Outspoken MP Lee Anderson defects to Reform UK

Lee Anderson has rarely been out of the headlines since becoming the Conservative Party's deputy chairman just over a year ago.

In a coup for the Reform Party, he's become their first MP, declaring: "I want my country back" and being hailed by party leader Richard Tice as the "champion of the Red Wall".

The move comes after Mr Anderson was kicked off the Tory benches by the prime minister, over his false claims that London mayor Sadiq Khan and Labour leaders Sir Keir Starmer are "controlled by Islamists".

The MP for Ashfield was already in the PM's sights in January, when Mr Sunak warned he would fire any frontbenchers who failed to vote with the government on the Rwanda bill.

Instead, Mr Anderson and his former fellow Tory deputy chairman Brendan Clarke-Smith quit their roles ahead of the vote in order to rebel.

The Nottinghamshire politician - who is paid £100,000 a year on top of his MPs' salary for hosting a GB News show - enjoys speaking his mind and upsetting what he sees as the politically correct "woke" establishment.

In an interview conducted a few days before he was given the deputy chair role in February 2023, Mr Anderson expressed his support for bringing back the death penalty - a position not shared by the government.

He was given the nickname "30p Lee" after comments in Parliament when he suggested people needed to learn how to cook and budget "properly".

"We can make a meal for about 30p a day and this is cooking from scratch," he said.

He's also said that poor families were "more resourceful" in the past - and was criticised by the Hope Not Hate campaign for saying he had sympathy with people protesting outside hotels providing refuge for asylum seekers.

But despite his tendency to create media storms, his supporters in the Conservative Party believe the former Labour councillor can connect with so-called "red wall" voters in the Midlands and the north of England in a way that others can't.

Born in Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, to a family of coal miners, he followed in the footsteps of his father by working in the area's pits for 10 years after leaving school.

After separating from his partner, he raised his two sons as a single parent on what he described as a "meagre wage".

"I've been that man that has to put five quid in the gas meter on a Sunday night and been watching the meter spin round all week," he told TalkTV in 2022.

He went on to volunteer at a local Citizens Advice centre before working in hostels for homeless care leavers.

His first job in politics was working in the office of local Labour MP Gloria De Piero, serving as a district councillor at the same time.

In February 2018 he was suspended from the council's Labour group after hiring a digger and placing concrete blocks to stop travellers illegally camping in a car park.

A month later he defected to the Tories, saying his former party had been "taken over by the hard-left".

In the 2019 general election the Brexit-supporter stood as the Conservative candidate for Ashfield, winning the seat from Labour.

The constituency was one of many Leave-supporting areas to turn blue in Boris Johnson's landslide victory over Jeremy Corbyn.

However, his successful campaign was not without controversy.

He faced mockery after he appeared to be caught setting up a door knock while out canvassing, accompanied by journalist Michael Crick.

During the visit a microphone picked up Mr Anderson asking a voter not to mention he was his friend during filming.

There was further criticism for comments suggesting "nuisance tenants" living on a council estate should be forced to live in tents and pick vegetables.

Mr Anderson continued to attract attention for his strident views as an MP.

During the Euro 2020 football tournament he criticised the England team for taking the knee in protest at racism and vowed to boycott their matches.

He returned to the theme of budgeting, when he posted a photo on Twitter of one of his staff members to illustrate his argument that nurses on £30,000 a year didn't need to use food banks.

The post, which detailed her monthly spending on rent and travel, provoked a backlash on social media.

The 57-year-old's appointment as deputy party chairman by Mr Sunak came despite Mr Anderson initially backing his rival Boris Johnson in last year's leadership election.

He's also been critical of the government's approach to tackling illegal immigration.

In December, he wrote that he was "putting my party on notice" over the issue, saying the number of people crossing the Channel in small boats was "making us the laughing stock of the world".

In a joint resignation letter, Mr Anderson and Mr Clarke-Smith said they backed rebel amendments to the Rwanda bill "not because we are against the Rwanda legislation but because... we want it to work."

They added "our main wish is to strengthen the legislation. This means that in order to vote for amendments we will therefore need to offer you our resignations from our roles".

The two said they believed when it came to asylum claims "there are far too many who wish to cheat our system" yet provisions in international and domestic law meant deportations could still be blocked under the government's bill.

Many of Mr Anderson's former fellow Tory MPs in the Midlands and north of England love his outspoken style.

They think he reflects the concerns of real voters - the people they want to hold on to at the next general election.