Dame Andrea Jenkyns has been elected as the mayor of Greater Lincolnshire, giving the party she represents, Reform UK, its most powerful office to date. In her victory speech, she declared it was a "new dawn in British politics" and vowed Reform would "reset Britain to its glorious past". She beat the Conservative candidate by more than 40,000 votes, which will feel like like a personal vindication for the former Tory MP.

But she showed she had lost none of her talent for generating controversy when she walked out on a Sky News interview, external after being asked about her view that illegal migrants should be "put in tents" and criticisms of her Tory opponent's South African accent. A former Greggs worker and Miss UK finalist, Dame Andrea will now control an annual budget of £24m and hold powers over skills, transport and economic development in the region. The result marks a remarkable political comeback for an MP voted out less than a year ago in the general election.

But as Dame Andrea's meandering political career shows, she has form for bouncing back from crushing disappointments with attention-grabbing election wins.