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When Lee Anderson recently said he couldn’t imagine a world in which he defected to the British Reformation, he admitted he was thinking “ummmmm” to displease journalists. “It’s just politics,” he said Monday.
The former deputy leader of the Conservative Party announced in a surprise press conference on Monday morning that he had joined Nigel Farage’s Reform Britain.
Mr Ashfield’s seat was announced by a right-wing party in central London, ending weeks of speculation that he was prepared to defect.
This marks a departure from his recent commitments. Asked on January 24 if there were any “conceivable worlds” in which he could seek asylum in a reformed UK, Mr Anderson answered “no”.
But reflecting on his comments to journalists after Monday’s press conference, the former Conservative MP said: “That’s just politics.”
“I think I was just kind of hmmmmmming and amming for a while trying to get you away from that scent,” he said.
“But you live in hope that things will get better, but things aren’t getting better. [Conservative] The party is 25 points behind in opinion polls.
“We keep saying it’s over as the election approaches…We seem to be dropping points every week. So nothing has changed except words. People want action more than words.”
Mr Anderson also insisted the Conservatives were justified in losing the general election expected later this year and suggested he was prepared to continue supporting Reform Britain as an opposition party.
“What I want is for the reformers to win a lot of seats, especially in the Red Wall. So we can take the fight to Labor, because Labor will form the next government. Yes,” he told reporters.
“We know that. We are going to fight Labor on the floor and hopefully wake up the country and show that there is an alternative.”
This comes after Mr Anderson was suspended from the Conservative Party by Rishi Sunak after claiming London Mayor Sadiq Khan was “under the control” of Islamists.
He refused to apologize for his comments, choosing instead to double down on his claims, insisting they were correct.
This is the latest in a long political journey for the 57-year-old, who was a Labor MP before joining the Conservative Party ahead of the 2019 general election.
The timing of his defection appears to have been aimed at causing serious political harm to the prime minister.
Mr Anderson told a news conference he wanted to “take back our country” and claimed the government was “giving the streets to ethnic minorities”.
In relation to his comments about the Mayor of London, he said: “There’s no debate that we want to fight back with the culture wars that are sweeping our country.”
The Nottinghamshire councilor said Reform UK would allow him to speak on behalf of people who “don’t feel heard”.
He told reporters: “It’s no secret that I’ve been talking to some of my reformist friends for some time. And Reform Britain is committed to reaching out to millions of people across the country who don’t feel their voices are being heard. It gave me the opportunity to speak in Congress on behalf of the people.
“People will say I took a gamble. And I know from the mailbag how many people in this country support Reform Britain and what they are saying, so I I’m ready to bet on myself. And like millions of people across the country, all I want is to return to my homeland.”