Reform recruit Andrea Jenkyns accused party donors of offering her £80k 'bribe' to ditch Tories earlier in the year

29 November 2024, 07:33

Reform UK's latest recruit Dame Andrea Jenkyns accused party donors of offering her a £80,000 “bribe” to defect from the Tories earlier in the year, LBC can reveal.

Andrea Jenkyns, who announced she was joining Nigel Farage’s party yesterday, told LBC on election night that she was offered a “bribe”.

The former Minister for Skills said earlier this year she had been offered a job with a prominent supporter of Reform, but this is the first time she used the word “bribe” or talked of a figure.

The disclosure happened in an LBC interview recorded on election night but not aired until today.

Dame Andrea contested the general election as a candidate for the Conservative Party but she finished second to Labour in the seat of Leeds South West and Morley - and blamed Reform for 'splitting' her vote in the constituency.

The exchange took place after she was accused of bribing the Reform candidate during the general election campaign.

Dame Andrea Jenkyns tells Andrew Marr about her claim that party donors offered her an £80k 'bribe'

Dame Andrea said: “They said, I tried to bribe him. God knows how I tried to bribe him.

“It was actually one of their party donors who tried to bribe me with an £80,000 job.

“And as you'll also see in the public domain, they tried to do with Lee Anderson.”

Reform MP Lee Anderson, who used to be Conservative party chairman, previously made a similar claim.

In November 2023, he said he was offered a job for five years on a £80,000 salary if he defected to Reform.

Kemi Badenoch becoming party leader was 'the final factor' in her defection to Reform.

Responding to the comments last night, she told LBC’s Andrew Marr programme: “It was actually one of the candidates who was running against me who was causing a lot of hassle but let’s face it, political parties during an election, they fall out.

“I’ve joined them because I’ve worked with Nigel Farage and Richard Tice during the Brexit days… I know they are the guys who are on the same page as me, hence why I’ve joined them.”

She added: “It was one of their donors and I turned it down. That’s in the past.

Dame Andrea was clear she had not taken any money to defect.

The former minister who served as a Tory MP from 2015 until this year, said today that leaving the Conservative Party was “not an easy decision” and she had “fought to the bitter end” at the general election.

She said: “But the truth is undeniable: the ship is sinking and perhaps, sadly, beyond salvage but enough is enough. It is time to step aboard a movement with vision and purpose and the courage to fight for Britain’s future.”

Dame Andrea, who put a picture of herself and Farage in her election leaflets during her 2024 election campaign for the Conservatives, previously suggested that people should not vote for Reform because of “how they behave”.

During her interview with LBC on election night, she said: “I'm a Conservative, I'm a Thatcherite Conservative. We must not go to the left. There's certain people I do not want as party leader. And if we go to the left, then unfortunately, we see other parties trying to fill that void. But do you know something? I want to ensure that Reform does not fill that void. I've seen how they behave and I want to ensure they don't fill that void.”

She added that she “hates lies. I am a straight talking Yorkshire woman and I hate lies.”

The Conservatives said last night: “This is the second time that a Conservative MP has said they were offered a bribe by Reform. In both instances those people subsequently switched their party allegiance. Ms Jenkyns claims to be a “straight talking Yorkshire woman” ready and willing to serve the people of Lincolnshire who “hates lies” so we wish her well with her new friends whom she clearly thinks so highly of."

Dame Andrea told the Independent in July: "The reality is, under [Richard] Tice's leadership of Reform, [a] prominent supporter… tried to ply me with a job in his company if I defected to Reform. Naturally, I refused the outrageous offer. I have been subjected to numerous approaches from Reform since, including urging me to defect just days before the nomination papers were finalised.

“By its candidate’s own admission, Reform has clearly been running an underhand campaign to push MPs into defecting by any means they consider necessary."

Dame Andrea, a former minister who served as a Tory MP from 2015 until this year, said leaving the Conservative Party was “not an easy decision” and she had “fought to the bitter end” at the general election.

She said: “But the truth is undeniable: the ship is sinking and perhaps, sadly, beyond salvage but enough is enough. It is time to step aboard a movement with vision and purpose and the courage to fight for Britain’s future.”

A Reform UK Spokesman said: “We refute any allegations of so called ‘bribes’.

“Andrea joined the party because she believes in Reform and wants to help save the country.”