The cabinet minister who chaired last year’s landmark Cop26 UN climate summit has made a dramatic intervention in the Tory leadership race, suggesting he may resign if the incoming prime minister fails to commit to a strong agenda on the climate crisis.
In an interview with the Observer, Alok Sharma said a full commitment to the net zero agenda by whoever leads the country will be essential to avoid “incredible damage” to Britain’s global standing, as well as irreversible damage on the UK and international economies.
“It’s absolutely a matter of leadership,” Sharma said, accusing some of the candidates of being “lukewarm” about net zero in the race so far.
“Anyone who aspires to lead our country must demonstrate that they take this issue incredibly seriously, that they are ready to continue to lead and take up the mantle that Boris Johnson started. I want to see candidates very proactively outlining their support for our net zero green growth agenda.”
His comments came as the UK braced for record temperatures of 40C (104F) in the coming days as fires rage across large parts of the continent.
In southwestern France and Spain, thousands of people had to be evacuated from their homes. More than 12,200 people had left France’s Gironde region by Saturday morning as 1,000 firefighters battled the blaze.
Asked if he might resign if candidates are weak to net zero, Sharma said: “Let’s see, okay? I think we have to see where the candidates are. And we have to see who will actually end up at number 10. I hope that every candidate realizes why this is so important to voters in general and why it is important to Conservative supporters. And I hope we’ll see, especially with the last two, a very clear statement that this is a program that they really support.
Alok Sharma has accused some of the Tory leadership candidates of being “lukewarm” on net zero. Photo: David Levenson/Getty Images
Pressed a second time, he added: “I’m not ruling anything out and I’m not ruling anything out.”
While all the leadership candidates, except for Cammy Badenoch, have technically committed to the UK’s statutory target of reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, there are serious doubts about whether everyone else would push through the policies needed to achieve a goal.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss called for a “temporary moratorium” on the green energy charge, while Penny Mordaunt called for green charges to be scrapped.
Tom Tugendhat is hesitant about net zero, first questioning the goal, then affirming it, while Badenoch calls net zero “unilateral economic disarmament.”
Rishi Sunak has said he will keep levies, supports net zero and called for more home insulation, although critics have noted that he withdrew cash from the coffers for insulation while he was finance minister.
Criticizing those opposed to green levies, Sharma pointed out that they help poor households with insulation, support more renewable generation capacity and pay rebates on electricity bills.
Without the levy, he said, more people would be vulnerable to high bills and there would be less renewable energy available, reducing energy costs. “We need to get very clear on what actually drives the price of energy. It’s not the green fees, it’s the wholesale gas price,” he said.
The increasingly heated race to succeed Johnson is causing deepening divisions within the party on a number of policy issues. As well as the disagreement over net zero, the candidates have clashed over plans to cut taxes, while many northern Tory MPs fear that those seeking to become prime minister are not sufficiently committed to the equalization agenda .
In a surprise development last night, a poll of 850 Tory members put Badenoch in the lead on 31%, with Truss second on 20%, Mordaunt third on 18%, Sunack fourth on 17% and Tugendhat fifth on 10%. The survey, for the ConservativeHome website, was carried out yesterday following Friday’s Channel 4 televised debate.
The next leadership vote by Tory MPs on Monday is expected to result in the elimination of Tugendhat, who was the last of the five survivors in Thursday’s vote, although his supporters believe his upbeat performance in the televised debate could boost his support.
It will also be crucial to Truss and Mordaunt’s chances of progressing to the last two after both were considered disappointing on Friday. Trots will need to show she has won over a majority of MPs who backed Attorney General Suella Braverman, who was eliminated from the race on Thursday, if she is to claim second place from Mordaunt and boost her chances of making the bottom two. There are 27 votes available from Braverman’s hard Brexit supporters. Braverman backed Truss, while Steve Baker, a prominent supporter, also got behind the secretary of state. However, some Braverman supporters are threatening to support Badenoch.
Postal votes will be sent to more than 150,000 Tory members who will determine the final winner by the end of this month. Members will also be able to vote electronically. A senior Tory source said it meant “everything could effectively be done and dusted by mid-August”.
Meanwhile, Labor is taking advantage of the infighting that has erupted between blue and blue. The party has produced attack ads aimed at marginal and targeted seats, highlighting broken promises and a lack of plans for energy spending. He also called on candidates to reveal whether they would scrap the status of foreigners – a hugely popular Labor policy.
Labor strategists believe that announcing unfunded pledges means they are being given a tactical gift. They said the Tories were embroiled in a “chaotic battle at a time when the country needs proper leadership”. One attack ad read: “Conservative leadership candidates are playing fantasy economics with your money. Britain deserves a government that is honest about how we fund every promise we make. That’s what you’ll get with Labour.’
Sharma is the leading green voice in the cabinet, winning plaudits around the world for his skillful chairmanship of the fractious Cop26 UN climate summit last November. The UK retains the chairmanship of the talks until Egypt takes over this November at the next Cop27 conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, and until then the UK will play a vital role in getting nations to meet their Cop26 pledge to limit global warming to 1.5C. Sharma had been tipped to be the next UN climate chief after outgoing top official Patricia Espinosa, whose term expires this month, but said he had decided not to apply to stay on as police chief until the end of the UK’s presidency.
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