Little between Tories and Labour, Lee Anderson tells voters from Reform UK bus

Lee Anderson has claimed Labour and the Conservatives have “little between them” as he toured his constituency in a Reform battle bus.

The MP for Ashfield, who crossed the floor this week after losing the Tory whip, was joined by Richard Tice, his new party leader, in an open-top vehicle that was once used to give guided tours of Windsor.

He also revealed he “of course” wanted to see Nigel Farage return to a more prominent role in Reform as his defection was broadly welcomed by residents.

Addressing supporters from the top of the bus in a supermarket car park, Mr Anderson said: “There’s only one political group that will allow me to stand up in Parliament and speak in your language, and that’s the Reform party. I want my country back, successive governments have given our country away or tried to give it away.

“I want our kids to go to decent schools, I want our GPs to be open so we can book an appointment the same day, I want our roads to be fixed, I want our borders to be secure, I want us to have a say in who comes in and out of our country…”

Arguing there was “very little difference” between Labour and the Tories, he added: “The political parties at the moment, the two mainstream parties have little between them. There’s only Reform, when you actually read their contract, that speaks for people.”

Asked whether he wanted to see Mr Farage, a former Reform leader and now its honorary life president, return to front-line politics, Mr Anderson replied: “Of course I would. Ask anyone here.”

Around 200 Reform supporters gathered across a tour that took in two supermarket car parks as well as one of Mr Anderson’s favourite local pubs.

The Reform bus had to be moved further down the road outside one of the supermarkets after a complaint from a member of staff who had received an abusive call as a result of the battle bus being outside the shop.

Reflecting on his new recruit, Mr Tice said: “Lee’s going to be a fantastic MP for Reform, and he’s going to get re-elected. The support for him is even greater. I’m absolutely delighted to be here.

“Rome’s not built in a day, but this is the first chink in the wall. We’re making progress. Money doesn’t grow on trees, but it’s growing, it’s spreading… A lot of people say they don’t know who to vote for, but now there’s an option.”

The Reform leader exclaimed “Hold on to your hats!” as the battle bus went onto the M1, passing the Holiday Inn where Mr Anderson and Mr Tice held secret talks about the former’s defection on the day after his suspension.

The mood among Mr Anderson’s supporters was a mixture of optimism about Reform and frustration with the two main political parties. Catherine Cullen, a 64-year-old who voted for Mr Anderson as the Tory candidate in 2019, said: “They sacked him for telling the truth.

“Everyone in this country is now soul-searching. We are the silent majority and the Government only listens to those who shout the loudest.”

Mr Anderson lost the Tory whip after he claimed Islamists had “got control” of Sadiq Khan, Labour’s Mayor of London, in remarks Mr Khan went on to call “wrong” and “heartbreaking”.

Bev Taylor, 64, from Sutton-in-Ashfield, said Mr Anderson joining Reform was “the cherry on the cake”, while Daniel Bamford, 46, added: “The Tories have done nothing to make things better, and they’ve actually made a lot of things worse.”

The majority of reactions to Mr Anderson’s presence were positive, save for one notable exception.

Police were called in the aftermath of Mr Anderson’s market square walkabout after he was heckled by a woman who continued to shout profanity-laden abuse while following him around at a two-metre distance for almost 15 minutes.

The woman directed insults including “f--- off” and “f------ w—---” towards the MP, who appeared unfazed and told her to “have a nice day” before continuing to greet constituents.

Mr Tice said in the wake of the commotion: “It’s democracy in action when you see the numbers, 99 to one. That’s amongst the worst [I’ve seen] but I’m sort of used to it. I’ve been around a block a bit.”

Minutes earlier, a dog walker in the market square had told Mr Anderson “I’ll vote for you, Lee”, while another exclaimed “well done Lee!”

A Nottinghamshire Police spokesman said: “We were made aware of an incident in Market Place, Sutton-in-Ashfield, at around 12.40pm today.

“At this time no criminal offences have been disclosed to the police. We are not able to confirm nor deny identities of those involved.”