Anderson, the MP for Ashfield in Nottinghamshire, accused the Conservative Party of stifling “free speech” and said he found it “unpalatable” that he had been disciplined for “speaking my mind”…reports Asian Lite News
Lee Anderson has joined Nigel Farage‘s Reform UK with a furious attack on the Conservative Party after he was suspended by the Tories for making Islamophobic remarks about London mayor Sadiq Khan.
The former Tory deputy chairman said he had done “a lot of soul searching” but had decided to join Reform in a bid to take “my country back”.
Anderson, the MP for Ashfield in Nottinghamshire, accused the Conservative Party of stifling “free speech” and said he found it “unpalatable” that he had been disciplined for “speaking my mind”.
In a speech, he said his parents, who live in his constituency, had told him they could not vote for him at this year’s election if he did not defect to Reform. He said: “All I want is my country back. Now this may sound offensive to the liberal elite. But it’s not offensive to my friends or family, my constituents and some of my constituents like my mum and dad, who told me they could not vote for me unless I joined Reform UK. My parents are both nearly 80 and they get it, and I must not let them down.”
The news was announced by Reform leader Richard Tice in what was billed as a “major” announcement by the party.
Tice, who said he expected “more [defections] to follow”, welcomed Mr Anderson as a “champion” of the Red Wall who “is trusted by voters to tell it as it is”. As recently as January, Mr Anderson branded Mr Tice a “poundshop Nigel Farage” and said Reform was “not a proper political party”.