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Another setback for Rishi Sunak after member of his party resigns
Sunak is already facing a tricky by-election following the suspension from Parliament of the Tory MP Peter Bone
A former UK energy minister resigned from the governing parliamentary Conservative Party in protest at Rishi Sunak’s plan to allow further oil and gas drilling, a fresh setback for the prime minister as he prepares for a general election later this year.
Chris Skidmore, who signed Britain’s net zero commitment by 2050 into law, said he could “no longer condone nor continue to support a government that is committed to a course of action that I know is wrong and will cause further harm.” In the statement on X, formerly Twitter, he said he would stand down as a Member of Parliament “as soon as possible.”
His decision is a headache for Sunak, who is already facing a tricky by-election in the constituency of Wellingborough, central England, in the coming months following the suspension from Parliament of the Tory MP Peter Bone. The opposition Labour Party has a double-digit lead in the polls, making it difficult for the Tories to build momentum ahead of a nationwide ballot.
Skidmore, who had already indicated he was going to step down at the general election, said he couldn’t support Sunak’s push to offer more permits for oil and gas exploration in the North Sea, a plan that will progress in the House of Commons next week.
“The bill that will be debated next week achieves nothing apart from to send a global signal that the UK is rowing ever further back from its climate commitments,” Skidmore said. “We cannot expect other countries to phase out their fossil fuels when at the same time we continue to issue new licenses or to open new oil fields.”
Sunak has said the oil and gas push is necessary to bolster Britain’s energy security and reduce the UK’s reliance on overseas imports. His introduction of the plan coincided with a general rowing back on Britain’s net zero push, as he saw electoral advantage in doing so.
It’s not the first time Sunak has run into trouble with his own side over his environment policy. Former climate minister Zac Goldsmith quit last year with a dramatic broadside against the prime minister, accusing him of being “uninterested” in climate policy and that the UK had “withdrawn our leadership on climate and nature” on his watch.
It came after Sunak scaled back a series of green commitments including delaying a ban on the sale of new fossil-fuel cars and easing rules on when some Britons replace their gas boilers — central planks of a legally binding commitment to hit net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Skidmore has represented the constituency of Kingswood in southwest England since 2010. He won the seat with a 11,220 majority at the most recent vote in 2019, with Labour second.
