…By Henry George for TDPel Media.
Lee Anderson, the deputy chairman of the Conservative Party and MP for Ashfield, recently clashed with Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley over eco-protests in a hearing with the home affairs committee.
Anderson questioned the commissioner on his response to the protests, prompting Rowley to accuse Anderson of having only a “partial understanding of the law”.
Anderson has a history of making controversial comments, including supporting the death penalty, and making comments about food banks, antisemitism allegations, and transphobia.
Who is Lee Anderson? Lee Anderson was elected as the MP for Ashfield in 2019, securing the Nottinghamshire seat from the Labour Party, which had held it since 1979. Anderson is 56 years old and is married to Sinead, a Tory councillor in Mansfield.
He has two children from a previous marriage.
Anderson previously worked as a coal miner for ten years and volunteered for Citizens Advice for another decade.
He has been an active member of the Conservative Party since 2015, when he became a ward councillor for Labour on Ashfield District Council, before being suspended by the group in 2018 after using boulders to deter travellers from setting up camp.
Anderson then defected to the Conservative Party soon after.
Antics and comments that made the headlines Anderson has been known for his controversial views, including supporting the reinstatement of the death penalty and suggesting that people are using food banks as a “free weekly shop”.
He has also faced allegations of antisemitism, after being investigated alongside two other Tory MPs.
He has previously made comments about nuisance tenants living in a tent in the middle of a field and forcing them to pick potatoes from 6am every morning.
Anderson has also made headlines for clashing with Steve ‘stop Brexit’ Bray, and for his misgendering of trans comedian Eddie Izzard, which has led to him being reported to the police and to the Conservative Party for comments deemed transphobic.
Lee Anderson’s recent clash with Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley Anderson recently clashed with Sir Mark Rowley over eco-protests during a hearing with the home affairs committee.
Anderson questioned Rowley on his response to the protests, prompting Rowley to accuse Anderson of having only a “partial understanding of the law”.
Anderson has a history of making controversial comments, including supporting the death penalty, and making comments about food banks, antisemitism allegations, and transphobia.