Lee Anderson labelled Richard Tice a “pound shop Nigel Farage” amid rising tensions between the Tories and Reform UK. 

Mr Anderson, the deputy chairman of the Conservative Party, said Mr Tice should “pipe down” after he used a press conference yesterday to criticise the Tories. 

Mr Tice said he believed voters wanted to “punish the Tories for breaking Britain” and that the Conservatives were “terrified” by the threat posed by his party.

Mr Anderson told GB News: “I get on with Richard reasonably well, but I would say this: He’s not Nigel Farage, he’s not the leader that Nigel Farage was. In fact, I agree with one of my constituents, who said to me earlier today he is a bit of a pound shop Nigel Farage. 

“I think he needs to pipe down a little bit because if the unthinkable happens and next year, we do get a Labour Government and Richard Tice is on his media platforms, saying what a disaster ‘Starmergeddon’ and what a disaster the Labour Party are, I shall be reminding Mr Tice it was him that helped them get elected.”

Reform UK has ruled out doing any sort of electoral deal with the Tories and intends to stand a candidate in every seat at the next general election. There have been suggestions that Reform UK could therefore deprive the Conservatives of vital votes in key seats, potentially clearing the way for Labour victories.

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