Lee Anderson: Former Conservative deputy chair defects to Reform UK

Published

2 months ago

March 11, 2024

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Former Conservative deputy chair Lee Anderson has defected to Reform UK, becoming the party’s first MP in the Commons.

Mr Anderson, who took the seat of Ashfield in 2019, was kicked out of the parliamentary Conservative Party for refusing to apologise after alleging that London mayor Sadiq Khan was controlled by “Islamists”.

And while some of his colleagues had called for his reinstatement, others accused him of Islamophobia.

Making the announcement of his defection at an event in central London, Mr Anderson told journalists he had done “a lot of soul searching” on his “political journey”, but concluded: “Somebody has to make a stand.”

Politics live: ‘I want my country back,’ declares Anderson

“It is no secret that I’ve been talking to my friends in Reform for a while,” added the MP. “And Reform UK has offered me the chance to speak out in parliament on behalf of millions of people up and down the country who feel that they’re not being listened to.

“People will say that I’ve took a gamble. And I’m prepared to gamble on myself, as I know from my mailbag how many people in this country support Reform UK and what they have to say.

“And like millions of people up and down the country, all I want is my country back.”

Asked by Sky News’ political editor, Beth Rigby, what his message would be to his former Tory colleagues who feared the defection could damage their chances at the next election, he said: “Country, constituency, then party.”

Mr Anderson was welcomed to Reform UK by its leader, Richard Tice, who said his first MP would be a “champion of the red wall”, who would “tell it as it is, with no nonsense, no waffle”.

Refuting claims his own views were controversial, Mr Anderson added: “They are opinions which are shared by millions of people up and down the country.

“It’s not controversial to be concerned about illegal immigration. It’s not controversial to be concerned about legal migration.

“It’s not controversial to be, you know, worried, concerned about the Metropolitan Police and the failing London mayor and the hate marchers, the street crime and the shoplifters literally getting away with ruining businesses on a daily basis.

“It’s not controversial to fight back in a culture war, a culture war that is sweeping our nation.”

Defecting to another party does not trigger a by-election automatically, but an MP can choose to hold one – as both Douglas Carswell and Mark Reckless did when they left the Tories to join UKIP.

However, Mr Anderson said he would not call a vote, claiming it would be “pretty reckless” so close to a general election and would “cost a fortune”.

Anderson’s deflection moves Reform to the main stage

By Matthew Thompson, political correspondent

And there we have it. Lee Anderson has become Reform UK’s first member of parliament.

The defection will send shockwaves through Westminster, and particularly through the Conservative Party – who only a week ago were trying to seize control of the narrative and boost their dire polling numbers with a tax cutting budget.

No such luck now, you suspect.

Many people in the Conservative Party rather like Mr Anderson, and would have welcomed him back into the fold with open arms.

He is the man brought in by Rishi Sunak to say the things that others couldn’t. To be the party’s voice in the red wall. The ballast against both Labour and Reform.

By defecting, he not only damages the Conservatives, but gives a significant boost to their rivals.

The nightmare Conservative scenario is to be squeezed between both a resurgent Labour Party and a rising Reform UK, to say nothing of the Liberal Democrats.

It is shades not of the Labour landslide in 1997, but of 1993 – the year the Canadian Progressive Conservative Party suffered a near extinction-level event after being assailed on several sides by rival parties including, portentously, a right-wing outfit called Reform.

Mr Anderson’s defection does not mean that will happen. But at a stroke, Reform UK have moved from the side-lines to the main stage.

There are swirling rumours of further defections in the pipeline, all of which will do little to warm the chill dread of 1993 currently coursing down Conservative spines.

A Conservative Party spokesperson said they “regret” the decision taken by Mr Anderson, adding: “Voting for Reform can’t deliver anything apart from a Keir Starmer-led Labour government that would take us back to square one – which means higher taxes, higher energy costs, no action on channel crossings, and uncontrolled immigration.”

But while one of the right wing factions within the Tories, the New Conservatives, released their own statement agreeing with that sentiment, they placed the blame of the MP’s exit at the door of their own party.

“We have failed to hold together the coalition of voters who gave us an 80 seat majority in 2019,” it said. “Those voters – in our traditional heartlands and in the Red Wall seats like Ashfield – backed us because we offered an optimistic, patriotic, no-nonsense Conservatism.

“They voted for lower immigration, for a better NHS, for a rebalanced economy, and for pride in our country.

“Our poll numbers show what the public think of our record since 2019. We cannot pretend any longer that ‘the plan is working’. We need to change course urgently.”

Labour MP and national campaign co-ordinator Pat McFadden accused the Conservatives of “falling apart”, adding: “What does it say about Rishi Sunak’s judgement that he promoted Lee Anderson in the first place?

“The truth is that the prime minister is too weak to lead a party too extreme to be led, and if the Tories got another five years it would all just get worse.”

The Liberal Democrats also said Mr Anderson’s defection left Mr Sunak’s authority in “tatters”, with deputy leader Daisy Cooper adding: “This is a prime minister that cannot govern his own party let alone the country.

“Even now Sunak is too weak to rule out Nigel Farage joining the Conservative Party. It just shows that there is now hardly a cigarette paper between the Conservative Party and Reform.”

Mr Anderson began his political career in the Labour Party as a councillor and member of staff for Ashfield’s then MP Gloria De Piero.

But after being suspended by the local organisation, he chose to join the Conservatives and became their candidate for the 2019 election, winning the seat with a majority more than 5,000.

The MP became a controversial voice on the backbenches with his views on immigration and the so-called culture wars, but gained a lot of support from the right of his party and was made deputy chair by Rishi Sunak.

However, he stood down from the role in January to vote against the government’s Rwanda deportation plan, which he believed needed toughening up.

Mr Anderson’s latest defection will come as a blow to Mr Sunak, and a boost to Reform UK – which is currently polling above the Liberal Democrats.