A Tory candidate tried to set up a doorstep triumph and failed epically – the only 5 reactions you need
The first time most people heard of Ashfield’s Conservative candidate, Lee Anderson, was when he aired this extraordinary view of how to deal with nuisance tenants.
Tory candidate for Ashfield, Lee Anderson, calling for the creation of forced labour camps.
In the last election Tories were 1% behind so he has a strong prospect of becoming an MP.#GE2019#forcedlabourcamps pic.twitter.com/z1E0AGJrpO
— Oliver Price (@olivertimprice) November 19, 2019
That clip went viral, but has been firmly overshadowed by this piece shared by journalist Michael Crick, in which Anderson shows that he isn’t above a bit of skullduggery to try to make himself look better.
Caught in the act! Meet Lee Anderson, Conservative candidate for Ashfield, who forgets his MailPlus mic is on. Click here to see our film and his ruse to set MailPlus up with unusually friendly voter. https://t.co/0gFSdXnFLk
— Michael Crick (@MichaelLCrick) November 25, 2019
This is brilliant.
Conservative candidate, Lee Anderson – who said people should be housed in tents & forced to pick vegetables – ‘secretly’ arranged to speak with a local supporter, but left his mic on while he did it.
Oh, and the supporter wasn’t very helpful to his campaign. pic.twitter.com/DCUuWfmrez
— Damon Evans (@damocrat) November 25, 2019
It looks bad, but according to FactCheckUK, it was all above board. Twitter weighed in on the exposé, with these comments coming to the fore.
1.
this is more Thick Of It than the actual Thick Of It pic.twitter.com/E1No9i44f1
— Jim Pickard (@PickardJE) November 25, 2019
2.
Meet a man so on brand Tory he hires a friend to pose as a voter rather than talk to the public, but his friend turns out to be so psychopathic he immediately demands he brings back mercilessly whipping wrongdoers with cat o’ nine tails. pic.twitter.com/ys9ZxAgv2B
— James Felton (@JimMFelton) November 25, 2019
3.
It’s just so good. It was *his actual friend*, in a **complete setup** who said, on film, that enforced labour camps are ***too soft*** a punishment for anti social behaviour. They should instead be flogged with a ****cat o’nine tails.**** https://t.co/k7aebPeSkp
— Tom Peck (@tompeck) November 25, 2019
4.
Best hot mic moment since Max Clifford got caught out by Louis Theroux. https://t.co/nWcdUPwicr
— Sooz Kempner (@SoozUK) November 25, 2019
5.
A Tory… trying to mislead the media… well… gosh… I … I don't know what to say…
… no… surely not! Really?
— David (@DavidHerschell) 25 November 2019
Someone named @_OoO_ooi had a suggestion.
Anyone running to be an MP who resorts to trickery like this should quite frankly be forced to live in a tent in a field and have cold showers and pick potatoes in my opinion.
— oooOOOooo (@_OoO_ooi) 25 November 2019
While tweeter @IanRSalmon pointed out the irony.
We've got to the point where even The Mail are showing Tory candidates up to be duplicitous. It's gorgeous. https://t.co/6aNwD9q3kF
— Ian Salmon (@IanRSalmon) November 25, 2019
We truly are through the looking glass.
Source: MailPlus, Twitter, Image: MailPlus, Twitter
