Claire County's promotion hints at a more conservative approach to net zero

Claire Coutinho, New Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero Photo: Simon Walker/10 Downing Street

Rishi Sunak on Thursday appointed one of his closest friends in politics to head his zero net income department, amid signs of a slight shift in government policy away from environmental interests.

Senior figures indicated the Tories would do so. consider ways to protect ordinary families from huge green policy costs as part of an attempt to create a dividing line with Labor before the next election.

Claire Coutinho, who was appointed energy secretary to replace Grant Shapps, has championed environmental issues in the past, such as encouraging wild rural growth and protecting the green belt.

But she has also championed thousands of people who use oil boilers in the past.

The fact that the prime minister has nominated such a key ally for the role suggests he may be considering challenging Sir Keir Starmer's stance on environmental issues as he struggles to topple the Labor Party's huge lead in the polls.

Many Conservative MPs hope she will use her new position to consider postponing the ban on new oil boilers from 2026.

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They will also ask if Whether it also changes the conservative policy of phasing out petrol and diesel vehicles, postponing the ban on new such vehicles from 2030.

It's too early to tell, but recent weeks have seen Mr Sunak and his ministers tighten up their rhetoric to protect the public from the financial burden of a UK carbon-neutral by 2050, a goal enshrined in law.

Notably, Mr. Sunak was unable to inspire much of his party towards a green agenda.

Lee Anderson, vice chairman of the Conservative Party, told Channel 5 News Thursday night: «Everyone wants to see zero net income, we certainly want to, but when China, India, Russia and the US are pumping all sorts of things into the economy, the atmosphere, and we carry responsible for one percent of the emissions on the planet, if this island were to sink into the sea tomorrow, it would not have any blind effect on the emissions in this world.”

However, it would be wrong to count Ms. anything close to Mr. Anderson's.

She's not against net zero, and every September she takes part in the so-called «Greenember» events. urged her constituents to do the same.

Claire Coutinho's CV

In 2021, she promised to buy only used clothes and use public transport more than usual, as well as to host a Cop26-themed virtual climate video conference on green politics. Last year, she led a green operation during which she discussed sewerage and solar panels with voters.

Ms Coutinho is the first Conservative MP from the 2019 recruitment to enter the Cabinet on Tuesday. She is one of Sunak's closest political friends and played a central role in his presidential campaign.

Some Conservative Party strategists believe they can use the green agenda as a «wedge problem» to win voters away from the Labor Party, whom they plan to portray as ideologically committed to going greener at all costs.

After her appointment Thursday morning. , Ms Coutinho said: «I will work with the Prime Minister to protect our energy security, cut household bills and build cleaner, cheaper, domestic energy.»

MP for East Surrey Ms Coutinho said she has had a rapid rise since joining Parliament. She was Mr. Sunak's Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) and resigned last July due to Boris Johnson's actions in the Chris Pincher case.

She continued to serve under Liz Truss and Mr. Sunak as Junior Minister for Labor and Pensions and Minister for Children respectively.

Applied to the James Allen School for Girls in Dulwich and Oxford University, before politics her duties included: a post at the Center for Social Justice, a think tank founded by former Conservative leader Sir Ian Duncan Smith.

In September 2022 Truss was Prime Minister, Ms Coutinho praised her decision to extend household energy supplies. account support for offline homes.

In the voter newsletter, she wrote: “There will also be a new discretionary fund for families living in park houses using fuel oil or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), which I am lobbying because of the many people who rely on fuel oil or liquefied petroleum gas in our rural communities.»

Discrete funding

Speaking in the Commons, she added: «I applaud the fact that we have made it clear that discretionary funding will be provided to fuel oil users, of which there are many in my district.» .

The sale of new oil-fired boilers is currently scheduled to be banned in 2026, but the proposal has drawn backlash from Conservative MPs who fear it will cost them votes.

Government sources insisted last month on the fact that they may not continue to implement this law. plan, saying it was not set in stone and now Ms Coutinho will have to decide the fate of the policy.

She also previously urged families to «carefully» manage their energy consumption during the winter months and noted that would have preferred a more targeted approach to supporting energy bills over the one-stop scheme rolled out last fall.

In October, Ms Coutinho said she was «totally opposed to hydraulic fracturing against the will of our communities in East Surrey», adding, that she will be «watching this issue closely.»

Together with over 150 conservative supporters and colleagues, she is a member of the Conservative Ecological Network (CEN) faction, which describes itself as working to «support clean zero, restore nature and [restoring] security.”