Ex-Tory deputy chairman Lee Anderson defects to Reform UK after PM booted him out in ‘Islamophobic’ row
LEE Anderson is set to defect to Reform UK, the Nigel Farage-founded party, in a blow for Rishi Sunak.
The formal announcement will be made at an event in central London this morning.
The former deputy chairman of the Tory Party was stripped of the whip after refusing to apologise for remarks about London Mayor Sadiq Khan, which sparked an Islamophobia row.
He had told GB News Mr Khan had “given our capital away” to Islamists, whom he referred to as “his mates”.
The comments prompted widespread condemnation from across the political divide including from several senior Tories.
Ministers left the door open to Mr Anderson re-joining the party, provided he issued an apology.
But the Ashfield MP refused to do so and instead doubled down on his remarks, insisting saying sorry when right would be a “sign of weakness”.
Mr Anderson was deputy chairman until he quit in January to rebel against Mr Sunak’s legislation to revive his stalled plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda.
The defection by Mr Anderson, which comes after weeks of speculation, would give Reform UK its first MP.
The rebranded Brexit Party is led by Richard Tice and some Tories see it as a potential challenger at the general election expected this year, with signs of growing support for the party.
It secured its best by-election results yet in Wellingborough and Kingswood last month, scoring double-digit shares of the vote in both constituencies.
After the double by-election defeat, the PM insisted a vote for Reform at the next general election is a vote to “put Keir Starmer in power”.