Lee Anderson has said he regrets not voting for the Rwanda bill and would take back his old job as deputy Tory party chairman if asked.
The former Tory deputy chairman joined Labour MPs in the ‘no’ lobby for the third reading of the Bill but changed his mind after being teased by the opposition.
He abstained instead, although he says he now bitterly regrets the decision.
Speaking to The Telegraph he should have been “brave” and sided with Rishi Sunak instead of abstaining.
Earlier in the week he quit his position alongside Brendan Clarke-Smith to join about 60 Tory MPs backing an amendment rebels said toughened the immigration legislation.
The amendment didn’t pass, and when it came to the third reading, most rebel MPs backed the government.
But Anderson remained stoically opposed and joined the ‘no’ lobby with Labour Party MPs before changing his mind.
Elaborating on the moment, he said: “It wasn’t anything to do with running away or being scared.
“It was a reminder that actually I was letting my colleagues down and I’m not going to give you the satisfaction, that sort of stuff.”
Anderson, a former coal miner, was once a Labour councillor before switching his allegiance to the Tories during Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership.