The Ashfield MP Lee Anderson has been announced as the Conservative Party's new deputy chairman in the Prime Minster's small reshuffle of his top team. Rishi Sunak has been making new appointments to his cabinet after the sacking of the former Conservative Party chairman, Nadhim Zahawi.
Mr Zahawi was recently sacked from his previous role for multiple breaches of the ministerial code after he failed to properly declare details of his tax arrangements. Rishi Sunak has now been carrying out a small cabinet reshuffle to fill Mr Zahawi's post, as well as to make changes to the way in which some Government departments are organised.
The new appointments on Tuesday (February 7) included the promotion of Greg Hands, who is now the Conservative Party chairman. But Mr Sunak also announced that Nottinghamshire's Lee Anderson would be made the Conservative Party's deputy chairman.
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Chairman and deputy chairs of the Conservative Party are responsible for overseeing its administration and for handling specific aspects of its management. The appointment is the first role given to Lee Anderson by the Prime Minister since has was elected as Ashfield's MP at the 2019 general election.
Prior to his election, Mr Anderson had served as a Labour Party councillor and had also worked as the office manager for his predecessor, Labour's Gloria De Piero. He later defected to the Conservative Party and his new role will see him working closely with Conservative Campaign Headquarters.
Lee Anderson has recently caused controversy for comments around the need for people earning more than £30,000 to use a food bank. Mr Anderson at one stage posted a picture of one of his parliamentary assistants to argue that people earning a certain amount should not need to go to a food bank.
He also recently generated headlines after being filmed in a "scuffle" with Steve Bray, known as the "Stop Brexit Man". The video showed Mr Anderson at one stage running off with Mr Bray's hat.
Rishi Sunak's latest cabinet reshuffle has been relatively small, with Newark's Robert Jenrick expected to remain in his current role as immigration minister. Other Nottinghamshire MPs serving in ministerial roles include Sherwood MP Mark Spencer, who is a minister at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
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