Tories left 'disappointed' after Lee Anderson signalled he wanted to return to the party

Lee Anderson’s decision to defect to Reform after talks suggesting he wanted to return to the Tories is “disappointing”, insiders said.

The former Tory deputy chairman announced he was switching parties despite being close to agreeing a comeback.

Mr Anderson declared “all I want is my country back” as he stood alongside new leader Richard Tice in a hastily arranged press conference.

A senior Tory source said: “He has been signalling to us that he wanted to come back.

“I don’t know where his head is at. It’s disappointing.”

The source added: “He was trying to make an important underlying point but it was made quite crassly.

“It could have been dealt with.

“He was signalling that he was open to an apology.”

“MPs are furious about it. They are upset by the disloyalty. People feel let down.”

The Ashfield MP accused the Conservative Party of stifling “free speech” by suspending for speaking his mind about London mayor Sadiq Khan.

Mr Anderson met Tory chief whip Simon Hart last Monday for talks about how he could return to the party.

The pair were due to hold a second round of discussions to pave the way for him to be given the whip back.

Home Secretary James Cleverly said his former Tory colleague had made a “real mistake”.

“Reform is not the answer,” he added.

Conservative deputy chairman James Daly said he did not understand Mr Anderson’s explanation for quitting the party.

“For me this is a really, really sad day,” he added.

Mr Anderson became Reform’s first MP and revealed he was spurred on to defect after 4,000 people filled his mailbag with demands to do so after his suspension.

He told how he had done “a lot of soul-searching” over the past year, but said his ability to speak his mind and speak on behalf of his constituents had been more important than retaining his position in the Tory Party.

Mr Anderson lost the whip last month after claiming “Islamists” had “got control” of Mr Khan and London.

He doubled down on his comments, saying he would not apologise, and that Reform UK 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”.

He added: “All I want is my country back”, and conceded that while it may sound offensive to “the liberal elite” it is not offensive to his friends, family or constituents.

Reform UK honorary president Nigel Farage said Mr Anderson’s decision to defect is “huge”, warning: “I don’t think Westminster really understands this yet”.

Mr Anderson said that while it’s a “sad day” he urged other Tory MPs to cross the floor with him.

“My message to my colleagues is, look, it’s a sad day I’m leaving my colleagues, but if I’m honest, this time next year they’ll be sat on the same benches as me”.

Mr Tice said his only MP is a “fantastic champion of the Red Wall” and boasted that Reform UK is going to “replace the Tories as the alternative” in the north and Midlands.

Mr Anderson also told the Express that despite reports of previous offers, no money exchanged hands in return for his defection.

The message from Mr Anderson to wavering Conservative MPs comes as Reform UK sources suggest that up to nine further Tories could cross the line.

David Campbell Bannerman, former Tory MEP, repeated the claim and warned that Mr Anderson’s defection is a “wake up for the Conservatives”.

He ominously added: “It’s over for Rishi Sunak”.

But Tory sources insisted that while they are not complacent, they do not expect a mass exodus of MPs.

Asked whether more Tory MPs will defect to Reform UK, Mr Tice said: “Let’s wait and see”.

“But unless there’s an election called in the next few days – and if it is Prime Minister we’re ready, 630 candidates up and down England, Scotland and Wales – then yes I would expect some more to follow.”

The New Conservatives faction, made up of many Tory MPs previously sympathetic to Mr Anderson, said they “regret Lee’s decision” but accused the Conservative Party itself of creating the situation.

In a statement, founders Miriam Cates and Danny Kruger said: “The responsibility for Lee’s defection sits with the Conservative Party. We have failed to hold together the coalition of voters who gave us an 80 seat majority in 2019”.

“Those voters – in our traditional heartlands in the Red Wall seats like Ashfield – backed us because we offered an optimistic, patriotic, no-nonsense Conservatism.

“Our poll numbers show what the public think of our record since 2019. We cannot pretend any longer that ‘the plan is working’. We need to change course urgently”.

Tory MP Mark Pritchard said the door remains open to Mr Anderson should he wish to return to the Conservative Party.

He said: “He’s a man of principle… Many of those views I share”.