Lee Anderson has blasted a “vile hoax” after someone claiming to be his son called LBC accusing his politician father of being a violent drunk.
During Rachel Johnson’s phone-in show yesterday evening, a distressed-sounding man called in claiming to be “Charlie Anderson” from Ashfield, Mr Anderson’s constituency, and specifying his father is the senior Tory politician.
Asked what his priorities are heading into the election, the individual said he would be voting Labour for the first time because his “dad screamed at me the other night” in addition to claiming he “grabbed me”.
The man claiming to be Mr Anderson’s son made wild accusations, including that his father has said he was considering joining “a Ukip or BNP party”, and “tried to head but me”.
Asked how old he was, the individual said 23 before quickly changing it to 24.
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Ms Johnson swiftly cut the caller off, saying it sounded like a “very personal issue” and “not sure we should continue that”.
After being alerted to the claims made on the popular radio station, Mr Anderson slammed the hoax call as “vile”.
In a statement on X, the Tory deputy chairman said it was a “slur on my family” and that he would be reporting it to the police.
He said: “For clarity, I do have a son called Charlie but he is 33 and not 23 as the male says in this clip.
“The voice is a completely different accent to my son’s. The person who has made this hoax call is sick.
“I shall be reporting this to the police and so should LBC.”
Mr Anderson’s real son, Harry, also tweeted clarification that the claims were “not true” and “That person is not my brother”.
The sick claims made by the unknown male received cross-party condemnation, with a Scottish Labour official describing it as “sick”.
Laura McConnell said voters are free to criticise Mr Anderson and his policies, “but personally smearing him or his children in this way – impersonating his child on a radio phone-in – is beyond the pale”.
She called for “calm” as politicians and voters head towards the General Election, which some have warned may be the dirtiest campaign in recent history.
Another anti-Tory and anti-Brexit X user said he “can’t stand Lee Anderson, but this is unforgivable!”
They said: “You push people’s buttons on purpose Lee but there’s no excuse for this and I hope the person gets caught.”
LBC has been approached for comment.
