Oral Answers to Questions

Lee Anderson Excerpts

Wednesday 28th October 2026 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I can absolutely give my hon. Friend that assurance.

[Lee Anderson (Ashfield) (Reform)]

Q9. Ashfield district council is being run by criminals—criminals such as Councillor Tom Hollis, who is the vice-chairman of the council. Councillor Hollis, along with his family, keep putting in planning applications that are recommended for refusal by the planning officers, and then, as if by magic, they go to committee and they are planned, netting Councillor Hollis tens—if not hundreds— of thousands of pounds for him and his family. Will the Prime Minister please send in the commissioners to root out that corruption and put those people where they belong?

[The Prime Minister]

My right hon. Friend the Communities Secretary says that she will meet the hon. Gentleman to discuss those concerns, because what he has just said in the House is extremely serious. Of course we must have the highest standards of conduct from local authorities and elected councillors, and we are monitoring the situation. I will say no more than that at this stage, but the hon. Gentleman has that clear offer of a meeting.