Lee Anderson reveals he won’t campaign in his Tory friends’ seats

Announcing a non-aggression pact, Mr Anderson said he will not be campaigning against Tory MPs Ben Bradley (Mansfield), Brendan Clarke-Smith (Bassetlaw), Marco Longhi (Dudley North) and Nick Fletcher (Don Valley) in the next general election, because “friendship means more”.

The Ashfield MP described the four MPs as friends, adding they had reached out to him following his defection.

Mr Fletcher has since endorsed Mr Anderson as the candidate for Ashfield, stating he needs to be back in Westminster after the election.

The former Tory deputy chairman defected to Reform earlier this year, after he was stripped of the whip for suggesting London Mayor Sadiq Khan was being controlled by Islamist extremists.

Recent polls have put Reform just several points behind the Conservatives, with some fearing the party could make further gains if its founder Nigel Farage takes on a more prominent role.

In a post on X, Mr Fletcher said: “I so wish @LeeAndersonMP_ had remained with the Conservatives. However having lost the whip it would mean the Conservative Party would choose someone other than Lee to fight the election in Ashfield.

“I can understand in those circumstances why he joined Reform. Ashfield has its greatest champion and I hope they appreciate what he has done for his home town and his country at the next election.

“I hope my constituents see that a vote for me in Doncaster is also the right thing to do. I am a lone voice in Parliament shouting up for Doncaster.”

Following Mr Anderson’s announcement, the party said it respects Mr Anderson’s personal decision but the party will continue with its election campaigns in these seats.

Mr Anderson’s post said: “My Friends. Meet Ben Bradley MP Brendan Clarke-Smith MP Marco Longhi MP & Nick Fletcher MP.

“These people are my friends and the ones that reached out to me last month.

“They will always be my friends and because of this I will not campaign against them in their Parliamentary seats.

“Friendship means more to me. Every other seat is fair game.”

Mr Anderson is a former Labour councillor and he served as office manager to Ashfield’s last Labour MP, Gloria De Piero.

A Reform UK spokesperson said: “Lee Anderson made it clear from the day he joined Reform UK that he would not personally campaign against a handful of his close friends.

“The party respect this decision and it shows Lee’s loyalty to his friends, which goes beyond politics.

“Reform will be standing in these constituencies and will be fighting the Conservatives across the board in England, Wales and Scotland.

“The Tories have betrayed the country by failing to control our borders and allowing our public services to crumble. We will punish them at the general election.”

Elsewhere, Reform UK spokesman Gawain Towler said he is “mortified” that the party announced that York Central candidate Tommy Cawkwell had been dropped after it turned out he had died.

When Mr Cawkwell failed to respond to a number of phone calls and emails, Reform rescinded his candidacy for being “inactive”.

It then emerged that Mr Cawkwell, an RNLI volunteer, had died following the selection process.

Mr Towler told the Mirror: “Naturally I am mortified that through ignorance I did not realise the reason for his inactivity, it must have been ghastly for his family to read about it in the way it was presented in the press.”

Reform has been contacted by the PA news agency for comment.