Former Tory deputy chairman Lee Anderson has this morning defected to Reform UK. Party leader Richard Tice made the announcement at a London press conference this morning, where he praised Anderson as a ‘champion of the red wall’ and told reporters: ‘We want to replace the Tories as the main alternative to Starmergeddon.’
GB News, which employs Anderson and hosts his show ‘Real World’, tipped him to defect to Reform earlier today. The move will give Tice’s party its first MP ahead of the upcoming election and may cause more Tory upset after polling on Friday put their vote share at 18 per cent — only 5 per cent ahead of Reform.
It had long been speculated that Lee Anderson may defect to the right-wing party. The red wall Rottweiler was suspended by Sunak two weeks ago after he made controversial remarks on GB News about London mayor Sadiq Khan — and refused to apologise.
The Ashfield MP had the Tory whip removed in February after he discussed the weekly pro-Palestinian marches in London, declaring that ‘Islamists’ have ‘got control of London’ and of Khan himself. He faced a barrage of criticism, with the Labour chair Anneliese Dodds labelling the comments as ‘Islamophobic’ while Grant Schapps struggled to defend the remarks when quizzed by the BBC. Anderson has never apologised for the comments but admitted that his wording had been ‘clumsy’.
‘I will not apologise,’ the Ashfield MP told the media today about his Khan comments. Will Anderson apologise to Tice for all the times he’s insulted Reform? That remains to be seen…
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