1. Dame Andrea Marie Jenkyns was born on 16 June 1974 and is a British news and current affairs journalist for GB News and a politician who served as the Conservative Member of Parliament for Morley and Outwood in West Yorkshire, England from 2015 to June 2024.
Andrea Jenkyns served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Skills from July to October 2022, when she was dismissed by new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
Andrea Jenkyns failed to win re-election to the successor seat of Leeds South West and Morley at the 2024 general election.
Andrea Jenkyns was made Dame of the British Empire by 2022 outgoing UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Andrea Jenkyns left the Conservative Party for Reform UK in November 2024, announcing her candidacy for Reform in the 2025 election for the newly created Mayor of Greater Lincolnshire.
When she was 18, Andrea Jenkyns' father sent her photo off to a beauty pageant, and she eventually reached the final of Miss UK.
Andrea Jenkyns is a former member of Lincolnshire County Council for Boston North West.
Andrea Jenkyns supported Brexit in the 2016 EU membership referendum and was a member of the Exiting the European Union Select Committee from 2016 to 2019.
Andrea Jenkyns stated that she was willing to vote against the government if it brought forward to the House of Commons the Chequers plan on Brexit.
Andrea Jenkyns is a Trustee and the voluntary Regional Representative for the charity MRSA Action UK, having joined following the death of her father from MRSA.
In May 2018, Andrea Jenkyns quit her role as a PPS in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government in order to focus on fighting for Brexit.
Andrea Jenkyns submitted a formal letter to the 1922 Committee requesting a vote of no confidence in Theresa May as leader of the Conservative Party; at that time letters from 48 MPs were required to trigger a vote of no confidence.
In May 2019, Andrea Jenkyns received media attention for her appearance on the BBC's Politics Live show, as she was unable to name any countries that trade solely with the EU using World Trade Organization terms.
Andrea Jenkyns has received a number of death threats, largely as a result of her stance on Brexit.
Andrea Jenkyns is opposed to Britain's sugary drink tax, arguing instead for "better education, better labelling [and] parental responsibility".
Andrea Jenkyns held her seat at the 2019 general election with an increased majority of 11,267.
Andrea Jenkyns claimed to have experienced a considerable amount of abuse and intimidation during the campaign.
In February 2020, Andrea Jenkyns defended her decision to provide a character reference for the court case of a Conservative Party activist who made violent threats to Labour MP Yvette Cooper and was jailed for nine weeks.
Andrea Jenkyns said that the activist had mental health issues and she wanted his emotional and mental well-being to be taken into consideration as part of the judicial process.
On 17 September 2021, Andrea Jenkyns was appointed an Assistant Government Whip in the second cabinet reshuffle of the second Johnson ministry.
In July 2022, Andrea Jenkyns was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Education.
Andrea Jenkyns said she made the gesture after being provoked by a "baying mob", stating she had received "huge amounts of abuse from some of the people who were there over the years".
Andrea Jenkyns said she should have shown more composure "but is only human".
Andrea Jenkyns's gesture was criticised by teaching representatives and by Conservative MPs Mark Spencer and George Freeman.
Andrea Jenkyns was reappointed by prime minister Liz Truss, but left her role when Rishi Sunak replaced Truss 49 days later.
Andrea Jenkyns lost her seat in parliament in the general election of 4 July 2024, receiving 9,258 votes against Labour's Mark Sewards with 17,681.
On 28 November 2024, Andrea Jenkyns announced that she had left the Conservative Party and joined Reform UK, at a press conference with leader Nigel Farage, and would stand as the Reform candidate for the new mayorship of Greater Lincolnshire.
Andrea Jenkyns lives in Gildersome, West Yorkshire and London, where she lived with her ex-husband, fellow ex-Conservative MP Jack Lopresti, and their son, who was born in 2017.
Andrea Jenkyns married Lopresti, who was then MP for Filton and Bradley Stoke in Bristol, in St Mary Undercroft in the Palace of Westminster on 22 December 2017, two years after it had been reported that she was in a relationship with him while he was still married to his first wife.
In March 2024, Andrea Jenkyns revealed to GB News that she had been targeted with abusive emails, with the most recent threatening her six-year-old son.
Andrea Jenkyns suffers from fibromyalgia and glossopharyngeal neuralgia which cause bouts of debilitating pain.
Andrea Jenkyns was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire on 9 June 2023 as part of the 2022 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours, the honours awarded following the September 2022 resignation of Boris Johnson.