Lee Anderson Loses Tory Whip After GB News Claim ‘Islamists’ Control London Mayor

Lee Anderson, former MP for Ashworth, was axed from the Tory party Saturday after claiming on GB News that “Islamists” had “got control” of London and its Mayor Sadiq Khan.

Anderson, also a host at GB News, was appearing on The Martin Daubney Show Friday after former Home Secretary Suella Braverman remarked in a Telegraph opinion editorial that “the Islamists, the extremists and the anti-Semites are in charge now.” Braverman was sacked by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in a reshuffle the week following her criticism of pro-Palestine demonstrations as “hate marches.”

Speaking on GB News, Anderson said: “I don’t actually believe that the Islamists have got control of our country, but what I do believe is they’ve got control of Khan and they’ve got control of London… He’s actually given our capital city away to his mates.”

Khan hit back, labeling Anderson’s comments as “Islamophobic, anti-Muslim and racist.” He said that Anderson was “pouring fuel on the fire of anti-Muslim hatred” and criticised the silence from Sunak as “deafening.”

Shortly after Kahn’s response, Conservative chief whip Simon Hart announced Anderson’s suspension. Hart said: “Following his refusal to apologise for comments made yesterday, the chief whip has suspended the Conservative whip from Lee Anderson MP.”

Anderson posted to X, saying he “accepted” the decision made by the party and that he would continue to “support” the government’s fight against extremism, posting a link to his employer’s website: “gbnews.com.”

Just one month ago, in January, Anderson held the position of deputy chairman within the Conservative Party but decided to step down after a failed rebellion over the Rwanda bill.