Labour wants the controversial Tory’s Nottinghamshire seat back but the biggest hurdle could be an anti-Westminster mood
When the outspoken Tory MP Lee Anderson quit as one of his party’s deputy chairmen last week over his support for an ever-tougher approach to migrant crossings, he said he was acting “for the residents of Ashfield”, the Nottinghamshire seat he seized from Labour at the last election.
Anderson said he felt compelled to strengthen the Rwanda bill – designed to deport migrants arriving in small boats – after receiving thousands of emails from residents worried about the Channel crossings taking place some 200 miles away.
