Lee Anderson

Lee Anderson (born 6 January 1967)[1] 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

MP
Official portrait, 2019
Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party
Assumed office
7 February 2023
LeaderRishi Sunak
Preceded byMatt Vickers
Member of Parliament
for Ashfield (UK Parliament constituency)
Assumed office
12 December 2019
Preceded byGloria de Piero
Majority5,733 (11.7%)
Personal details
Born (1967-01-06) 6 January 1967
Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, England
Political partyReform UK (2024–present)
Other political
affiliations		Labour (until 2018) Conservative (2018–2024)
Spouse(s)Sinead
Children2
EducationAshfield School, Kirkby-in-Ashfield
Websitewww.leeanderson.org.uk

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.[2] He was suspended from the Labour party in 2018 over a dispute about the Traveller community (Roma people).[3] After his suspension he defected to the Conservative Party.[4] In 2019 he was elected as the councillor for the Oakham ward of the Mansfield District Council,.[5] He was also elected as a Member of Parliament in 2019.[6] 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.[7] 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."[8]

Anderson had his Conservative parliamentary whip suspended on 24 January 2024, after saying that "Islamists" controlled London.[9] He joined Reform UK on 11 March 2024, becoming their first MP.[10]

References
  1. 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.
  2. "District Ward Results 2015". Ashfield District Council. Archived from the original on 5 July 2022. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  3. "Councillor suspended by Ashfield Labour Group". Chad. 14 February 2018. Archived from the original on 5 July 2022. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
  4. "Nottinghamshire Labour councillors quit to join Tories". BBC News. 20 March 2018. Archived from the original on 5 July 2022. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
  5. 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.
  6. "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.
  7. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-67999810
  8. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/jan/16/tory-deputy-chairs-resign-lee-anderson-brendan-clarke-smith-rishi-sunak
  9. "Lee Anderson: MP suspended from Tory party over 'Islamists' comments". BBC News. 2024-02-24. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
  10. "Ex-Tory MP Lee Anderson defects to Reform". BBC News. 2024-03-11. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
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