Climate Protest MP Tells Voters To Use Locals To Shift Net Zero Plans

Former Conservative MP Chris Skidmore, who resigned over the government's plans to offer new oil and gas drilling licences, believes voters should "go local" to encourage policy to achieve net zero by 2050.

Skidmore stood down as a Conservative MP at the start of this year in protest of the government's Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill, prompting an upcoming by-election in his seat in Kingswood. Following his resignation, Skidmore told PoliticsHome that he felt the mayoral and local authority elections in May would be as important – if not more important – than the upcoming general election in determining the path to net zero. 

"The May [local and mayoral] elections are absolutely critical for delivering on net zero and reducing our emissions, and actually, the metro mayors can do far more, if empowered to do so, than national governments," he said.

"We need to go local if we want to actually succeed in delivering and implementing net zero and anyway when it comes to the general election, it doesn't really matter who wins because it's the responsibility of whoever gets in to deliver on our 2030 commitment to reduce our emissions by 68 per cent."

Skidmore explained that he had decided not to defect to another party rather than resign as an MP entirely as he believed that advocating for net zero should transcend party politics. Despite having been a Tory MP, he has been working with Labour Mayor for West Yorkshire, Tracy Brabin, on the agenda for the Convention for the North in March, as well as co-chairing a report with her on net zero power. 

Brabin agreed with Skidmore that as mayors, she and her counterparts were able to put "place over politics" when it came to delivering on net zero.

The Labour mayor said she was