“The inaugural Great Exhibition for Lincolnshire has drawn to a close with a resounding message: Our region is brimming with talent, creativity, industry and innovation, says Linconlshire’s Combined County Authority Mayor, Dame Andrea Jenkyns. “It brought together a remarkable gathering of local champions, pioneering entrepreneurs, international dignitaries and visionary investors.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The event was inspired by the legacy of the 1851 Great Exhibition, a modern revival and bold celebration of Lincolnshire\u2019s identity, built around the themes of invest, trade and innovate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Delivered by the Greater Lincolnshire Combined County Authority, the event marked a turning point in Lincolnshire\u2019s journey. With new devolved powers from the UK government, the Authority is now driving forward a bold agenda focused on economic growth, infrastructure, and sustainability – while honouring Lincolnshire\u2019s unique character and natural beauty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dame Andrea<\/strong> said: \u201cThis exhibition began as a pledge in my mayoral manifesto and has come to life as a celebration of our region\u2019s ambition and enterprise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt has been our opportunity to shine a spotlight on \u2018Brand Lincolnshire\u2019- to share our story with the world and demonstrate the strength, creativity and resilience of our communities and industries.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The exhibition drew high-level participation from across the UK and around the world, including delegations from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, India, Kurdistan, Bangladesh, Turkey, Israel and Taiwan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n There was also cross-party political representation championing Lincolnshire including Conservative peer Baroness Sandip Verma, Head of Policy with Reform UK, Zia Yusef, and Labour Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham.<\/p>\n\n\n\n More than 90 exhibitors from across Lincolnshire and beyond took part at the Epic Centre and Exo Centre sites at the Lincolnshire Showground with more than 1,100 delegates booked to attend throughout the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Among the businesses being highlighted was everything from energy to agri-tech, food and fishing to education, defence, ports, and logistics. There were turbines, model aircraft, robotic dogs, fashion show, classic cars and a motorbike celebrating Lincolnshire\u2019s rich and diverse entrepreneurial history and futuristic innovation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Among the impressive sideshows were visitors from Lincolnshire\u2019s Steam Punk community and with the county\u2019s rich RAF heritage there was an exhilarating flypast from a Typhoon jet aircraft, courtesy of 11 Squadron and the RAF Typhoon Display Team based at RAF Coningsby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Andrew Dawes, Regional Director (Humber) at Associated British Ports <\/strong>and a corporate sponsor of the Exhibition,said:<\/strong> \u201cABP was proud to support the Lincolnshire Great Exhibition, a celebration of the region\u2019s dynamic role in global trade, investment, and innovation. Events like this reinforce the importance of collaboration in unlocking new opportunities for growth and prosperity across our ports and the communities we serve. I commend the Mayor\u2019s ambition to turn this into a cornerstone annual event for the region.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n British Steel\u2019s Chief Commercial Officer Lisa Coulson <\/strong>said: \u201cIt was a superb opportunity to meet other businesses, share ideas and ambitions, and underline our commitment to building a clean, green, and sustainable future for our business and the wider economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe also championed our \u2018Save Steel, Buy British\u2019 campaign as we call on UK industry to sign a pledge backing the nation\u2019s steel sector. With the industry facing unprecedented challenges, the pledge seeks to galvanise support for UK-made steel and reinforce the long-term resilience of the sector, its workforce, and the infrastructure it sustains. And the key role we play in the local, regional, and national economies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLincolnshire is a superb place to do business and we thank everyone for their support at the event, and in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Director with Globella Events UK, Hannah Tomlinson,<\/strong> said: \u201cWe were proud to partner with the GLCCA to support the first Great Lincolnshire Exhibition, including sponsoring and delivering the exciting Taste Zone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOur goal was to bring together and showcase the very best of Lincolnshire\u2019s food, beverage, hospitality, tourism, and experiences from across the region. This partnership highlighted our shared passion for excellence and our commitment to creating events that inspire, connect, and celebrate our county.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAs a proud Lincolnshire business, being born and bred here, we are passionate advocates for the incredible local businesses and the unique experiences our county has to offer and we should be collectively shouting out for all to hear!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Phil Hatherley, from Siemens Energy Gas Services<\/strong>, said: \u201cSiemens Energy was deeply honoured to have been a part of the Great Exhibition of Lincolnshire. We\u2019re proud to have contributed to this event through sponsorship, as well as by exhibiting the best of engineering and innovation, alongside other incredible organisations showcasing their cutting-edge technologies and creativity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWith over a century of engineering heritage in Lincoln, we remain committed to powering progress and shaping the future of energy. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to Dame Andrea, and Lincolnshire County Council for bringing this wonderful event together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Who is Lincolnshire’s Mayor, Dame Andrea Jenkyns?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n On the back of a very convincing recent victory in the mayoral elections for the new Greater Lincolnshire\u2019s Combined County Authority, we find out what challenges will define Andrea Jenkyns\u2019 new role<\/p>\n\n\n\n The people have spoken, and it wasn\u2019t sotto voce<\/em>, but fortissimo;<\/em> loud enough to leave nobody in any doubt. \u2018We choose Andrea,\u2019 they said, in Lincolnshire\u2019s mayoral elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Among the more interesting \u2013 if slightly less pertinent \u2013 facts about Lincolnshire\u2019s new Combined County Authority Mayor, Andrea Jenkyns is a former soprano singer who released her own classical-crossover album, ILYIS (an acronym of I Love You In Secret) in 2006. Andrea was also a finalist in the 1992 Miss United Kingdom competition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n She has three dogs, she was made a Dame in 2023 and finally, there was a personal reason behind her appearance in a sparkly dress, rather than the more understated (and on-brand) turquoise blue one, on the morning of Friday 2nd May 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt was a horrible, bruising campaign. It was emotionally draining, and if I\u2019m honest, it nearly broke me,\u201d she says. \u201cIt didn\u2019t need to get this vicious. It didn\u2019t need to get this personal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere was hatchet job after hatchet job, and I\u2019m a strong person, but I\u2019m also a human being. It got very personal with some of the candidates. Something in me said \u2018I\u2019m not going to let you get away with it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The it in question is the fact that during the campaign, it was suggested Andrea was ineligible to stand because she wasn\u2019t a resident of Lincolnshire. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI was looking at two outfits in my wardrobe \u2013 two pale blue outfits \u2013 and then I saw the sparkly dress I wore for Nigel [Farage\u2019s]\u2019s 60th. There\u2019s a little rebel in me and I thought \u2018I\u2019m going to get on that stage. I\u2019m going to own it. I don\u2019t care if it\u2019s sparkling and glittery.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf you\u2019ve got a good campaign team, you can read the room. And every political party has watchers everywhere there\u2019s a count.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn 2015 when I stood against Ed Balls in the General Election for the constituency of Morley & Outwood, you couldn\u2019t tell because it was such a marginal result, but there was a recount and 422 votes put me ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis time though, we clearly knew from seeing the votes coming in. It was how they were piling up and up on the table. You could see the stacks of papers building up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt got very personal with some of the candidates. I am outspoken and after the count there was a speech that didn\u2019t pull any punches, but it\u2019s representative of what\u2019s to come as we fight to make a stronger Lincolnshire. And it\u2019s reflective of the ethos of Reform too, to not be afraid to speak out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019ve always been outspoken as an MP and never afraid to do what\u2019s right. People either like that or they don\u2019t but I\u2019ve got to be honest and true to myself. If any further evidence of that commitment is needed, it\u2019s well-known that I\u2019ve spoken out against my previous party and doing so has become necessary because the landscape of two-party politics in Britain is changing and it needs to change.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Prior to her political career Andrea worked in retail, in senior management and in a directorship at the University of Bolton where she ran a think tank advising on educational policy. She has also worked in performing arts groups with children at Blackfriars in Boston and Polka Dot in Spalding. As well as living in the Fens she has also lived at Healing near Grimsby and in Mablethorpe. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Andrea\u2019s interest in politics, though, began in 2011 when her father died after catching MRSA and discovering the mistakes in the NHS that she says were preventable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNational health policies, and ensuring that compassion is at the heart of every interaction in the NHS was my motivation. I joined the Patient Safety APPG as soon as I got elected. I worked closely with Jeremy Hunt, because patient safety is a big thing for him too. In the NHS nationally, 650 people a month die through preventable mistakes and that\u2019s a massive figure, a shocking one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019d always been a Conservative, as were my parents. My sister and I were both in the Young Conservatives, but for me things were starting to turn sour in the party. I saw that Theresa May was Brexit in name only and Remainers were trying to stop Brexit. As a democrat, I believe that whatever the vote \u2013 the mandate \u2013 you have to respect it.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBoris Johnson had a massive mandate and was trying to deal with Brexit, Covid and the Ukraine War, but I saw first-hand what they did to him as I was in the whips\u2019 office. Key people in the party were trying to bring him down. The eventual vote to boot Boris out was, I thought, quite shameful.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAfter Boris the party never had the leader they needed. Rishi was promoted too quickly and I always said publicly that if they chose Kemi as leader I\u2019d leave the party because I saw how she worked as a minister. She was good on the culture stuff but quite lazy. I didn\u2019t feel she was a conviction politician.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cInitially I met with Rishi and with Reform to see if we could have joint candidates, uniting to stop a Labour supermajority.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut the Conservative party had already moved too much to the centre, in the same way that Blair moved too much to the centre.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cReform meanwhile has demonstrated an ability to pull from both the left and right, unifying people just as Thatcher did in 1979. The politics of the party were getting more attention than the national politics that we should have been more concerned with.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe day after the 2024 General Election and having already worked with Nigel and Richard on the Brexit campaign \u2013 they\u2019ve been friends for over eight years \u2013 I was approached by Reform.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cInitially I told both of them that I wasn\u2019t sure I wanted to be in politics any longer. The period I spent as an MP was quite a bruising time. That\u2019s compounded when the country is a laughing stock, unable to get a Brexit deal. It\u2019s compounded in times of national crisis, like Covid, too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDuring the election campaign the Conservatives insinuated that I\u2019ve slept around to advance my career. Friends have phoned me up before and said \u2018did you realise you\u2019re sleeping with so-and-so,\u2019 and I\u2019m tough enough to ignore a lot of that but it\u2019s something with which a male politician would never have to contend.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m in politics, but I\u2019m also a human being and a single parent to my eight-year old son Clifford, who is neuro-diverse. He\u2019s going to grow up seeing anything unpleasant that has been written about me in print or online, and that shouldn\u2019t be acceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI no longer have parents alive to support me. But my sister Debbie and I are really close too. She has MS and as a family we all work together to ensure we stay physically and mentally well, so that I can juggle a career and family life, and make a difference either in national politics or to Lincolnshire in my new role.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNigel and Richard are amazing in offering their support too, but there are times that you really do have to muster more strength than usual, and a cruel or alarming message on social media is awful.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut what do you work hard for, if not family? My son messaged me at one o\u2019clock in the morning and then again at three o\u2019clock. He was so excited, \u2018mummy, have you won?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The result was announced just before seven in the morning with Andrea securing 42% of the votes, 104,133 against the 64,585 votes of the next-closest candidate. After an irascible interview with Sky News, it was a Friday and Saturday full of media (and fresh coffee), culminating in a Sunday appearance on the BBC\u2019s Politics North followed by a quiet Sunday afternoon and Bank Holiday Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the vote the team who were in place to support the new Combined County Authority (CCA) mayor had already introduced themselves to the candidates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On Tuesday 6th May, Andrea was sworn in during a ceremony in Lincoln Cathedral officially becoming Lincolnshire\u2019s first ever county-wide mayor, heading up a combined authority which will sit above county, district, borough and town councils, serving as a direct point of liaison with Westminster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In principle the role means being able to command attention and secure funding from central government, ensuring the relevance of policy as somebody with a strong understanding of Lincolnshire\u2019s needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Andrea will chair a CCA board comprising six voting members from the three constituent councils (Lincolnshire, North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire) and other non-constituent members who will vote on some matters. The new authority will have wider membership from other district or borough councils, from the business community and the police and crime commissioners for the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFor now we\u2019re based in the buildings from which Lincolnshire County Council operates, with a team of 16, comprising of researchers, legal experts, and people with an economic or business background.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLiterally on day one they said that they\u2019ve seen the manifesto, and so we all set about developing policy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt was just a case of throwing myself in to that and getting on with it, but I work in a really good team and there\u2019s much to do in order to prove that the role, and the incumbent will benefit the county greatly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAmong our other priorities though, we need to restore interest and faith in politics. Apathy is at an all-time high, as is frustration with politicians. I want to provide complete transparency. All my combined authority meetings will broadcast and how people vote will be publicly recorded.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are a number of pots of money that Andrea can utilise in her role including a new budget of \u00a324m\/annually for 30 years to invest in key priority areas of infrastructure and skills development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat\u2019s in addition to a one off \u00a328.4m capital investment fund for Greater Lincolnshire\u2019s priorities \u2013 which is already being invested in new roads, infrastructure and housing sites.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut on top of those the CCA can bid for further money to improve the county\u2019s provision of services and strengthen its economic potential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThough it\u2019s an ostensibly local role, we can also liaise with national and international partners to generate inward investment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m also keen to hold an annual Great Exhibition highlighting what a contribution Lincolnshire can make to the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s about shifting the dial, and that feeds into an ability to encourage a groundswell of political pressure which can encourage changes at a national level too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe can improve transport for Greater Lincolnshire, fix transport issues, and reform the way we run the country, not just the county, setting an example by consolidating and streamlining authorities to save the taxpayer money in conjunction with a county-wide restructure of local authorities mandated by central government that\u2019s still at consultation stage until November.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou don\u2019t need different authorities all with HR departments and payroll departments, legal departments\u2026 ultimately, we can offer taxpayers better value for money which is a good thing. I\u2019ve grown up in Lincolnshire. I know the challenges that a rural county faces from infrastructure to transport to skills gaps.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI also know of the need to support businesses and farmers in a county that should value the important contribution that agriculture makes both to the county and nationally.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI know I can get my teeth into this role and I know I can do a good job with the same commitment to the values I share with Nigel and Richard and with Sean as leader of the County Council.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s about family, community and country. It\u2019s about making the public voice heard, and it\u2019s about delivering for them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \ufeffDame Andrea Jenkyns DBE was named the first mayor of the Greater Lincolnshire Combined County Authority (CCA) on Friday 2nd May. To find out more about the role, see www.greaterlincolnshire-cca.gov.uk<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n