Former Tory minister Jenkyns joins Reform UK
The Independent|November 29, 2024
A former Conservative minister has defected to join the Reform UK party led by Nigel Farage. In a blow to the new Tory leader Kemi Badenoch, Dame Andrea Jenkyns said she was “joining the party of the brave”.
KATE DEVLIN
Former Tory minister Jenkyns joins Reform UK

The former education minister will run as the party’s candidate for mayor of Lincolnshire. She hit the headlines in 2022 when she appeared to raise her middle finger at Downing Street protesters. A Boris Johnson loyalist, she later claimed she was provoked by a “baying mob”.

In a statement, she said she should have shown “more composure” but declined to apologise, saying the incident came after she received multiple death threats. Reform insiders claimed she was symbolic of a wider move of Tories to the party that includes councillors and former staff from Conservative Party headquarters.

Ms Jenkyns is a hardline Brexiteer who was the first to resign from Theresa May’s government over the issue. She later became one of the “Spartans” group of Tory MPs who held out until the end against Ms May’s plans for the deal with the European Union.

This story is from the November 29, 2024 edition of The Independent.

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This story is from the November 29, 2024 edition of The Independent.

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