Anderson: Keep Your Union Money

Reform UK chairman Lee Anderson hit back on BBC Politics Live over the £72m donations row, telling critics to keep their union money while Reform keeps its donors. According to X @ReformParty_UK, Anderson dismissed the backlash as an out-of-touch response.

Reform UK chairman Lee Anderson launched a robust defence on BBC Politics Live following intense scrutiny over a £72m donations row. Confronted on the programme, Anderson told opponents: “Forget about the donations. Keep the union money. We’ll keep our donors money. We’ll meet you all at the ballot box.”

He dismissed the criticism as a “typical blinkered response from an out of touch Labour MP.” Anderson asserted that working-class voters—specifically naming nurses, ambulance staff, and health and public-service workers—would back Reform UK, adding that he would hold his seat in Ashfield and that Reform would eventually be in government.

Forget about the donations. Keep the union money. We’ll keep our donors money. We’ll meet you all at the ballot box.

— Lee Anderson, Reform UK Chairman, BBC Politics Live

The £72m injection comes from donors Ben Delo and Christopher Harborne, which Reform has defended as a legitimate fighting fund. However, government figures are pushing for the gifts to be caught by a £100k overseas-donor cap backdated to March. Anderson made clear that his preferred answer to these challenges is the ballot box rather than parliamentary wrangling in the Lords.

• Lee Anderson hit back on BBC Politics Live over the £72m donations row.
• Anderson told opponents to keep union money while Reform keeps its donors.
• The Reform chairman predicted working-class voters would back the party.
• Anderson stated he would hold Ashfield and that Reform would enter government.

Anderson, 59, serves as the MP for Ashfield, Reform chief whip, and party chairman. A former miner and former Labour councillor who later became a Conservative MP before joining Reform after his whip was pulled in 2024, he continues to face political crossfire as the debate over campaign financing intensifies across Westminster.

Original source: Read the full report at X @ReformParty_UK