Tory MP Lee Anderson has never been backward about coming forward with his views, several of which have sparked outrage among opposition politicians, campaigners and even his fellow Conservatives.
Mr Anderson was thrust into the spotlight when he was appointed deputy chairman of the Tory Party on Tuesday - just weeks after reportedly comparing the government to the band on the sinking Titanic.
And it hasn’t taken him long to generate a few more headlines: in an interview with The Spectator magazine published on Wednesday, the outspoken MP called for the return of the death penalty.
Conservative MP for Ashfield Lee Anderson— (Parliament TV)
His reasoning? Reintroducing capital punishment would be incredibly effective because “nobody has ever committed a crime after being executed”.
Rishi Sunak quickly distanced himself from the comments, with a Downing Street spokesperson quick to remind journalists and the public that Mr Anderson, while deputy chairman, was not actually a member of the government.
Here we take a look at some of the Red Wall MP’s previous remarks and controversies.
Sharing staffer’s salary in food bank row
Mr Anderson – voted Conservative MPs’ favourite backbencher – has frequently questioned how many people genuinely need to use food banks.
In January, to illustrate his point, he tweeted a picture of a member of his staff with details of her earnings and outgoings. The Ashfield MP claimed she was an example of someone earning less than £30,000 but did not need to use a food bank.
But the move was heavily criticised, and Mr Anderson was accused of “a form of bullying” by Labour MP Dawn Butler, who said she had reported him to the Commons authorities.
People who use food banks ‘cannot cook properly’
Mr Anderson’s feelings on food banks first made headlines last May, when he invited fellow MPs to visit a food bank in his constituency to witness a “brilliant scheme” – whereby those in receipt of food parcels are forced to “register for a budgeting and cooking course”.
“We show them how to cook cheap and nutritious meals on a budget – we can make a meal for about 30p a day – and this is cooking from scratch,” said the Nottinghamshire MP. “I think you’ll see first-hand there’s not this massive use for food banks in this country.
“We’ve got generation after generation who cannot cook properly, they can’t cook a meal from scratch, they cannot budget.”
According to the Trussell Trust, the largest network of food bank providers in the UK, the main drivers of food bank use are problems with the benefits system, challenging life experiences, ill-health, or lack of informal or formal support.
Its head of policy, Sumi Rabindrakumar, told The Independent at the time: “Food bank need in the UK is about lack of income, not food. Cooking from scratch won’t help families keep the lights on or put food on the table, if they don’t have enough money in their pockets.”
Nurses using food banks have ‘something wrong with their finances’
The Tory MP has continued to cast doubts over the necessity of food banks for many users – despite soaring demand – insisting that striking nurses did not need handouts.
“Anybody earning 30-odd grand a year – which most nurses are – using food banks, then they’ve got something wrong with their own finances,” he told Times Radio in December.
Royal College of Nursing general-secretary Pat Cullen responded that “to criticise anybody using a food bank is disgusting, heartless and dangerously out of touch”, adding that she has “met nursing staff from every corner of the nation – and their fear and fright about not being able to meet their bills is palpable”.
Challenging Brexit critic to a fight
Conservative MP Lee Anderson was angered by Steve Bray’s question about ‘liar’ Boris Johnson— (Steve Bray / Twitter)
Mr Anderson also raised eyebrows last year when he described an anti-Brexit protester as “a parasite”.
In a verbal altercation with activist Steve Bray – who in return brands him “30p Lee, in a nod to the MP’s claims about cooking and budgeting – Mr Anderson said: “You’re nothing but a parasite. We’ve established that. You’re a scrounger. Why are you here dressed like a tramp?”
Mr Bray told The Independent after the encounter: “Lee Anderson is very derogatory about those less fortunate in life, the fact he tries to imply I am a tramp and on benefits is insulting those people that actually are.”
The Conservative MP attempted to settle his feud with the “Stop Brexit” man in the boxing ring – after briefly stealing his “Not My Brexit” hat during a row outside parliament last week and repeating his “parasite” slur.
Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, Mr Anderson said: “He is a nuisance. And I’ve got a challenge for him: Meet me in the boxing ring. Let’s do three rounds.
“If I win, he never protests out there again. And if he wins, I’ll go and protest with him.”
Mr Bray told the paper he would consider it, saying: “I will think about it. I might have to get into a bit of shape first.”
‘Make nuisance tenants live in tents and pick potatoes’
Before even entering the House of Commons, Mr Anderson sparked anger by posting a video on Facebook arguing during his election campaign that “nuisance tenants” should be forced to live in tents and pick potatoes.
Speaking directly to the camera, he said: “My plan would be … let’s have them in a tent in the middle of a field, six o’clock every morning let’s have them up, let’s have them in the field picking potatoes or any current seasonal vegetables, back in the tent, cold shower, lights out, six o’clock, same again the next day. That would be my solution.”
Rival parties compared the idea to “forced labour camps,” accusing Mr Anderson of “entrenching division”.
‘Make out you know who I am’
Part of Mr Anderson’s role as deputy chairman will be to go out on the airwaves to voice support for the government’s agenda, particularly in the run-up to elections, including the upcoming local contests in May.
Just hours after his Spectator interview was published Mr Anderson had a heated clash with a BBC journalist who tackled him about video and audio clips showing him setting up a doorstep counter during the 2019 election campaign.
Mr Anderson forgot he was wearing a microphone as he got one of his friends to pose as an anti-Labour swing voter, in a bid to impress a journalist with the fake encounter.
“Make out you know who I am... you know I’m the candidate, but not a friend, alright?” Mr Anderson was recorded telling his friend minutes before bringing a journalist to his door.
Once they arrived, the supposed swing voter then told the Tory candidate: “There’s no way Labour are ever going to get my vote again”, before heartily endorsing Mr Anderson’s ‘tenants in tents’ policy.
