March 11, 2024 - 4:00pm
“The party leaving guy who likes leaving parties left a party?” was the reaction of the Economist’s Bagehot columnist, Duncan Robinson, to this morning’s news of Lee Anderson’s defection from the Conservative Party to Reform UK. It’s only been six years since his move from Labour to Conservatives, but Anderson’s latest departure could play a pivotal role in the upcoming election. Between his criticisms of the Tories and his eyelash-fluttering at their rivals to the Right, however, Anderson hasn’t always been entirely complimentary of Richard Tice’s party.
Speaking in January to GB News, which pays him a six-figure salary to present a weekly show, Anderson said that “Reform is not the answer. It leaves the door open for Sir Keir Starmer to get into Number 10 and undo all the hard work we’ve tried to do so far.” In the same interview, he warned Tice to “be careful what you wish for” because Reform’s rise “runs the risk of a Labour government ruining this country”.
The former Tory also claimed last year, in remarks leaked to the press, that Tice’s party offered him “a lot of money to join them” (a suggestion Tice denies), yet this indiscretion clearly didn’t deter Reform from its pursuit. Nigel Farage, who led Ukip and the Brexit Party and is now Reform’s Honorary President, offered Anderson a route out of the Tories last month after the Ashfield MP had the whip suspended for suggesting London Mayor Sadiq Khan was under the “control” of “Islamists”. In the following days, Anderson refused to rule out a defection, saying he had “been on a political journey” since leaving the Labour Party in 2018.
But while Anderson has in the past praised Farage (even suggesting that the I’m a Celebrity alumnus should lead Reform himself), he has been less gushing about the party’s current leader. Earlier this year Anderson called his new boss a “pound shop Nigel Farage”, while Tice has publicly said that the ex-Tory is “desperate” and accused him of lying. Reform deputy leader Ben Habib probably didn’t help matters last month when he insisted that Anderson “clearly hasn’t got a grasp […] of the language required to identify and address the problem [of Islamic extremism]”.
Budding Tory rebels can perhaps now ignore Anderson’s recent advice to stick with Rishi Sunak, and will be especially curious about whether he stands by his 2020 vote in favour of MPs calling a by-election should they switch parties. Speaking to the media today as he announced his defection, Anderson argued that politicians can be “as trustworthy as journalists in what they say and do”. Give it a few months, and his new friends at Reform may realise just how true this is.
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SubscribeMaybe it does leave the door open. However, the conservatives have driven a bulldozer through the side of the building, so I’m not really sure it matters so much. And what “hard work,” exactly?
And what “hard work,” exactly?
Attracting a million immigrants a year. Winding down the police forces, the armed forces, the local councils, the health service, the transport networks. Undermining the Union. Finding new and inventive ways of taxing people whilst ensuring they get no discernable benefit.
They haven’t had a moment off!
Cringe-fest for all concerned, this won’t end well and as Anderson suggested previously, only helps Labour. Maybe that’s what he wants.
Seriously, who cares?
Anderson is a grotesque caricature but let’s not pay him too much attention as he will be gone whenever Sunak musters up the courage to call an election.
Now I’m sure you won’t mind if I remind you of this post, come the time that he keeps his seat…
Smart people change when the circumstances change. I’m surprised more Tories haven’t defected, maybe they ain’t very smart.
A by election would be an interesting test of Reform UK’s popularity.
Voters perhaps, yes. I’d prefer to see a little more integrity from a politician however – how can you trust anything someone says if they defect in such a manner and conveniently forget their previous adamant views?
More parties than Bojo had during Lockdown, that’s 30p Lee. But he’ll be ok. He can talk twaddle and be well paid for it by GB News for blowing his dog-whistle tripe.
What a Grifter.
If that’s all really true (and I suspect you don’t know him and aren’t really in a position to judge), how did he manage to get elected ? He appears to be representing the views of his constituents and a significant number of people in this country. Is that a problem ? If so, why ?
I don’t doubt he represents ‘some’ opinion, but strongly suspect he and yourself possibly significantly over estimate how big that constituent is. And to underline the point – why therefore are Labour so far ahead in Polls despite Starmer and their alleged woke tendencies? I suspect the echo chamber is a bit smaller than he and you like to think but we’ll see.
Normally I would say there should be an election after changing party but as the Cons threw him out, the Cons aren’t Cons anymore and it cannot be that long till an election he has good grounds for staying on and giving his constituents a chance to see what, if any, difference Reform offer.
Expect a blizzard of such hit pieces.
Perhaps there is an element of vanity about Lee Anderson (I don’t know him, I really don’t know). Perhaps he is being paid to defect (again, I don’t know). But I don’t see the Conservatives or Labour actually listening to the voters of Ashfield and similar places. Or even wanting to listen and hear what they say.
Apologies for repeating this yet again. However bad the politicians are, the media are worse. I’d say that the politicians are actually more trustworthy than the media – they are more honest about what they are. And they are elected and can be removed.
I’ve come to suspect that a lot of the cr*p that journalists come up with is motivated by professional inadequacty and jealousy as much as anything else. I sense that a significant part of the campaign to bring down Boris Johnson was jealousy of his apparently effortless success and earning power by mediocre journalists who resent success.
There is no point whatever in a by-election this close to a general election.
The fact that the media want one is irrelevant. I’m far from convinced that the majority of people in Ashfield do, given that they’ll be voting again within a year.
Anyone with half a brain knows that a large part the job of a Senior party member is too bad-mouth potential threats to their power base.
This is exactly what Lee Anderson did.
I suspect that the main difference between him and others is that he got sick of bad-mouthing people who share the vast majority of his views.
A less disingenuous author would be acknowledging this.
Very disappointing ….