IN A party often perceived as toffish and out of touch, Andrea Jenkyns stands out from the crowd.
The daughter of a former lorry driver but also a music teacher who sings soprano, she neatly bridges the gap between working and middle class.
Which perhaps tells you why she was recently selected to fight the marginal Labour-held seat of Morley and Outwood for the Conservatives at the next general election. She'll have a fight on her hands – the present incumbent is Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls.
Born in Beverley, the 39-year-old grew up "all over" Yorkshire, but her Hull connections are strong.
Her grandfather was a fisherman in the city, while her late father hailed from Craven Street and her mum Valerie from Hessle.
"I'm so proud," says Valerie, who now lives near Pontefract. "She'll make a terrific MP because she's got compassion, and a lot of them haven't, to be honest. Being working class, she knows how hard it is to live."
Jenkyns is more modest, but argues that the Conservative Party is not as exclusive as the stereotype suggests. "It's not something I think about, really," she says. "The more people you talk to in the party, you find a lot are from normal backgrounds."
She says she understands the Tories' "Toff" image but is quick to point out it's a stereotype. "Within the party, you find that's not the case," she says.
"We've always voted Conservative. My Dad was the first in his family to own his own home; he started working as a lorry driver, did National Service, then set up his own transport company. He was always a bit of an entrepreneur, and I looked up to that. 'Dream big and dare to fail' he always told us."
That's certainly the approach she's taking to her new status as a Conservative candidate in one of the party's top 40 target seats at the next election.
Cleethorpes MP Martin Vickers has only met Jenkyns a couple of times but says she's a "feisty character". "She's quite go-ahead," he says. "She'll work the seat hard and give Ed Balls a run for his money, that's for sure."
Mr Balls's majority is just 1,101, which makes his Morley and Outwood constituency eminently winnable for the Conservatives. Indeed, it is one of the region's most marginal seats. The previous Tory candidate worked the area hard in 2010, but it wasn't quite enough.
Nevertheless, Jenkyns says becoming a candidate in a target seat was "never part of my plan". She got involved in politics almost by accident, campaigning in a local council by-election in Boston after moving to the area with her then boyfriend.
She then, by her own admission, "gate-crashed" a Tory branch meeting. "You were supposed to be invited along but they let me stay anyway," she says. "Three months later, I was vice-chair of policy and campaigning. I had loads of ideas, held recruitment days for candidates on the council, and used my experience in the private sector. A year later, I was standing for county councillor."
Again, this was unplanned, for Jenkyns was a last-minute replacement for another candidate who pulled out two weeks before nominations closed for Lincolnshire County Council. Others told her she was a "paper candidate", someone not expected to win, but having "been brought up to prove people wrong", Jenkyns set out to gain the seat.
She did so by just 16 votes, although that – in such a fight – was 15 more than she needed. Since her election in 2009, Jenkyns has been an energetic councillor in her Boston North West ward. She has been campaigning for three years to stop street drinking and wants a borough-wide order which would give police the power to confiscate alcohol.
Jenkyns is up for re-election early next month and, although she's said it ought to be possible to combine her council duties with that of an MP, assuming she wins in 2015, she's also "a realist" when it comes to multi-tasking.
Juggling a few roles appears to be something Jenkyns takes in her stride. By the time she became a councillor four years ago, she'd worked for several years in retailing – rising to become area manager of 40 branches of a large retailer – sung semi-professionally, taught music and even run her own record label.
"I'm shocked at how quick everything's happened," she says. "But not much daunts me – at the end of the day we're all equal."
Taking on one of Labour's big beasts at the next general election would daunt most people but not, it seems, Jenkyns.
"Without a doubt, he's experienced," she says. "But for me, elections are won because of people and it's about the ability to connect with, and get into those communities, which is something I do as a councillor. There's a homeless charity in my council ward and I'm involved with lots of community groups – that's what I'm all about."
Even so, Jenkyns was "shocked" to be selected in Morley and Outwood at her first attempt, fully expecting to get an unwinnable Labour seat in order to cut her Westminster teeth. "The biggest thing is to do the groundwork while also being true to who you are. I think it's in the hands of the gods, really."
Her father, who died from a hospital infection two years ago, was always keen for his daughter to enter the world of politics.
"He'd have been so proud," says mum Valerie. "He said to her 'One day you're going to be an MP', so he's definitely looking down and pushing her on."
As for Andrea, she's gearing up to "put in the best fight of her life".
"It's going to be one hell of a journey," she says.
