One of Reform’s most prominent candidates in the local elections is facing potential disqualification over claims that she does not live in the area.
Dame Andrea Jenkyns, who is running as the Reform UK candidate for the newly created role of mayor of Greater Lincolnshire, will face a hearing next Friday, just six days before voters go to the polls.
Dame Andrea is currently leading in the polls in the hotly contested county, and was a high-profile defector from the Tories, having previously been a right-wing supporter of Boris Johnson when she was a Conservative MP.
It comes as Reform’s local election campaign has been beset by problems, including the party’s ousted Great Yarmouth MP Rupert Lowe announcing his intention to sue Nigel Farage for defamation. The party is also fending off claims that it is trying to recruit disgraced former prime minister Liz Truss.
But the party says the accusations made against Dame Andrea are “vexatious and politically motivated”, claiming that they are an attempt to smear her just days before the electorate cast their votes.
It is understood that the complaint has been made by the agent of one of Dame Andrea’s rivals, Marianne Overton, who is standing as an independent and is a councillor on North Kesteven District Council.
It is based on claims that Dame Andrea is not eligible to stand in Lincolnshire because she lives in Leeds, the location of her constituency when she was a Tory MP.
A spokesperson for North Kesteven District Council said: “A formal objection has been received by the North Kesteven electoral registration officer in relation to an individual registration on the electoral register, and the statutory process is being followed.”
Similar claims have been made by the Tory candidate Rob Waltham, who recently posted the accusations on Facebook.
He wrote: “How to be a good Mayor for Lincolnshire! Live here!”
A senior Tory MP told The Independent: “This is not personal against her, but the rules are very clear, and if she has broken them then she should not be eligible to stand.”
The Electoral Commission website states that mayoral candidates must meet one of four residential qualifications, which include living or working in the local authority area where they wish to stand, or being registered there as an elector.
In what is becoming an increasingly toxic battle for the county, the Conservatives have also attempted to report Dame Andrea to the police in relation to the accusations.
A Reform UK spokesperson said: “We understand a vexatious and politically motivated complaint has been made by the relative of a candidate in the same election that Andrea Jenkyns is contesting, in an attempt to deprive the people of Lincolnshire of the chance to vote for Reform UK. We are confident that this complaint will be dismissed.”
Dame Andrea has declined to comment herself, but it is understood that she has told friends she is the victim of a “smear campaign” because she is the frontrunner in the race.
She has acknowledged that she lives between Leeds and Lincolnshire for family reasons, but is expected to produce evidence next week to show that Lincolnshire is her primary address. She has also been in direct contact with local authority officials for a number of months over the question of her eligibility.
However, with Labour’s Jason Stockwood hoping to come through the middle of a split right-wing vote between the Tories and Reform, unions and left-wing groups are also piling on pressure in what has become a febrile election campaign.
The leading public-sector union Unison has written to members who work for Lincolnshire County Council in an effort to dissuade them from voting for Dame Andrea, and there are claims that they have been urged to appear in a video attacking her. This has led to concerns in Dame Andrea’s camp over a potential breach of purdah rules before an election.
But a Unison spokesperson said: “This all about informing members in Lincolnshire as to where the various mayoral candidates stand on the issues that matter. This includes the measures being introduced in the Employment Rights Bill. This is not a breach of election rules.”
Meanwhile, Hope Not Hate have also been targeting Dame Andrea as a “climate change denier” who has fought against net zero policies.
The Independent has approached Cllr Overton for comment.
Lincolnshire Police have declined to comment.
