Will Kemi’s Backbenchers Allow Her to Drop Net Zero?

Leopards don’t change their spots

Kemi Badenoch has pledged the Tories will abandon Net Zero if and when they are returned to power. But will her MPs allow her to carry out this promise?

After all, climate has long been in the DNA of the Conservative Party. David Cameron was joined at the hip with Tony Blair and Nick Clegg when it came to climate policy, it was Theresa May who legislated for Net Zero and it was Boris Johnson who applied rocket boosters to the whole business.

It would be foolish to assume that all her MPs are going to meekly support Kemi when many have for so long been Net Zero zealots.

Take, for example, the Conservative Environment Network, CEN, which was set up a few years ago specifically to promote the climate agenda and influence government policy. Its website still lists as one of its principles:

We believe that man-made climate change is a threat to our prosperity, and that the UK should end its contribution to climate change by mid-century through affordable, fair and market-based policies.

Its funding relies heavily on grants from the Green Blob of progressive foundations, such as the European Climate Foundation, Energy Transition Fund and the Samworth Foundation.