The Boston hustings for mayor of Greater Lincolnshire was only on its first question when the tone soured. Rob Waltham, the Conservative candidate and current leader of North Lincolnshire Council, made a jibe about Andrea Jenkyns not living in Lincolnshire. Jenkyns, the Conservative MP in Morley, West Yorkshire, from 2015 until she lost her seat in 2024 and joined Reform, in return accused Waltham of being “disingenuous”. She reminded the audience she grew up in Lincolnshire and is currently renting a property to live there “part-time”, as her son is in a special needs school, but has promised to move fully to the county if she wins the mayoralty.
Out of all the contests taking place in the local elections on 1 May – council seats, mayors, even a by-election – the mayoralty for the new Greater Lincolnshire Combined County Authority is perhaps the most consequential, not just for the residents of Lincolnshire, but for anyone watching the shifting dynamics of British politics.
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