Latest news with #MissUK
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
BBC under fire over ‘snide' description of new Reform mayor Andrea Jenkyns
The BBC has come under fire for a 'snide' tweet about a newly elected Reform UK mayor. The organisation's BBC Politics account referred to Reform's Dame Andrea Jenkyns, the new mayor of Greater Lincolnshire, as 'the former Greggs worker and Miss UK finalist' in a tweet about her 'return to politics'. James Cleverly, the former foreign secretary, called the message 'contemptible'. In a scathing criticism of the broadcaster's tweet, he wrote: 'She's a former MP and minister. There are genuine questions about how she'll deliver on Reform's vague promises, or deal with Farage's ego now she has elected power and he doesn't, etc. 'But this is just snide. @BBCPolitics should delete and apologise.' The tweet, which was published on Friday morning and had more than 775,000 views by 4pm, received backlash from other X users, including one who labelled it 'bitter' and another who said it was 'misogynistic'. Another responded: 'More pompous, supercilious reporting from @BBC. Pure intellectual snobbery from an increasingly self-important organisation.' Helen Joyce, the author and gender-critical activist, highlighted the BBC's own impartiality rules. She said: 'Whoever wrote this tweet and signed it off should be put through disciplinary. They can keep their political opinions to themselves while they're at work at the state broadcaster, which has a duty not to be partisan.' Dame Andrea, a former minister, was a Tory MP from 2015 until last year, when she finished second to Labour in the seat of Leeds South West and Morley in the general election. She then joined Reform in November. Last year, Dame Andrea said that leaving the Conservative Party was 'not an easy decision,' but added: 'The ship is sinking and perhaps, sadly, beyond salvage but enough is enough. 'It is time to step aboard a movement with vision and purpose and the courage to fight for Britain's future.' In her victory speech on Friday, after beating her nearest rival by almost 40,000 votes, Dame Andrea declared that it was a 'new dawn in British politics' and vowed Reform would 'reset Britain to its glorious past'. In the BBC article about her win, she was described as the 'former Greggs worker and Miss UK finalist' who had 'a remarkable political comeback'. The broadcaster has been contacted by The Telegraph for comment. 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.
Telegraph
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
BBC under fire over ‘snide' description of new Reform mayor Andrea Jenkyns
The BBC has come under fire for a 'snide' tweet about a newly elected Reform UK mayor. The organisation's BBC Politics account referred to Reform's Dame Andrea Jenkyns, the new mayor of Greater Lincolnshire, as 'the former Greggs worker and Miss UK finalist' in a tweet about her 'return to politics'. James Cleverly, the former foreign secretary, called the message 'contemptible'. In a scathing criticism of the broadcaster's tweet, he wrote: 'She's a former MP and minister. There are genuine questions about how she'll deliver on Reform's vague promises, or deal with Farage's ego now she has elected power and he doesn't, etc. 'But this is just snide. @BBCPolitics should delete and apologise.' The tweet, which was published on Friday morning and had more than 775,000 views by 4pm, received backlash from other X users, including one who labelled it 'bitter' and another who said it was 'misogynistic'. Another responded: 'More pompous, supercilious reporting from @BBC. Pure intellectual snobbery from an increasingly self-important organisation.' Helen Joyce, the author and gender-critical activist, highlighted the BBC's own impartiality rules. She said: 'Whoever wrote this tweet and signed it off should be put through disciplinary. They can keep their political opinions to themselves while they're at work at the state broadcaster, which has a duty not to be partisan.' Dame Andrea, a former minister, was a Tory MP from 2015 until last year, when she finished second to Labour in the seat of Leeds South West and Morley in the general election. She then joined Reform in November. Last year, Dame Andrea said that leaving the Conservative Party was 'not an easy decision,' but added: 'The ship is sinking and perhaps, sadly, beyond salvage but enough is enough. 'It is time to step aboard a movement with vision and purpose and the courage to fight for Britain's future.' In her victory speech on Friday, after beating her nearest rival by almost 40,000 votes, Dame Andrea declared that it was a 'new dawn in British politics' and vowed Reform would 'reset Britain to its glorious past'. In the BBC article about her win, she was described as the 'former Greggs worker and Miss UK finalist' who had 'a remarkable political comeback'.
ITV News
02-05-2025
- Politics
- ITV News
From Greggs, to Miss UK stage and Grimsby Town Hall: Who's Reform's first mayor Andrea Jenkyns?
Dame Andrea Jenkyns has been elected as Reform UK 's first-ever mayor. In her victory speech, Jenkyns vowed there would be 'an end to soft touch Britain' and declared it was a "new dawn in British politics". Dame Andrea has certainly worn many different hats - from working at Greggs after leaving school at 16, to reaching the final of Miss UK at 18, to a political career spanning local authorities, Parliament and two parties. But who is she, and what shaped the former Conservative minister's return to politics? Time with the Tories Jenkyns' political career began at Lincolnshire County Council, where she was elected in 2009 - a seat she later lost to UKIP. But 2015 saw her political career gain momentum, beating Labour's Ed Balls to the Morley and Outwood constituency, a seat she ended up holding for nine years. A staunch supporter of Brexit and Boris Johnson, Jenkyns submitted no-confidence letters in both former prime ministers, Theresa May and Rishi Sunak. Under the Johnson administration, she was appointed assistant whip in September 2021 before becoming an education minister in July 2022. But shortly after she took up her new job, she sparked outrage when she flipped her middle finger at the public outside Downing Street as she was en route to watch Johnson's resignation speech. Her actions were met with outrage from teachers' leaders after footage of the incident circulated on social media. In response, she claimed a 'baying mob outside the gates were insulting MPs on their way in" - something that "is sadly too common,' she added. She was reappointed in the role by Liz Truss that September, who she endorsed in the party leadership election, but remained part of the cabinet for only 49 days and left after Rishi Sunak became the new prime minister. Shift to Reform UK In the run up to the election, she was forced to defend using a picture of herself and Nigel Farage on her campaign leaflet. Standing by her choice, she said: "All conservatives must be prepared to come together to prevent a socialist supermajority and the end of Britain as we know it." However, Dame Andrea was voted out of her constituency of Leeds South West and Morley in last year's general election, losing to Labour MP Mark Sewards. She then defected from the Conservative party to Reform UK in November 2024. Describing her former party as "tired", she claimed to be "politically aligned" with Nigel Farage. Jenkyns will now oversee a £24 million budget and influence areas such as transport, regeneration and housing. ITV News' Political Correspondent Shehab Khan, who has been watching events unfold from North Lincolnshire, said: "Her election as the first Mayor of Greater Lincolnshire now offers a revealing opportunity to see how Reform governs in practice. "One member of the shadow cabinet summed up their mood with a pointed remark: 'Let's see how they get on when there's actual work to do'."
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
When Jenkyns looks astute, British politics proves it really is in a dire state
She famously presented her middle finger to a bunch of protesters outside Downing Street. So it says a lot about the state of Britain that Dame Andrea Jenkyns looks like our most astute politician. But who could argue otherwise this morning, as she starts her term as Greater Lincolnshire mayor? What a turnaround for someone who, until now, has hardly distinguished herself. Okay, she's got a colourful past as a Miss UK finalist, Greggs worker and victor over Ed Balls in 2015. But in her early days in Parliament, she was best known as a troublemaker for Theresa May. The highest office she held was a parliamentary under secretary of state at the end of Boris Johnson's leadership. She was then booted out by Rishi Sunak, and finally lost her seat by a big margin at the general election. But my goodness, she's made up for it all since. Jumping ship from Tories to Reform at exactly the right time, announcing her candidacy for Greater Lincolnshire late last year, catching a glorious wave and leaving the Tories trailing in her wake. When she said this morning that 'Nigel Farage will one day make a magnificent Prime Minister', it might have sent a shiver down the spine of many. But few laughed. Imagine a Tory victor saying the same thing about Kemi Badenoch. They'd be stifling their giggles, I fear. And I'm saying that as a fan. In July 2022, when the Tory party turned against Boris Johnson, Jenkyns said they would come to regret this 'just like they did with Thatcher'. Don't they just. The Tories continue to pay for the rise for the 44 wretched days of Liz Truss in power, even if Jenkyns supported her. But Jenkyns wasn't going to hang around and go down with the ship. After the calamitous general election, she knew full well that the realignment in British politics was firmly under way and that it wasn't any longer Left versus Right, but to use David Goodhart's words, 'somewheres versus anywheres'. You can't be both. And if you try to be both, you end up doing the splits. Only Boris, among the Tories, has the political agility to pull that one off. That explains as much as anything why the Tories' poll rating, which shot down to the low 20s under Truss, hasn't budged. And it's why Labour under the hapless Keir Starmer is following the Tories off a cliff. Today was always going to be great for Reform, a deserved bloody nose for Starmer and diabolical for the Tories – who remain condemned to the nation's naughty step. It might also be the final death knell, a middle finger even, to the two-party system. 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.
The Independent
02-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Andrea Jenkyns: The opera-singing ex-Tory MP's journey from working in Greggs to a radical Reform UK mayor
Just a week ago Dame Andrea Jenkyns still did not know whether she would be ruled eligible to stand to be mayor of Greater Lincolnshire. But now, with the question marks over her residency status still hanging over her, the former Tory MP turned Reform defector is suggestion putting migrants in tents and stopping energy secretary Ed Miliband covering East Anglia's fields with solar panels. But the events of the last seven days are not unusual for a rightwing politician who has courted controversy in a headstrong political career which has given her opponents plenty of ammunition. Whether it is flipping the bird at protesters outside Downing Street while going in to mark Boris Johnson's departure as prime minister, or ending Ed Balls ' political career, Dame Andrea has never been far from the drama. The beauty queen It all started when 16-year-old Andrea Jenkyns left school in Beverly, Humberside after her GCSEs and got herself a job serving pasties and sausage rolls at Greggs. At 18 though, her father persuaded her to start competing in beauty pageants and her public career really began on the stage of Miss UK, where she was a finalist. The desire to perform has never left her, even beyond politics, and many years later as a good soprano she would release her own album and perform live in the UK, Europe and Asia, including for the former prime minister of Pakistan. Defeating Ed Balls Her political career could not have begun in a more spectacular fashion in 2015. Having been a county councillor in Boston, Lincolnshire, Dame Andrea was asked to run against former Labour cabinet minister Ed Balls in the Morley and Outwood seat on the edge of Leeds. Mr Balls clearly thought he had the seat in the bag and instead focussed local campaigning in trying to oust the then Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg in nearby Sheffield. It came as a shock to everyone when in the early hours of the morning on 7 May 2015, Jenkyns was declared the winner and in effect ended the political career of a man who had been expected to challenge for the Labour leadership. The hardcore Brexiteer Once in parliament it became clear that Jenkyns was firmly on the right of the Tory party. She quickly joined the European Research Group of hardcore Brexiteers and became a big cheerleader for Boris Johnson. After the 2016 EU referendum she pushed for a no-deal Brexit, and in 2018 she became the first person with a government position to quit her job in Theresa May's premiership in protest over trying to compromise with the EU. Such was her strong support for Brexit that the millionaire Nigel Farage ally Arron Banks gave £2,000 for her 2019 election campaign, in a much-criticised move. Jenkyns was accused of trying to help entryism into the Conservatives. Flipping the bird Almost all of her nine-year parliamentary career was spent on the backbenches with little appetite to trust her with a ministerial job. But as dozens of ministers quit Boris Johnson's government in protest over Partygate lockdown boozing in Downing Street and the Chris Pincher scandal, Dame Andrea was appointed a junior education minister. She was always a fan of Johnson and on the day he departed as prime minister, she became the image of Tory contempt when she was pictured flipping the bird at protesters on her way into Downing Street to hear his farewell speech. Mr Johnson was grateful, though, making sure she got her damehood in his resignation honours list. Finding love in the Commons While Boris Johnson was her leadership love in politics, Dame Andrea had also found love with one of her colleagues Jack Lopresti who fell for her despite being on the moderate One Nation side of the Tories. Lopresti left his family for her and they had a son in 2017, marrying in December that year. But things fell apart quite quickly and in 2024 she announced they had divorced. Lopresti was last heard of joining the Ukrainian army to help in the war against Russia having also lost his seat in the election last year. Off and then on with Reform Jenkyns relationship with Reform has been typically hot and cold. Ahead of the 2024 election she accused Reform of trying to bribe her to defect to them. She then had a bitter feud with party leader Richard Tice after she was deliberately targeted by Reform to lose her Morley and Leeds South West seat which she duly did. The animosity did not stop her from turning up as a guest at Nigel Farage's 60th birthday party ahead of the election last year in what was seen as a sign that she would eventually switch. She was pictured with Farage and Arron Banks. Then as a seatless ex-Tory MP, she became Reform's 100,000th member and was declared as the mayoral candidate for Greater Lincolnshire - the county where her political career began as a councillor in Boston. But even then things were not settled between her and Reform. Dame Andrea's public support for Boris Johnson on X (formerly Twitter) upset party chairman Zia Yusuf who then suddenly started doing interviews on how the ex-Tory PM would never be welcome in Reform. Victory in Lincolnshire Dame Andrea's first reaction on winning was to complain about the 'smear campaign' against her by her opponents. Having picked up 42 per cent of the vote, she was more concerned about the questions which had been asked about if she was eligible to stand. While she was cleared by the returning officer to stand as a candidate there is a possibility that her vague residency qualifications could become the subject of another legal challenge. Now she has won though and is backed by a likely Reform majority on the county council, the sleepy East Anglian county could become a real testbed for Reform rightwing policies. Already she is discussing putting illegal migrants in tents. She is also likely to try to stop renewable energy sources be it wind or solar farms being allowed in the county. More interesting will be the Lincolnshire version of DOGE in slashing costs and cutting services that Mr Farage wants. Lincolnshire's farmers and fishing communities may be worried about having a vegetarian animal rights activist in charge. But overall Lincolnshire now will be the real test of whether Reform is a party fit to govern. And Dame Andrea will become the face of that.
