Lee Anderson
Lee Anderson (born 6 January 1967)[2] is a British politician. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ashfield since 2019. He has been a member of Reform UK since 11 March 2024. He was a member of the Conservative Party, and was a Deputy Chairman of it from February 2023 to January 2024.
Lee Anderson | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2019 | |
| Chief Whip of Reform UK in the House of Commons | |
| Assumed office 11 July 2024 | |
| Leader | Nigel Farage |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Member of Parliament for Ashfield | |
| Assumed office 12 December 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Gloria De Piero |
| Majority | 5,509 (13.8%)[1] |
| Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party | |
| In office 7 February 2023 – 16 January 2024 | |
| Leader | Rishi Sunak |
| Preceded by | Matt Vickers |
| Succeeded by | James Daly |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 6 January 1967 Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, England |
| Political party | Reform UK (2024–present) |
| Other political affiliations | Labour (1983–2018) Conservative (2018–2024) |
| Spouse(s) | Sinead Anderson |
| Children | 2 |
Before he was a politician he was a coal miner. He has also worked for Citizens Advice. His political career started in 2015 when he was elected as a Labour Party councillor for Huthwaite and Brierley ward of the Ashfield District.[3] He was suspended from the Labour party in 2018 over a dispute about the Traveller community (Roma people).[4] After his suspension he defected to the Conservative Party.[5] In 2019 he was elected as the councillor for the Oakham ward of the Mansfield District Council.[6] He was also elected as a Member of Parliament in 2019.[7] He stopped being a councillor in 2021. He continued being a MP. In January 2024, Anderson resigned, along with Brendan Clarke-Smith, as Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party, in order to vote for an amendment on the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill.[8] The amendment, put forward by Bill Cash, would "ensure UK and international law could not be used to prevent or delay a person being removed to Rwanda."[9]
Anderson had his Conservative parliamentary whip suspended on 24 January 2024, after saying that "Islamists" controlled London.[10] He joined Reform UK on 11 March 2024, becoming their first MP.[11]
References
change- ↑ "Election results for Ashfield Constituency". Ashfield District Council. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
- ↑ Brunskill, Ian (19 March 2020). The Times guide to the House of Commons 2019 : the definitive record of Britain's historic 2019 General Election. HarperCollins Publishers Limited. p. 84. ISBN 978-0-00-839258-1. OCLC 1129682574. Archived from the original on 9 November 2021. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
- ↑ "District Ward Results 2015". Ashfield District Council. Archived from the original on 5 July 2022. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
- ↑ "Councillor suspended by Ashfield Labour Group". Chad. 14 February 2018. Archived from the original on 5 July 2022. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
- ↑ "Nottinghamshire Labour councillors quit to join Tories". BBC News. 20 March 2018. Archived from the original on 5 July 2022. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
- ↑ Spridgeon, Dale (17 March 2021). "Ashfield MP Lee Anderson quits as Mansfield councillor". Chad. Archived from the original on 5 July 2022. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
- ↑ "Ashfield selects it's next MP Candidate". Ashfield & Mansfield Conservatives. 5 July 2019. Archived from the original on 5 July 2022. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
- ↑ https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-67999810
- ↑ https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/jan/16/tory-deputy-chairs-resign-lee-anderson-brendan-clarke-smith-rishi-sunak
- ↑ "Lee Anderson: MP suspended from Tory party over 'Islamists' comments". BBC News. 2024-02-24. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
- ↑ "Ex-Tory MP Lee Anderson defects to Reform". BBC News. 2024-03-11. Retrieved 2024-03-11.