Lee Anderson’s Reform defection spells trouble for Rishi Sunak

Tory MP Lee Anderson has defected to Reform UK. Speaking at an impromptu press conference this morning, the former deputy Tory party chairman – who lost the Conservative whip last month over his comments on Islamists controlling London – said that he was switching to Richard Tice’s party as the current ‘parliament doesn’t seem to understand’ what British people want. Anderson said he wants ‘his country back’ and believes Reform is the party best placed to do this.

This is not a surprising defection. Anderson has long been on ‘Reform watch’ as a Tory MP – seen as a candidate who could be tempted to jump ship if the Tories were too soft on issues such as immigration. However, the chances of him doing so shot up last month when No. 10 suspended Anderson after he used an appearance on GB News to say London mayor Sadiq Khan had ‘given our capital away’ to Islamists, who he referred to as Khan’s ‘mates’.