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What Were The Tories Thinking? Episode 5,677 – 30p Lee Gets Promoted
Lee Anderson, the Tory MP for Ashfield – part of the fallen Red Wall – has become the Deputy Chairman of the party, five years after defecting from Labour and just over three years after his election to the seat.
👏 Welcome @LeeAndersonMP_ – our new Deputy Chairman of the @Conservatives pic.twitter.com/zXexdGqsGt
— Conservatives (@Conservatives) February 7, 2023
Anderson is known as 30p Lee because he claimed, to much shaking of heads, that people could feed themselves on 30p a day if they could budget and cook properly.
"There's not this massive use for food banks in this country. We've got generation after generation who cannot cook properly… they cannot budget"
Conservative Lee Anderson invites MPs to "come to a real food bank" in his constituency of Ashfieldhttps://t.co/kPrVhc52I9 pic.twitter.com/JEnWIJcMhW
— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) May 11, 2022
In fact, he bangs the ‘poor-budgeting’ drum on a regular basis.
Only last month, leaked WhatsApp messages showed Anderson comparing the Cabinet to the band on the Titanic, so perhaps he sees himself as the Carpathia, which sailed to rescue the stricken passengers from the icy waters.
We all know how that worked out.
UPDATE: he’s been handed a deck chair https://t.co/sHHweiocir
— Angela Rayner 🌹 (@AngelaRayner) February 7, 2023
If the government wanted to distract attention from something, such as a former prime minister trying to make a comeback, or a different former prime minister being increasingly incriminated in a ‘jobs for favours’ scandal – it was probably mission accomplished for a while.
Here’s what people said about it.
1.
I have just bought a lettuce and a stopwatch pic.twitter.com/Uzm1xg9Wfl
— Russ Jones (@RussInCheshire) February 7, 2023
2.
BREAKING: Rishi Sunak says he was forced to make 30p Lee deputy chair of the Tory Party after Katie Hopkins, Nick Ferrari, Kirstie Allsopp, Simon Arnold, Crafty Wank, Bill Sykes, Geri Halliwell, Mumm-Ra, Anne Diamond, Gru from Despicable Me & Richard Madeley all turned him down x
— Laura Kuenssberg beyond parody (@LKTranslator) February 7, 2023
3.
Now,make Lee Anderson deputy chair of the Conservative Party. pic.twitter.com/d5plpa81xF
— Cat Headley (@Cat_Headley) February 7, 2023
4.
Lee Anderson MP has just been made Deputy Chair of the Conservative Party.
He boycotted the England team because they took the knee and said people in poverty "cannot budget" and should cook 30p meals.
That sound you can hear?
It's the Conservatives scraping the barrel.
— Zarah Sultana MP (@zarahsultana) February 7, 2023
5.
Lee Anderson’s elevation confirms that, in Rishi Sunak’s government, lying, insulting nurses, demonising the poor & inciting hatred of refugees are all grounds for promotion. There wasn’t much doubt before, but still…
— James O'Brien (@mrjamesob) February 7, 2023
6.
You could describe 30p Lee Anderson as a bit of a Marmite figure, if everyone hated Marmite.
— Parody Rishi Sunak (@Parody_PM) February 7, 2023
7.
https://t.co/rdnkt9FeAk pic.twitter.com/oyV2O7uTCg
— mnrrntt (@mnrrntt) February 7, 2023
8.
The Conservative party, which was once a broad church made up of a wide range of opinions and talents, has been reduced by Brexit to a crop of cultists, chancers and spivs. The elevation of this individual within its ranks, says it all. https://t.co/kFe3HAbko0
— Otto English (@Otto_English) February 7, 2023
9.
just found out 30p Lee Anderson has been made Deputy Chairman of the Tories and I might need an hour or so to stop laughing #reshuffle
— dave ❄️ 🥕 🧻 (@mrdavemacleod) February 7, 2023