Conservative MP Lee Anderson has accused Richard Tice of making “wild accusations” after the Reform UK leader claimed the Ashfield representative had threatened to quit the Tories in order to negotiate himself a promotion.
It comes after an audio recording was leaked to a Sunday newspaper in which Anderson said he had been offered a substatial sum of money to defect to Reform UK.
In the tape from October, Anderson told a South Cambridgeshire Conservative Association event he had been approached by the party.
“Now there is a political party that begins with an R that offered me a lot of money to join them. I say a lot of money, I mean a lot of money,” he is alleged to have said.
WATCH: GB News’ Katherine Forster explains the ins and outs of the row
Tice denied offering a job in an interview with the BBC this morning, saying that the Conservative MP had touted switching parties in order to secure his job as deputy chairman.
He told the BBC: “I’m very happy to confirm that I’ve had numerous discussions with a number of Tory MPs, ministers, former ministers, who are absolutely furious with the complete betrayal of the Government’s promises, furious with the failure to stop the boats, furious with opening the borders to mass immigration.
“What’s really happened here is that Lee Anderson has used the threat of defecting to Reform to negotiate himself the deputy chairmanship of the Tory party because this story first appeared almost exactly the same, in the time back in February when coincidentally, he was made deputy chairman of the Tory party.”
Responding to Tice’s interview, Anderson described the claims as “simply ridiculous” and “an insult” to him and his party.
He told GB News: “The allegations made by Richard Tice are simply ridiculous. The facts are quite simple.
“From time to time politicians do meet other politicians from different political parties. At one such meeting I was offered the chance to join another party for the following deal – I join within a few months and stand for this Party at the next election. If I lost my seat I would be guaranteed a job with the party for five years on the same salary as an MP.
“To falsely claim that I used this as leverage to get the position of Deputy Chairman is an insult to me and my party.
“A year before I became Deputy Chairman I was touring the country speaking to members at different events and helping to raise campaign funds. I accepted the role as Deputy Chairman for no extra pay and my travel expenses come out of my own pocket. This role means me staying at least one night a week away from home on top of the 3-4 nights I stay in London.
Audio of Lee Anderson’s comments to a Conservative event were leaked to a Sunday newspaper
GB NEWS
“The benefit I get from being the Deputy Chairman is that I get to meet hundreds of members every month, as well as visiting so many different constituencies across our great country.
“I am extremely disappointed that this story has been leaked to the papers but somewhat relieved as journalists have been hounding me for over a year on this subject.
“Mr Tice needs to look closer to home to see what his own senior members are saying and doing behind the scenes. He needs to keep better control of his party, otherwise incidents like this just make them look like amateurs, and amateurs whose only purpose seems to be giving Starmer the keys to No10.
“I would’ve hoped that, instead of taking to the airways to make wild accusations, Mr Tice would speak to me directly in private to check what happened. I am very disappointed in his approach but hope that we can move on and put this behind us.”
