A number of Conservative MPs faced controversy during the general election campaign. As they swear the parliamentary oath, we take a look at who they are and their backgrounds.

Lee Anderson

The new MP for Ashfield won his seat despite facing allegations that he was an active member of a Facebook group that included conspiracy theories about billionaire George Soros and supporters of far-right activist Tommy Robinson.

The former miner and Labour councillor had previously been reprimanded by the party for sexist comments. He was also caught on camera asking a friend to pose as an anti-Labour swing voter to impress journalist Michael Crick.

The Guardian disclosed that he was warned about his conduct by the Tories after posting a sexist comment on Facebook in July 2018.

The posting showed a photo of Anderson looking at the chest of a female canvasser in a vest top. He captioned the photo: “Out with some great knockers tonight in Skegby.”

He has previously attracted criticism for posting a video in which he said nuisance tenants should be forced to live “in a tent in the middle of a field” after being kicked out of their homes.

Sally-Ann Hart

The new MP for the Tory marginal seat of Hastings shared a video with an image implying that Soros, who is Jewish, controls the EU. She also liked a Nazi slogan on Facebook.

Hart, who holds the seat of the former Tory minister Amber Rudd, posted a link to a YouTube video in 2017 about the EU, which used Soros’s image. The businessman has been the victim of antisemitic slurs in which he is portrayed as pulling strings in the EU.

She then liked a comment left underneath the video that said “Ein Reich”, a Nazi slogan.

The Conservative party has launched an inquiry into the posting which was later expanded after Hart endorsed a blog post by an anti-Islam activist claiming Muslim organisations were trying to brainwash young Americans.

Hart had already caused controversy this election when it was revealed at a hustings that she had claimed some people with learning disabilities should be paid less than the minimum wage because they “don’t understand money”.

She said her comments had been taken out of context but apologised for causing offence.

Anthony Browne

A former aide to Boris Johnson and an ex-journalist, Browne faced calls to stand down as a candidate during the campaign after Labour accused him of “disgusting racism”.

It related to some of his writings from 2002 and 2003 that blamed immigrants for bringing germs and HIV to the UK and accused Muslims of having divided loyalties.

Writing for the Spectator, he said: “It is not through letting in terrorists that the government’s policy of mass migration – especially from the third world – will claim the most lives. It is through letting in too many germs.”

He also suggested that “curbing the influx of HIV immigrants” would be a better public health approach to tackling HIV than telling people to wear condoms.

However, no action was taken against Browne, a former policy chief to Johnson at City Hall, as the party said the allegations were made over 15 years ago and he had apologised for the remarks in the past.

Karl McCartney

The MP for Lincoln apologised during the election campaign for sharing several posts from the far-right activist Tommy Robinson including alleged “anti-Muslim material”.

McCartney, who was the city’s MP between 2010 and 2017, appeared to endorse a Robinson comment which said the government had “made it illegal” to expose Asian grooming gangs. He also shared a letter from Robinson, which claimed his murder by Islamic prison gangs would spark a revolution.

It read: “I’ve always said I’d sacrifice my life tomorrow if it would end the Islamic takeover of our beautiful land.”

In a statement, McCartney said: “I apologise unreservedly. In no way do I endorse the tweets nor the accounts behind them. I accept retweeting them was ill-judged and could cause offence.

“This divisive figure [Mr Robinson] has no place in our politics or public life.”

Brendan Clarke-Smith

The MP for Bassetlaw was accused of being out of touch with reality after he said food banks were a “political weapon” and it was “simply not true” that “people can’t afford to buy food on a regular basis”.

“If you keep saying to people that you’re going to give stuff away, then you’re going to have an increase I’m afraid,” the Daily Mirror reported him to say.

The former headmaster comfortably won the target seat, beating Labour’s Keir Morrison by more than 14,000 votes. He is replacing John Mann, the former Labour MP who has been elevated to the House of Lords.

Stuart Anderson

The former soldier and Brexit supporter is the new MP for Wolverhampton South West. But five years ago, he received an illegal dividend from a security firm which went into administration owing £271,000 in tax.

The firm, which was supposed to train security guards, was wound up by administrators who noted that Anderson had received more than £54,000 in unlawful dividends. He later repaid £2,000.