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One of Reform’s most prominent candidates in the local elections is facing potential disqualification over claims she does not live in the area.
Dame Andrea Jenkyns, who is running as Reform’s candidate for the newly created Mayor of Greater Lincolnshire, will face a hearing on Friday next week just six days before voters go to the polls.
The Reform candidate is currently leading in the polls in the hotly contested county and was a high profile defector from the Tories having previously been a rightwing supporter of Boris Johnson as a Conservative MP.
The hearing at North Kesteven District Council next week comes as Reform’s local election campaign has been beset by problems including the party’s ousted Great Yarmouth MP Rupert Lowe announcing he is to sue Nigel Farage for defamation. The party is also fending off claims it is trying to recruit disgraced former prime minister Liz Truss.
But the party has claimed that accusations made against Dame Andrea are “vexatious and politically motivated” in a bid 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 where her former constituency was 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 posted: “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: The candidate is, and will continue to be, registered as a local government elector for the local authority area in which they wish to stand from the day of your nomination onwards; or has occupied as owner or tenant, lived in or worked in the local authority area during the whole of the 12 months before the day of their nomination.
In what is becoming an increasingly toxic battle for the county, the Conservatives have also attempted to report Dame Andrea to the police over the accusations.
A Reform UK spokesman 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 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 she has told friends that she is suffering 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 which shows Lincolnshire is her primary address. She has also been in direct contact over eligibility with local authority democratic officers for a number of months.
However, with Labour’s Jason Stockwood hoping to come through the middle of a split rightwing vote between the Tories and Reform, unions and leftwing groups are also piling on pressure in a febrile election.
The leading public sector union UNISON has written to members working for Lincolnshire County Council saying what a disaster Dame Andrea with claims they have urged them to appear in a video attacking her. This has led to concerns from 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.
