Lee Anderson Has Defected From The Conservatives To Reform UK
Lee Anderson has defected from the Conservatives to Reform UK.
In another major embarrassment for Rishi Sunak, the former Tory deputy chairman announced the move this morning.
It comes just weeks after he was suspended by the Conservatives after he refused to apologise for saying Sadiq Khan had “given our capital city away to his mates”.
Anderson, the MP for Ashfield, also claimed that Islamists had “got control” of the London mayor.
That led to accusations of “Islamophobia” by both Labour and senior Tories.
Anderson later insisted he would not apologise for his comments as that would be “a sign of weakness”.
His decision to defect to Reform UK is a personal blow for Sunak, who has appeared alongside Anderson in the past and saw him as a vital part in his attempts to re-connect with Red Wall seats in the Midlands and north of England.
Sunak also hand-picked Anderson to be one of the Tories’ deputy chairs, a psoition he held until January, when he and Brendan Clarke-Smith quit so they could rebel over the PM’s Rwanda bill.
Anderson’s defection to reform means the former Labour councillor has been a member of three different parties in just six years.
Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper said: “Rishi Sunak’s authority lies in tatters after the man he personally appointed to be deputy chairman of the Conservatives has defected to another party.
“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.”
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