Sky News Host’s On-Air Slip Brands Lee Anderson ‘Last Prick’ In The Red Wall

Sky News’ Politics Hub host Sophie Ridge made a short slip in the opening monologue of her show Monday, describing Reform UK MP and GB News host Lee Anderson as “the last prick” – presumably meaning brick – in the Tory “red wall” that had now “crumbled away.”

Introducing the show, Ridge led on her interview with Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer before saying that she’d also be covering Anderson’s defection to Reform UK, announced that day.

“Also tonight, one of the Conservative Party’s most prominent MPs from the 2019 intake, Lee Anderson, defects to Reform UK as one of the last pricks in the so-called Tory Red Wall just crumbled away.”

Ridge smiled at the gaffe but continued to explain she’d be speaking to Conservative deputy chairman MP James Daly about the move. The “red wall” describes the parliamentary constituencies in the Midlands and northern England historically held by Labour, one of which – Ashfield – is the seat of Anderson. Anderson, a former Labour MP, defected to the Conservatives in 2018 before his 2024 defection to Reform UK.

Anderson ditched the Tories to join GB News colleague Richard Tice at Reform UK Monday, following a storm of controversy over his unrepentant stance on remarks about Islamists and London mayor Sadiq Kahn.

Reform UK, rebranded from the eurosceptic Brexit Party, was established by another GB News host Nigel Farage, who still serves as the party’s honourary president.

Tice, the party’s leader, made the announcement in an impromptu live streamed statement on Monday in a move that underlined the growing appeal of Reform UK, to the right of the Tories, ahead of a general election this year.