for you.
Reform is rising and Dame Andrea is leading the charge. And if this is what the new dawn looks like, then I, for one, am grabbing my sunglasses.
Well done, Andrea. I’m so incredibly proud of you. Your wonderful mum and dad will be up there today looking down, beaming ear to ear, and saying: “That’s our girl.”
By Claire Bullivant
Post Editor-in-Chief and CEO of the Great British PAC
