Chris Skidmore, the MP for Kingswood and a former Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation, has resigned the Tory whip and “will be standing down from Parliament as soon as possible”. Skidmore was already planning to stand down at the next election, but said his decision to resign now was ahead of a vote on Monday on the issuing of new oil and gas licences.
Having been the Minister to sign Britain’s Net Zero pledge into law, he chaired an Independent Government Review of it that was published last January. He also set up the Net Zero Support Group to defend the policy against backbench criticism. Skidmore said that Monday’s vote would “send a global signal that the UK is rowing ever further back from its climate change commitments”, and that he owed it to his constituents to allow them to elect a new representative.
The current Kingswood constituency was to be broken up at the next election, but on current boundaries Electoral Calculus gives the seat an 80 per cent chance of going to Labour. Coming so soon after the news of another by-election in Wellingborough, this another sign that Rishi Sunak’s new year is unlikely to be any easier than his last.
His full resignation statement is below.
A Statement pic.twitter.com/XugtbnCYlV
— Chris Skidmore (@CSkidmoreUK) January 5, 2024