Ex-North East MP warns Conservative Party MUST lead on climate policy

THE North-East MP who helped draft the world’s first legally binding Net Zero strategy says the Conservative Party must reclaim the green agenda if it wants to get back into Government.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the former Berwick-upon-Tweed MP, said: “Put simply, no one under the age of 40 will vote for us again if we don’t.”

She made her comments as Conservative MPs returned to Parliament this week after the summer recess needing to pick a new leader and a set of policies that might make the party electable again after a crushing General Election defeat.

Rishi Sunak’s successor will be unveiled at the start of November but before then, there’s likely to be a battle for the soul of the Conservative Party and its direction of travel.

And for Trevelyan, who has not decided yet whether she will stand for election again, the party must regain its reputation as a climate change leader if it is to make a successful comeback.

“Among younger voters, the issue is absolutely central,” she said.

“When we were leading on climate change a few years ago, and talking about things like becoming the ‘Saudi Arabia of wind power’, there was an electoral advantage in it.

“It’s also in the United Kingdom’s interests to lead the world on climate change policy because not only is it the morally right thing to do, it’s the economic one too – it presents such an opportunity to create jobs and grow the economy.” 

”We just have to show our approach to Net Zero will be driven by a different approach than other political parties.”  

Trevelyan was Minister for Energy, Clean Growth and Climate Change when she put together the world’s first legally-binding strategy committing the country to remove as many climate-warming gases as it emitted by 2050 – in other words: Net Zero.

It became law in 2019 through the Climate Change Act and Trevelyan drove home its significance at Glasgow’s COP26, where she had an influential role.

There are now almost 150 countries that have announced or are considering a Net Zero target, a number which covers almost 90% of global emissions.

But Trevelyan says she is a pragmatist, not an ideologue, when it comes to climate and has sometimes put other factors above the environment in her decision-making.

Although she successfully opposed Banks Mining’s plans to frack for coal at Northumberland’s picturesque Druridge Bay, she keenly supports the dualling of the A1(M) motorway north of Newcastle, despite the opposition of environmental campaigners.

“In the case of the A1, I weighed up the economic and safety benefits of dualling for the people of Northumberland and was convinced by that,” she said.

“If we get our policies right, it will soon be full of electric vehicles anyway, and I can live with a bit more tarmac if the clear benefits are there for the businesses and people of Northumberland.”

Precisely because Trevelyan regards herself as a practical and traditional Conservative on climate change, her words are likely to carry more weight in the corridors of power, where there’s a broad range of opinion as the Tory party faces a choice on which way to go on climate policy,

Trevelyan was MP for Berwick from 2015-2024 before losing her seat to Labour’s David Smith in July by just over 5,000 votes after Reform UK polled more than 7,500 votes she might have hoped to attract.

Reform UK has a more climate-sceptic approach and leader Nigel Farage says he will junk Trevelyan’s Net Zero target if he gets the chance.

That means, as the Conservatives seek to rebuild, they will have to make a big decision on which direction they steer – Trevelyan is urging them to double down on their support for a positive green strategy that is driven by benefits to the public.

Speaking for the first time since losing her seat, she said: “Climate change and environmental policies tend to be hugely popular with the public and I’m hoping in the next few months Conservative policymakers appreciate will appreciate that.

“There was a time when we led on this and we have to look to do so again but we said from the very start of compiling the Net Zero strategy: ‘We have to take everyone with us on this’ – It’s not going to work if you lose large swathes of public support for it.

“I believe the Conservatives can show they are utterly committed to meeting these targets but not at the expense of everything else.

“I don’t know how popular it is going to be with the public for example if you cover the countryside with vast solar farms, or miles of wind farms.

“When I was a Minister, I fought, unsuccessfully as it turned out, for every house in the country to have solar panels if households wanted them and they could be fitted.

“Once people have them, they see how much cheaper their bills can become and they become advocates for a very important weapon in a just green transition.

“These are the sort of policies the Conservatives could adopt which would take the public with us as much as possible.

“I think there are risks at trying to go too far, too fast, if it means alienating the public so you have to get the balance right but a positive and practical Net Zero approach will be a vote winner.”

Trevelyan says she will leave a decision on her own political future to a later date and says for the moment, she will focus her political efforts on trying to increase the number of Conservative councillors on Northumberland County Council at the local authority’s next election.

But if she does attempt a political comeback, she hopes the Conservative Party will be true to the Net Zero goals she helped put in place.