Lee Anderson has said his mother is a ‘happy bunny’ following his defection to Reform UK and confirmed his parents ‘had a big part to play’ in his decision to leave the Conservative Party.
He revealed they had told him that they could not vote for him if he stood for the Conservatives.
Speaking to GB News Lee Anderson said:
“I've had lots, literally hundreds of emails of support, private messages, WhatsApp messages; my phone's gone berserk, so has my laptop so there's lots of encouragement coming in.
“I’ve had a call from my mother as well - she's a happy bunny at the moment.
“And let me just say this, that it was my parents who had a big part to play in this. I know, there are some idiots online saying that Lee Anderson’s done what his mum’s told him to do, but I think your mothers and your fathers give good advice, even when you get to my age.
“They were saying to me, ‘Lee, we cannot vote for you while you are in the Conservative Party but we could vote for you if you're in the Reform Party.
“Because they’ve lost confidence. My parents were first time Tory voters in 2019. They put their faith in Boris Johnson and the Conservative government and in me.
“But four years later they feel like they've been let down, that the Conservative Party have not delivered on their promises and they think this is time for change.
“They won't go back to the Labour Party because they don't like Sir Keir and they don't like what Labour stands for but they're looking for something else. I think the country now are looking for a different option.”
He confirmed he had not received any money for joining Reform, saying:
“Don’t be so ridiculous, I am not a mercenary.
“I’ve had no money, I've took a gamble on myself. The Reform Party have taken a gamble on me: it's a gamble I was prepared to take and it’s a gamble I think I will win. It's a gamble that I need to win, and I need the British public now to gamble on me and the Reform Party.”
Responding to previous comments made about Reform and Richard Tice, he said:
“We’re adults, we’re grown men: it’s a bit of politics, it’s a bit of political banter. These things happen. Out in the real world, this is how men talking about men in the real workplace.
“He's got broad shoulders, has Richard; I've got broad shoulders and for the greater good of this country we can put any differences to one side and crack on with the day job.
“We have a bit of banter and sometimes you have to throw the gutter press off the scent and let them go and pick on someone else.”
“We keep hearing talk of a May election. If I was to trigger a by election now that means a by election in, what, six weeks and then maybe a general election in May. What a ridiculous scenario that would be.
“I think it's about 300 grand to have a by election, it costs a hell of a lot of money, the taxpayers money, and if anybody out there wants to pay for it, they can knock on my door and I’ll think about it.
“We keep hearing these rumours [about a May election]. I know we've got about another two weeks before that's the cut-off date, but there could be a May election.
“I'm not sure whether the Conservative Party want a November election. We're going to have another summer of thousands of young men crossing the Channel every single week. That's going to wind the public up. Is that a vote winner? I think not.
“I didn't tell [Rishi Sunak]. The news broke on social media. I've had no contact from the party at all and I thought at that stage, maybe somebody would have given me a call to say, ‘Hold on Lee, what are you doing, have a think about it.’
“Nothing at all. In fact I’ve had no contact from the from the PM, even when I lost the whip: that came from the chief whip, it didn't come from the PM.
“There's a lot of support. I've had a lot of MPs contact me and some Cabinet members.”
Discussing other possible defections, he said:
“I'm not sure: I've not had that conversation with anyone if I'm honest. But more importantly, I've had literally hundreds of members from up and down the country support me. There's a lot of support out there for what I've said.
“I think they'd probably could [have kept me], they could have tried to keep me. I think the problem with the PM, who I think is a good man, I think he's a decent man. I think sometimes when you're in that position, sometimes it's far too easy to pander to the to the baying mob and try and make an example and come across as being strong and decisive.
“I think Keir Starmer’s tried to do it recently with some of his MPs. I don't think it was the right decision but at the end of the day, he’s the PM.
“I’ve got lots of integrity but what I will say about being in three different parties is that my politics haven't changed. All I want is to live in a country which is safe, got police on the streets, where we control immigration, both legal and illegal migration. A safe country so hopefully if I ever have grandchildren, for them to grow up into and to hopefully play my part in making sure that happens.
“And at the moment, I can't see the difference between the Labour Party and the Conservative Party. I want my country back. I think we've given the country away to people that don't like our country.
“We're importing people and letting people come into the country who don't accept or adopt British values, don't like our way of life, don't like our history, our heritage, our culture, and it just keeps happening and happening time and time again."
