Now, after starting political life as a Labour Councillor in Ashfield back in 2015, before switching to the Conservatives in 2018 – largely to do with his opposition to Momentum and an unfortunate incident with a digger – Lee Anderson has now joined Reform UK.
Having recently been accused of “having more parties than Boris in the thick of covid lockdowns”, you’d think it would now be impossible for Lee to move any further to the right, so hopefully he’ll be staying put, at least in terms of political affiliation if not longevity.
Here at your Chad, it would be fair to say that Mr Anderson – allegedly known as Lee Anderthol among some of his political opponents – has a somewhat frosty relationship with us.
Gone, sadly, are the days when he’d get the kettle on when we were summoned to help judge the annual children’s Christmas card competition organised by his political predecessor and former boss Gloria de Piero.
But things have gone rather quiet these days. We still run his weekly column, but with his £100K a year GB News gig to top up his Parliamentary salary, he’s not exactly relying on us to raise his profile these days.
Anyway, with his latest round of political musical chairs, and a General Election surely around the corner, we thought it was high time we took a look at the lows and lows of Lee’s career to date.
5. Antisemitism
So, while his latest woes come from accusations of Islamophobia, back in the day Lee was also accused of not liking Jews very much and had to undergo online training in the run-up to the 2019 General Election to get a better understanding of Antisemitism. The accusations arose after he was linked to a Facebook group that supported fellow 'arch liberal' Tommy Robinson. He later apologised. (Getty Images) Photo: Finnbarr Webster
6. 'Pud 'em up!'
Never one to fully grasp the idea that others may not necessarily share his views, Lee has an ongoing 'bromance' with arch-Remainer Steve Bray. Previously, Lee has referred to the campaigner as a 'parasite', stolen his hat and challenged him to a fight . . . well, a boxing match. Because, let's face it, that's how politicians usually resolve differences of opinion. Particularly looking forward to when Labour announce Tyson Fury as the next Ashfield Parliamentary Candidate TBH. Photo: Youtube
7. Ladies man
Not long after becoming an MP, Lee had a short spell on the Women and Equalities Committee (seriously . . . don't laugh) but gave it up due to 'time commitments'. Presumably, telling a female politician to 'stay out of big boy politics' and making a remark about a female canvasser's breasts had nothing to do with it. Still, with hindsight, it may not have been the best of fits from the start. Photo: Chad
8. Chopper
Before Lee got into a hissyfit about sending asylum seekers to Rwanda, he backed a motion to have them all sent to the Falkland Islands instead. As if the weather and being invaded by Argentina wasn't enough. Wonder what Mrs Thatch would have had to say. Another of Lee's solutions to the migrant crisis had been to have them all loaded onto a warship and taken to Calais, where we could have a stand-off with the French. Photo: Chad