LINCOLNSHIRE WILL BE THE ‘BLUEPRINT’ FOR HOW REFORM UK WILL GOVERN THE COUNTRY, SAYS DAME ANDREA JENKYNS

REFORM UK mayor Dame Andrea Jenkyns has said that Lincolnshire will be a “blueprint” for the way the party runs the country if it wins power at the next general election.

She told GB News: “I’m going to be forming a Transport for Lincolnshire, just like we have a Transport for London, but there’d be no diversity officers on my Transport for Lincolnshire.

“It’d be key strategic decision-makers to finally fix the infrastructure problems across Lincolnshire, a big thing for me. I know that people are struggling. We’ve got some of the highest energy costs in the world. I want to look at the balance sheet.

“I want to look at the tendering process, I want to look at the local government contracts to ensure that every penny of taxpayers’ money across Lincolnshire is well spent so that I can keep council tax low for them and deliver for them…

“It’s so professional, right down to the training that our council candidates have had. We’ve got brief impacts ready too and support to help our newly elected councillors along the way. We’re doing things properly, and the whole outfit is professional.

“Of course, we are working on policies. We’ve seen our net zero policy released. We’ve seen our illegal migration policy, but I say, look, we’re four years away from election. Quite often, political parties are not working on stuff like this, this far out from election, but we are.

“I’ve been at the table with Zia and Nigel for months since I came across to Reform. We’re planning, we’ve got measures in place, and we’re not going to fail on this. This is a pivotal moment for Reform, because, as you said, we’re going to get power.

“To me, it’s about leading with a sort of common sense to demonstrate that we have a blueprint here in Lincolnshire, which we then can take forward in government.

“And there’s these pivotal moments. We’ve got the Welsh elections next year. We’ve got the Scottish elections leading up to a general election. And so I see these as not pitfalls, as opportunities to build on this momentum of what we’ve already got so far.”

On the campaign, she said: “It’s been soul-destroying, this campaign. As I said in my speech, I fought four general elections, three local elections, and it’s been horrible. It’s been personal.

“The Conservatives have called the police on me. We’ve had them saying I’m sleeping with political allies. We’ve had the independent candidate, who’s even her husband, [who] complained to the council, and there’s a hearing and our barrier had to get involved. It’s been completely dirty.

“This has probably demonstrated this result, really, that people are switched off by dirty tactics, and it’s about restoring that trust. You know, dirty politics does not work, or it only works short term, and we’ve got to listen to the people and deliver for them, and this is why they’ve got a vote.

“I got kicked out as a conservative MP, I trust in the electorate, and I will not let the people of Lincolnshire down.”

She added: “I’m blown away by the professionalism of Reform, how they’re planning. And you’ll see more policies released over the coming months, the coming years, and we will deliver. We are well aware of the major issues.

“As you know, I was in government. I was there in the whips’ office trying to defend Boris when key people in his party were bringing him down. I know how tough politics is, and it’s probably been a good grounding for me to get through this campaign. And so I know how tough it can be.

“Reform will continue to be attacked, but I think the narrative will start changing when, especially with mainstream media as well, when they see that we start delivering.”

On co-operation between the Conservatives and Reform, she said: “I was trying to, at the time before the general election, unite both parties to stop a Labour super majority. However, having been on the inside of Reform, we don’t need that.”

“What I think is amazing about Reform is, as you said, the ability to pull from Labour and Conservative, but what I think is actually uniting people from those two parties to come to Reform is…belief in our country.

“It’s [about] fairness in society. It’s not wanting to be back of the queue. It’s about strong policing, strong defence, and a sense of what is right. And these key things, key threads, are what unites working class Labour and traditional Tories.

“Thatcher did this, didn’t she? She pulled off Labour in 79 and I believe with quite similar type of grounding, and I do genuinely believe that, having seen how we can pull from both parties, that Nigel will become Prime Minister at the next election.”