The Liberal Democrats urged Rishi Sunak to “find his backbone and kick Nick Fletcher out of the Conservative Party”, while Labour’s Anneliese Dodds has written to Richard Holden, the Tory chairman, calling on the party to take action.
In her letter, Ms Dodds said: “Surely calling on voters to vote for a party other than your own should be grounds for losing the Conservative whip?”
She added: “Voters already concerned that the Conservative Party is hoping to do a grubby deal with Reform in an effort to cling to power and prolong their own careers will be forgiven for thinking this confirms their suspicions.”
Ms Dodds also asked whether a deal with Reform had been ruled out and for confirmation that Nigel Farage would not be joining the Conservative Party.
A Tory spokesman said: “Nick has made clear he wants to see as many Conservatives as possible elected. A vote for Reform is a vote to let Keir Starmer into No 10.”
A Reform UK spokesman said: “Lee Anderson made it clear from the day he joined Reform UK that he would not personally campaign against a handful of his close friends. The party respect this decision and it shows Lee’s loyalty to his friends, which goes beyond politics.
“Reform will be standing in these constituencies and will be fighting the Conservatives across the board.”
It comes as Arron Banks, a former major Ukip donor, said he believed 10 Tory MPs would defect to Reform if Mr Farage took over as leader.
He also said there were people willing to bankroll the insurgent party with “multiples of £10 million” if the former Brexit Party leader, stepped up to the plate.
Speaking to the GB News Chopper’s Political Podcast, Mr Banks said: “MPs are in contact with him daily about this kind of thing. If he does come back, it will be on the back of something fairly spectacular.”
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