Tory candidate Lee Anderson says he will force ‘nuisance tenants’ into tents and make them work

Photo: Lee Anderson / Facebook - Credit: Archant

A candidate for the Conservative Party in a key marginal has said he will force problem tenants to live in tents and work in a field if he is elected.

Lee Anderson, who is running in Ashfield, is hoping to overturn a tiny Labour majority of 441 at the constituency in Nottinghamshire. The seat is one of the Tories’ key targets in this election.

In a video posted to his Facebook, and first reported by BuzzFeed News, Anderson told voters he would evict the ‘nuisance tenants’ who have been bothering residents.

“What I am about to say is my own personal opinion – I stood on this spot a few months ago banging on about nuisance tenants on this lovely estate.

“People say to me, ‘but they’ve got to live somewhere’. That’s right, so my plan would be, and again this is just my own personal opinion, is that these people who have to live somewhere, let’s have them in a tent, in the middle of a field.

“Six o’clock every morning, let’s have them up, let’s have them in the field, picking potatoes or any other seasonal vegetables, back in the tent, cold shower, lights out, six o’clock, same again the next day. That would be my solution.”

WATCH: All the moments of Boris Johnson being booed, edited into one showreel WATCH: Brexit Party disowns candidate after he declared ‘war’ on LGBTQ communityHe has been strongly criticised for his comments online, with one Twitter user comparing his plan to “calling for the creation of forced labour camps”.

Another person said: “This is where the far right English Nationalist party formerly known as the Tory party are heading. Be warned!”

The Conservative Party has been contacted for comment.