Will Reform regret selecting loose cannon Jenkyns?

Will Reform regret handing the Greater Lincolnshire mayoralty to Tory defector and loose cannon Andrea Jenkyns? The middle finger-raising Brexiteer said in her victory speech that she wanted to put asylum seekers in tents, claiming: “I say no to people being put up in hotels; tents are good enough in France.”

This had Reform deputy leader Richard Tice scrambling to deny that a bulk order at Millett’s was now top of the party’s agenda. He said Jenkyns had been “speaking metaphorically to make a point” but that party policy was “to leave the ECHR and to process people properly”. Meanwhile, Jenkyns was telling an interviewer that “this is my opinion and I stand by it”.

Now Reform are wondering where the next Jenkyns blow-up will come from. Just a few days ago, she publicly disagreed with Reform leader Nigel Farage after he said he thought there were too many diagnoses of special educational needs in children, and claimed: “We are massively – I’m not being heartless, I’m being frank – I think we are massively over-diagnosing those with mental illness problems and those with other general behavioural disabilities.”

Jenkyns, who says both she and her son have ADHD, said: “All I can go on is my personal experience as a parent, as somebody who’s neurodiverse myself, and as a former MP who saw some of the very sad stories of children, how they’ve been left behind really.

“I pulled my child out of mainstream into private school because he was two years behind, and as a parent you do the best for your child. I know his daily struggles and to me it’s about ensuring everybody gets that best start in life, no matter what your background is.”

Though Jenkyns campaigned alongside Tice this time, the pair have had a fractious relationship in the past. At last year’s general election, before she switched parties, Tice accused her of “effective bribery” by offering her Reform rival in her old parliamentary constituency a job in her own campaign. Jenkyns said the accusations were “libellous” and “wild”, and an attempt to “deflect from his own embarrassing behaviour”.