Former Tory energy minister quits as MP over Sunak’s ‘harmful’ push for new oil and gas

The former energy minister who signed the U.K.’s 2050 net-zero target into law has quit the Conservative party and will resign as an MP in protest at Rishi Sunak’s fossil fuels policies.

Chris Skidmore, who has been an outspoken critic of the U.K. Prime Minister’s plans to “max out” the U.K.’s North oil and gas reserves, said he could “no longer condone nor continue to support a government that is committed to a course of action that I know will cause future harm.”

His resignation as an MP will trigger a by-election in Skidmore’s Kingswood constituency in the south west of England, where the Conservative majority is 11,220. The seat was last won by Labour in 2005.

In a statement on social media, Skidmore said he could not back government plans to introduce annual licensing rounds for oil and gas exploration in the North Sea. MPs will vote on the legislation for the first time on Monday. Skidmore warned “the future will judge harshly” those that back it.

“At a time when we should be committing to more climate action, we simply do not have any more time to waste promoting the future production of fossil fuels that is the ultimate cause of the environmental crisis that we are facing,” he said.

He added that he was “resigning my party whip” becoming “free from any party-political allegiance” and that he would stand down from parliament “as soon as possible.”

Skidmore served as energy minster under former prime minister Theresa May, who legislated for the U.K.’s 2050 net-zero goal in 2019. Last year he published a review for Sunak’s government setting out the economic benefits of the net-zero transition.

However, he became a serial rebel in Commons votes on green issues and has criticized Sunak’s North Sea policies and decisions to water down key interim net-zero targets relating to electric vehicles and home heating.  

Labour’s Shadow Energy Secretary Ed Miliband swiftly congratulated Skidmore on his resignation.

‘Distraction’

His comments come amid wider Tory unease about the North Sea oil and gas plan.

Earlier on Friday Alok Sharma, a Conservative MP and former minister who served as president of the COP26 U.N. climate summit in 2021, told POLITICO that ministers should “reflect on the consistency of their message and credibility internationally when just a few weeks ago at COP28 the U.K. signed-up to ‘transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems.’”

Sharma, who also served in Boris Johnson’s Cabinet, said that the U.K.’s oil and gas regulator, the North Sea Transition Authority, was already able to issue licenses for fossil fuel exploration “when they deem it necessary” meaning the new law would not “materially change current policy.”

Alok Sharma said that ministers should “reflect on the consistency of their message” | Pool photo by Leon Neal via Getty Images

“Frankly, it is a distraction from the task of pressing ahead with the government’s own plans for a significant expansion of home-grown renewable energy which is ultimately what will enhance the U.K.’s energy security,” Sharma added.

Ministers argue the new measures will boost the U.K.’s energy supply and support the oil and gas sector.

But critics claim the move is designed to score political points in Scotland and other parts of the U.K. where oil and gas companies are major employers.

Robbie MacPherson, political lead at the anti-fossil fuel campaign group Uplift, called the law a “political gimmick” aimed at making oil and gas “a wedge issue with voters.”