Lincolnshire mayor Andrea Jenkyns in the hot seat
The Greater Lincolnshire mayor Dame Andrea Jenkyns has been in the hot seat on BBC Radio Humberside.
The Reform UK representative was elected last month after recieving 42% of the vote.
Dame Andrea was taking questions from presenter Carla Greene, as well as those from listeners.
Here are the four big takeaways from what she had to say – and you can listen to the full interview on BBC Sounds.
Matthew Burke from Grimsby wants to see more job opportunities in North East Lincolnshire.
The 33-year-old said: "Look at what other cities are doing and just try and bring that to Grimsby."
Bringing investment to the local area is a key role of the Greater Lincolnshire mayor.
Dame Andrea announced she wanted to build a trade college in the area. She said: "We know right across the country we've got a shortage of plasterers, plumbers, builders.
"Lecturers make more money in the private sector than actually teaching so we need to look at that skills gap."
Dame Andrea was asked specifically what she would be doing to help people in Northern Lincolnshire.
She responded: "I don't have this silo approach".
The mayor was keen to stress that she would not be favouring one part of the region over another and said her role would help to bring a better balance.
She said: "The good thing about a mayor is that you've got an overview of the whole county so you can ensure fair funding across the area.
"You can't have one part missing out."
Corrina Pett is a mental health support worker in North Lincolnshire. She said she wanted to see more unemployed people trained to help fill the gaps in the care sector.
She said: "There shouldn't be a shortage with the amount of unemployed people here."
Dame Andrea said she wanted to change attitudes towards the sector.
"These are valuable roles and they're not to be looked down on.
"It's about working with the councils, colleges and care providers to ensure school leavers see this career as a viable option."
Bill, a BBC Radio Humberside listener, asked why the East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire area missed out on billions of pounds worth of investment for transport projects.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced on Wednesday funding for tram, train and bus schemes in mayoral authorities across the Midlands, the North and the West Country.
Dame Andrea Jenkyns said she wanted to come up with a fully costed transport plan for Greater Lincolnshire and promised to fight the business case for more transport investment for the region.
She said: "The Government has given money where they've got Labour mayors and this is why we need to clean up politics."
The mayor made transport one of the key pillars of her election campaign by pledging to create investment in major roads such as the A15, A52 and A17, along with "proper integration between buses, trains and cars".
HM Treasury for a comment.
Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.
Andrea Jenkyns sworn in as Lincolnshire mayor
Andrea Jenkyns: First Reform mayor has knack for bouncing back
Greater Lincolnshire Combined County Authority
BBC Radio Humberside
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
Our politicians are the least serious in history – and that includes you, Nigel
This week an appalling case reminded us just how broken Britain is. We learnt that a 15-year-old boy killed elderly dogwalker Bhim Kohli while a female friend, aged 12, filmed it on her mobile phone. Both were laughing as the beloved grandfather lay dying in the street. How on earth can it have come to this? The case is emblematic of everything that has gone wrong – and continues to go wrong – in our fragmented, seemingly lawless society. We are led by complete incompetents: from police administering two-tier justice right the way up to our Prime Minister. It is little wonder there is a university course running in France on why the UK is such a failure. And Mayor of London Sadiq Khan's answer to our capital's woes, despite knife and other crimes soaring? Decriminalising cannabis. We knew Labour were not fit for purpose before they even took office, but this latest example of idiocy from City Hall really does sum up the problem with having hapless, careerist socialists anywhere near the levers of power. And now Reform UK appears to have imploded. Having abandoned the Conservative Party after an inept 14 years of governance, which left us with higher bills, higher taxes, higher NHS waiting lists and higher immigration, voters had hoped that Nigel Farage and his motley crew might bring the salvation Britain so desperately needs. Reform was meant to represent the alternative to 'uniparty' politics by ripping up the political rule book and restoring good old fashioned common sense. What we have learnt in the past 24 hours, however, is that the one thing uniting all four major parties in the UK (and I'm including the ludicrous Liberal Democrats in this, with their clown of a leader Sir Ed Davey) is just how thoroughly unserious they all are. Westminster currently resembles a cross-party circus act; what has the electorate done to deserve this? Let's take them one by one. We currently cannot believe a word slippery Starmer says after a string of Labour lies on tax, winter fuel, defence spending, relations with the EU, the Chagos Islands, immigration – you name it. They promised 6,500 more teachers with their vindictive VAT raid on private school fees and this week it was revealed teacher numbers are actually down since they took office. Millionaires are leaving, businesses are folding, more tax rises are on the way. We've got an Attorney General who wants to defend terrorists like Osama bin Laden's right-hand man while the justice system imprisons mothers like Lucy Connolly for 'hurty words' on the internet. The Left accuses Reform of being amateurs – and then run the country as if it's a university student union staffed by drop-outs. Yet the Right-wing opposition appears equally as childish. This week, we have had the shadow chancellor Mel Stride denouncing Liz Truss's premiership with some weasel words about the Tories 'never again undermining fiscal credibility by making promises we cannot afford'. The former prime minister – once famously compared to a lettuce – hit back with an excoriating statement on the political playground that is X, accusing Sir Mel of being a 'creature of the system' by siding with 'failed Treasury orthodoxy'. In what world does this blue-on-blue infighting help Kemi Badenoch as she struggles to cut through? Equally infantile was the typically boyish intervention of her former leadership rival Sir James Cleverly with a demand that the Conservatives stick to net zero – despite it being among the main reasons the party is now facing its own climate emergency. He's been invisible for months and then emerges with this sort of unhelpful Ed Milibandesque claptrap? Read the room, for pity's sake. All credit to Robert Jenrick for trying to find some grown-up solutions to some of the country's problems – like fare dodging, notwithstanding the self-serving nature of his attention-grabbing social media endeavours. Badenoch is trying her best to be a serious politician, with thoughtful rather than knee-jerk interventions on issues like our membership of the ECHR – only to have MPs in her ranks like Kit Malthouse spreading anti-Israel slanders like his declaration this week that Gaza is 'an abattoir where starving people are lured out through combat zones to be shot at'. Along with other Tories, he's also been calling for the Prime Minister to recognise a Palestinian state. Harebrained student politics are clearly not just confined to the Labour Party. We had hoped Reform, led by streetwise Nigel Farage, a man of political wisdom and experience, might rise above all this. But even he has been dogged by infantilism. If Rupert Lowe's 'more people watch my X videos than Nigel's' bravado wasn't bad enough, Reform now has been badly damaged by the similarly petulant flouncing out of party chairman Zia Yusuf. I like Zia and think he deserves credit for all the hard work he has put into professionalising the party over the past 11 months. But what on earth was there to be gained from such a public tantrum? Just leave quietly, don't blow the whole thing up with spiteful talk of working to get the party elected 'no longer being a good use of my time'. Similarly juvenile was the language he used to describe Reform MP Sarah Pochin's Commons call to ban the burka (which provoked laughter from the front bench: that's the state of public discourse in this country, folks). Responding to Katie Hopkins, of all people, on X, he wrote: 'Nothing to do with me. Had no idea about the question nor that it wasn't policy. Busy with other stuff. I do think it's dumb for a party to ask the PM if they would do something the party itself wouldn't do.' At the age of 38 and having worked at Goldman Sachs and established his own hugely successful business, he should know this is not the way to behave in the public eye. Reform remains a party that cannot even govern itself, let alone the country. This simply isn't good enough. The Government is useless, the Tories are a busted flush; if Reform seriously wants to break the doom loom of despair then it cannot be part of the problem. The party must get its act together – and fast. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
Railway launches 36 new trains on commuter line
The first rollout of 36 new trains on a commuter line will make a "massive difference" to travellers, a rail operator has said. London Northwestern Railway said the first of its new Class 730/2 fleet will begin running from Monday on the West Cost Mainline, into Euston Station, London, stopping at Northampton, Bletchley, Milton Keynes, and Watford stations. The trains are part of £1bn of investment on the line, the company said. Ian McConnell, its managing director, said the new trains will add 15,000 extra seats every day and increase capacity by 20%. Mr McConnell said the trains would be "more reliable". "These trains are going to make a massive difference. There's going to be 15,000 (extra) seats every single day, that's 20% additional capacity. "They're going to have a much more comfortable, modern, state-of-the-art experience, much more space and much more chance of getting a seat and a much better experience all together." Phil Warner, the chair of the Bedford to Bletchley Rail Users Association, welcomed the increased capacity. "Train were shorter than they should be and could get over crowded, more seats and more space to sit down, means less standing and less crowding. "They'll carry more people which is what rail needs to do to take pressure off the road network." The new trains were built in the UK by Alstom, and feature air conditioning, power points at every seat and improved accessibility, the company added. More trains will come into service from 23 June as more drivers and conductors are trained. Other destinations on the line, including Hemel Hempstead, Leighton Buzzard, Berkhamsted and Kings Langley will have new trains from the end of the year or beginning of 2026. Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X and Northamptonshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X. 'We have to take risks to build major railway' 'I just wanted to know where people came from' Full rail service resumes after flood repairs London Northwestern Railway
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Yahoo
How popular is Reform UK at the moment - and who's voting for it?
A civil war has erupted in Reform UK. Zia Yusuf, its chairman, quit the party on Thursday, saying working to get it elected was no longer 'a good use of my time'. It followed a row in which he criticised a "dumb" question from new MP Sarah Pochin to Sir Keir Starmer in Parliament on Wednesday about a ban on burkas. Reform figures - including leader Nigel Farage - had backed Pochin. The infighting is an unwelcome setback for the party, which is riding high in polling among the public and achieved third place in Thursday's Scottish by-election, finishing within 1,500 votes of the winning Labour candidate. In the latest YouGov voting intention tracker, based on surveys from 1 and 2 June, Reform topped the polls on 28%. This compares to Labour on 22%, the Tories on 18% and Lib Dems on 16%. The tracker's more detailed results indicate Reform is most popular among over-50s with some 40% of Britons between 50 and 64 choosing the party in the latest survey. This compares to just 18% favouring Labour and the Tories. Meanwhile, 34% of over-65s are backing Farage's party, compared to 30% who are currently supporting the Tories. In terms of gender, Reform is also the most popular party among British males (31%) and females (25%). In England, it is also leading in the north (32%), Midlands (30%) and south (28%). In London, it is only the fourth most popular party (15%). The party's apparent increasing support translated into MPs during last year's general election, which saw it win five seats: Ashfield, Boston and Skegness, Clacton, Great Yarmouth (though its winning candidate Rupert Lowe is no longer a Reform MP) and South Basildon and East Thurrock. It came in second place in a further 98 constituencies. The party's electoral momentum continued at a local level last month. As well as winning the Runcorn and Helsby parliamentary by-election (which sent Sarah Pochin to the House of Commons), Reform won two mayoralties (Greater Lincolnshire and Hull and East Yorkshire) and control of 10 councils. In the Scottish Parliament by-election for Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse on Thursday, Reform came "from nowhere" to finish third - and within 1,500 of first. After not putting a candidate forward in 2021, Reform's Ross Lambie won 7,088 votes, compared to the SNP's 7,957 and Labour's 8,559. In 2021, Reform UK finished a lowly 13th, with just 58 votes. Deputy leader Richard Tice said: "We've come from nowhere to being in a three-way marginal, and we're within 750 votes of winning that by-election and just a few hundred votes of defeating the SNP, so it's an incredible result.' But if the popularity of Reform UK is gathering momentum, internally, the party has been hit by a series of high-profile internal problems. Formerly a Tory member, Yusuf came to prominence in June last year as a major Reform donor - giving £200,000 to the party - ahead of the general election A businessman who co-founded a luxury concierge service app called Velocity Black, which he reportedly sold for £233m in 2023, he was labelled a "star of the show" by Farage. And after Reform won its first Commons seats in the election, Yusuf was appointed chairman with a brief of "professionalising the party, building national infrastructure and continuing to grow membership". He was at the heart of another Reform "civil war" in March when the party stripped MP Rupert Lowe of the whip and reported him to the police, accusing him of making 'threats of physical violence' towards Yusuf. The Crown Prosecution Service said last month no criminal charges would be brought against Lowe, who then accused his ex-colleagues of a 'sinister' attempt to use the police to silence him. Yusuf also appeared to have an increasingly prominent role representing Reform in the media. After last month's local elections, it was him - not any of Reform's MPs - who spoke for the party on the BBC's flagship Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg politics programme. But just one month later, he was out following his clash with senior figures in the party. On Wednesday, Pochin asked Starmer during Prime Minister's Questions whether he would support a ban on burkas. A day later, Yusuf said on social media it had been 'dumb for a party to ask the PM if they would do something the party itself wouldn't do'. Shortly after that, he announced he was quitting as Reform's chairman, saying that working to get the party elected was no longer 'a good use of my time'. Party leader Farage said he had only 10 minutes' notice Yusuf was going to resign, adding he was 'genuinely sorry' he was departing. Reform has set out a number of policies in recent months. The party has said it would reinstate the winter fuel allowance and scrap the two-child benefit cap in what is a clear attempt to target Labour supporters angry at the party's welfare cuts. More controversially, Reform has vowed to make "big savings" by scrapping the UK's net zero, asylum hotel and DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) policies. Farage has also said it would lift the income tax threshold to £20,000: something the Institute for Fiscal Studies questioned, saying it would cost up to £80bn. Starmer seized on this, saying Farage's "fantasy" economics would lead to a Liz Truss-style economic meltdown. Quite how this translates into how the public continues to view the party remains to be seen. But with the next general election still four years away, there are plenty more twists and turns to come for Farage & Co. The policies Reform UK and Nigel Farage have announced this year (Yahoo News UK) The tightrope Farage is walking on race – and why he can only lose (The Telegraph) Reform-led councils in 'paralysis' as dozens of meetings cancelled in first weeks (The Independent)
