Lee Anderson has been tipped to hold on to his Ashfield seat at the next general election after his defection to Reform UK.
Bookmaker Star Sports put the ex-Tory deputy chairman at 2/1 to retain his Red Wall constituency.
William Kedjanyi, political betting analyst at Star Sports, said: “Following Lee Anderson’s suspension from his post as vice-chairman to the Conservative party last month, the new Reform UK champion has been backed to retain his seat in the Ashfield constituency.
“Anderson is 2/1 to win the Ashfield seat in the next general election as a Reform UK candidate, with his sights set on taking some of the Conservative constituencies that make up the Red Wall.”
Mr Anderson was unveiled as Reform’s first MP at a press conference in London yesterday following weeks of speculation.
The former Labour councillor lost the Tory whip last month after refusing to apologise for claims that “Islamists” had “got control” of London Mayor Sadiq Khan.
The former Conservative Party deputy chairman declared “all I want is my country back” as he spoke alongside Reform UK leader Richard Tice.
Mr Anderson added: “People will say that I’ve took a gamble. And I’m prepared to gamble on myself as I know from my mailbag how many people in this country support Reform UK and what they have to say.
“And, like millions of people up and down the country, all I want is my country back.”
It comes as Reform UK is polling as high as 14% nationally and largely attracting disillusioned 2019 Tory voters.
Nigel Farage is honorary president of the rebranded Brexit Party, which came third in two recent by-elections.
He described Mr Anderson’s defection as “huge”, adding: “I don’t think Westminster really understands this yet.”
Mr Tice has ruled out any electoral pacts with the Tories at the next general election.
Rishi Sunak’s party is trailing behind Sir Keir Starmer’s outfit in opinion polls by around 20 points.
