‘I want my country back’, declares Anderson
Ex-tory deputy chairman says he can finally speak his mind as he switches allegiances to Reform UK
LEE ANDERSON yesterday announced his defection to Reform UK, declaring “I want my country back”.
The former deputy chairman of the Conservative Party was suspended from the Tories last month over his refusal to apologise for his claims that Islamists had “got control” of Sadiq Khan and London.
Mr Anderson accused the Conservative Party of “stifling free speech” by forcing him to retract the remarks, as he insisted that he was speaking “on behalf of millions of people up and down the country who agree with me”.
He revealed his elderly parents had pleaded with him over the weekend to quit the Tories, saying they could only vote for him if he joined Reform UK.
Announcing the defection at a press conference in Westminster yesterday morning, Richard Tice, Reform UK’S leader, said Mr Anderson would be the party’s first MP. Mr Anderson would also be the Reform party’s Red Wall “champion”, Mr Tice said, as he vowed to replace the Tories as the main alternative to “Starmageddon”.
Mr Anderson said: “I will start by saying I want my country back. Over the last year or so I’ve had to do a lot of soul-searching on my political journey. I don’t expect much in politics other than to be able to speak my mind.” He said that led him to be “labelled as controversial,” but argued it was “not controversial to be concerned about immigration” or to “fight back in a culture war”.
Mr Anderson continued: “It is no secret that I’ve been talking to my friends in Reform for a while. 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 [taken] 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.”
Later, in a huddle with journalists, Mr Anderson said he had been “umming and ahhing” about the move for some time, while “trying to throw you lot off the scent”. Asked if that was his intention when he told The Telegraph in January that there was no conceivable world in which he would join Reform, he said: “That’s just politics, darling.”
He added that he was “not bothered about if you can trust me”.
He said: “It’s politics. We’re all grown-ups in this room, aren’t we? I’m not going to play my full hand. I’m not going to play a full hand, I’m not going to reveal my full hand to you.”
Both Mr Anderson and Mr Tice predicted more defections would follow before the general election. Mr Tice said he expected more Tory MPS to follow the Ashfield MP in joining Reform, while Mr Anderson said: “It’s a sad day that I’m leaving my colleagues. But if I’m honest, this time next year they’ll be sat on the same benches as me.”
In a swipe at Rishi Sunak, Mr Anderson said “nothing’s changing” under the Conservatives “apart from words”, adding: “People want more than words, they want action.”
“You sort of live in hope that things are going to get better and they’ve not got better. The Conservative Party is, what, 25 points behind, probably, in the polls. We keep saying that’s going to close nearer the election, well every day’s nearer the election… we drop a point every week,” he said.
Mr Anderson said there were “several tipping points” for him in the past few months, including his “unpalatable” suspension “for speaking my mind”. But he insisted he would have defected even if had not lost the Tory whip, adding: “My parents have been saying to me for weeks now, you cannot win, we can’t vote for you for being in the Conservative Party. If my parents are saying that, what chance have I got?”
Mr Anderson also ruled out resigning and triggering a by-election, when asked about Mark Reckless and Douglas Carswell doing the same when they quit the Tories for Ukip.
“It’d be pretty reckless of me to suggest a by-election when we could have a general election in May,” Mr Anderson said. “It costs a fortune.”
A Conservative spokesman said: “Lee himself said he fully accepted that the Chief Whip had no option but to suspend the whip in these circumstances. We regret he’s made this decision.
“Voting for Reform can’t deliver anything apart from a Keir Starmer-led Labour Government that would take us back to square one.”