Former Conservative minister Andrea Jenkyns has joined Reform UK, saying that she has sided with the “party of the brave” in a speech at a press conference on Thursday (28/11).
The former MP, who lost her seat at the last general election, was at an event on Thursday where Nigel Farage said that she just happened to be the 100,000th new Reform member.
Addressing attendees, she claimed that British people “feel betrayed”, adding that “our culture, our values, our communities are under siege” and migration is “out of control”.
“I will root our the woke leftist agenda that often creeps into all levels of government,” Jenkyns added.
“I will always put the people first ahead of politics.”
Her decision to join the party comes as a surprise after she engaged in a bitter public row with Reform UK earlier this year, after claiming she was wooed by a pro-Brexit businessman who she said had offered her jobs to defect.
She was bitterly critical of Reform in July after an attack by the party’s deputy leader, Richard Tice, who had accused her of bribing her Reform general election rival in the constituency of Leeds South West and Morley.
On that occasion, Jenkyns insisted she never came close to defecting to Reform and described Tice’s “wild accusations” as “libellous” and an attempt to “deflect from his own embarrassing behaviour”.
Tice was not to be seen on Thursday as Jenkyns joined Farage on stage at a central London hotel.
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