Lee Anderson’s bombshell move to Reform UK has sparked a surge in new members, according to the party.
A spokesperson told the Express that around 1,000 people have signed up, which costs £25 a year, after the Ashfield MP’s defection was announced this morning.
They said: “Across the country, people are waking up to the political reality.
“There is a choice, the same old, technocratic failures of Westminster’s monoparty.
“They see what happened today, and think, yes, here is something worth supporting.”
Mr Anderson, who is known for being outspoken, was unveiled as the rebranded Brexit Party’s first MP at a press conference in London earlier today.
It follows weeks of speculation over his political future after he lost the Tory whip for refusing to apologise for claiming “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.
He said it was a “shocker” that he was suspended from the Conservatives for “speaking my mind”.
The ex-Labour councillor and coal miner said Reform UK, which is polling at up to 14%, had offered him the chance “to speak out in Parliament on behalf of people around the country who feel that they are not being listened to”.
Mr Tice said he has found a “champion of the Red Wall for Reform UK” in Mr Anderson.
The businessman said: “He’s also coincidentally going to be Reform UK’s first Member of Parliament in the House of Commons.”
Reform UK founder and honorary president Nigel Farage described the defection as “huge”.
He said: “I don’t think Westminster really understands this yet.”
