Lee Anderson (British politician)
British politician (born 1967) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Lee Anderson (born 6 January 1967) is a British politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Ashfield since 2019. Elected as a member of the Conservative Party, he defected to Reform UK in March 2024 after having the whip suspended. He is Reform UK's first and only MP.
Lee Anderson | |
---|---|
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 |
Member of Parliament for Ashfield | |
Assumed office 12 December 2019 | |
Preceded by | Gloria De Piero |
Majority | 5,733 (11.7%) |
Personal details | |
Born | (1967-01-06) 6 January 1967 (age 57) Ashfield, England |
Political party | Reform UK (2024–present) |
Other political affiliations | Labour (1983–2018) Conservative (2018–2024) |
Spouse | Sinead Anderson |
Children | 2 |
Anderson was a Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party under Rishi Sunak from February 2023 until January 2024 when he resigned to vote against the government on an amendment relating to the Rwanda asylum plan; he ultimately abstained after he stated he was taunted by Labour Party MPs in the No lobby.[1] In February 2024, he had the Conservative whip suspended after refusing to apologise for stating that "Islamists" had "got control" of Mayor of London Sadiq Khan and Leader of the Opposition Keir Starmer.
Prior to his parliamentary career, Anderson was a coal miner and worked for Citizens Advice Bureau before being elected as a Labour Party councillor in Ashfield in 2015. Suspended by Labour, he defected to the Conservative Party in 2018 and was a Conservative councillor in Mansfield from 2019 to 2021, also serving as an MP for much of this time.