Boris Johnson pals tell Rishi Sunak 'it's over' as 9 more Tory MPs could defect

12 March 2024 , 09:24

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Boris Johnson was ousted as PM after Rishi Sunak quit as his Chancellor (Image: Getty Images)

Rishi Sunak has been warned more MPs will follow Lee Anderson by defecting to Reform UK as the Conservatives tear themselves apart.

Supporters of Boris Johnson last night launched a fresh bid to oust the Prime Minister after Mr Anderson joined the party founded by Nigel Farage. The Tories had been hoping to lure back the ex-Deputy Chairman after he was suspended last month for claiming Sadiq Khan is controlled by “Islamists”. They had suggested he would be allowed back in if he apologised

But the Ashfield MP yesterday jumped to Reform, which was formerly known as the Brexit Party. At an event in central London, the party’s leader Richard Tice said he would be “surprised” if more MPs did not defect ahead of the election. He said Mr Anderson would be a “champion of the Red Wall for Reform UK” as it tries to replace the Tories as an alternative to Labour.

David Campbell Bannerman, the Chair of the Conservative Democracy Organisation, told Times Radio it was “over” for Mr Sunak as he claimed a further nine Tory MPs are considering defecting. "Rishi is to blame directly for this and Conservative MPs must wake up now or die politically,” said the former MEP who is a staunch supporter of Mr Johnson. “They must get letters in and remove Rishi rapidly. [It] can be done in one week. Only then can we turn things around.”

Lee Anderson (right) defected to Reform UK on Monday, despite calling its leader Richard Tice (right) a "pound shop" Nigel Farage only weeks earlier (James Veysey/REX/Shutterstock)

The New Conservatives, a group of right wing Tories that Mr Anderson had been part of, said: “The responsibility for Lee's defection sits with the Conservative Party... We cannot pretend any longer that 'the plan is working'. We need to change course urgently.”

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Labour’s Pat McFadden said Mr Anderson's defection suggests the Prime Minister is "too weak to lead a party too extreme to be led". "While the Conservatives are falling apart, Labour is focused on turning the page on 14 years of Tory failure," he said. "What does it say about Rishi Sunak's judgment that he promoted Lee Anderson in the first place?”

As he announced he was joining Reform, Mr Anderson said: "I want my country back". “I cannot support the direction of the Conservative Party while it does not best serve the needs of the people in Ashfield and also Britain,” he added in a post on social media.

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His decision comes just weeks after he branded Mr Tice a "poundshop Nigel Farage" and said Reform was "not a proper political party". Asked about comments in January when he had said there was "no conceivable world" in which he would join Reform, he said: "That's just politics, darling."

The MP said he had defected after his parents had told him, “you cannot win, we can't vote for you being in the Conservative Party”. "If my parents are saying that, what chance have I got?” he added. Recent opinion polls have suggested the Tories have been losing support to Reform. Mr Anderson will be the party’s first MP. Despite previously arguing that MPs who defect should face a by-election, he ruled out holding one.

Mr Anderson was a Labour councillor but defected to the Tories in 2018 after being suspended. He was elected as the first ever Conservative MP for Ashfield in 2019. Mr Sunak appointed him as the party’s Deputy Chairman last year, despite his history of saying controversial things. He has repeatedly ranted about struggling Brits relying on foodbanks - and earned the nickname '30p Lee' for his claims about the cost of meals.

Mr Anderson stepped down from the party role in January following a disagreement over the Rwanda plan. Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper said: "Rishi Sunak's authority lies in tatters after the man he personally appointed to be Deputy Chairman of the Conservatives has defected to another party. This is a Prime Minister that cannot govern his own party let alone the country.”

John Stevens