Lee Anderson used to believe that MPs who defect to other parties should face being kicked out of parliament, it has emerged.
The former Tory deputy chairman announced this morning that he was switching to Reform UK.
Asked whether he would now call a by-election in his Ashfield seat, both Anderson and Reform UK leader Richard Tice said there was no need because the general election will take place soon.
But in 2020, Anderson backed a private members’ bill calling for MPs who change parties to face a recall petition so their constituents could decide whether they should be forced to trigger a by-election.
The Recall of MPs (Change of Party Affiliation) Bill was debated by the Commons on September 2 that year.
Its proposer, Anthony Mangnall, said changing parties “is clearly a breach of the spirit of the contract between ourselves and our constituents”.
He added: “Parties are often more visible than the candidate, from their leaders to their cabinets and their manifestos. They act as a magnet to either attract or repel voters to or from to their cause.
“So when a candidate who has campaigned using those logos, promoting that manifesto and supporting that leader switches sides, they are doing so against everything they told the thousands of voters they connected with during the election. This is not promoting democracy; it is degrading it.”
Anderson was one of 55 MPs who voted for the bill, which has not made it to the statute book.
But despite his previous stance, Anderson - who lost the Tory whip last month over comments he made about Sadiq Khan - today said he was switching sides because “I want my country back”.
He has already been removed from all Tory MP WhatsApp groups, and faced criticism from some of his former colleagues in the party.
However, Conservative backbencher Mark Pritchard told Sky News that “the door will always be left open” for Anderson is he wants to return.
He said: “Lee will always be welcome in the Conservative Party if he decides to come back.”