Skidmore became Minister of State for Health after Boris Johnson became prime minister in July 2019. He returned to his former position of universities minister in September 2019 following Jo Johnson's resignation,and was dismissed from government in the February 2020 reshuffle. Skidmore chaired a review of the government's net-zero strategy in 2022 and 2023. He resigned as an MP in January 2024 over the proposed introduction of the government's Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill.[8][9]
Skidmore was named by the ConservativeHome website in 2012 as one of a minority of loyal Conservative backbench MPs not to have voted against the government in any significant rebellions.[23]
Skidmore was opposed to Brexit prior to the 2016 EU membership referendum.[24] In February 2018,he argued in a speech to the Centre for Policy Studies that his party needed a broad and positive policy programme to gain wider support,further stating:"If we are just going to talk about Brexit then the Conservative Party will rapidly decline".[25]
Skidmore was appointed Minister of State for Universities,Science,Research and Innovation on 5 December 2018,following Sam Gyimah's resignation over the government's Brexit policy.[26]
On 27 June 2019,as Interim Minister for Energy and Clean Growth,Skidmore signed the UK's Net Zero Pledge into law,becoming the first major economy to do so.[27]
On 26 September 2022 Skidmore launched the Net Zero Review,pledging to use the review to focus on the UK's fight against climate change while maximising economic growth to ensure energy security and affordability for consumers and businesses.[30]
On 19 October 2022,Skidmore put out a statement on Twitter,in advance of a debate on fracking,saying that "[a]s the former Energy Minister who signed Net Zero into law",he could not vote "to support fracking and undermine the pledges I made at the 2019 General Election". The government was reportedly treating this vote as a confidence vote,putting Skidmore at risk of losing the Conservative Party whip.[31][32]
On 16 January 2023,Skidmore published "Mission Zero",the final report of the Net Zero Review.[33] The 340-page report contained 129 recommendations on how to deliver the UK's net zero commitments. The report was published just weeks after Chris Skidmore declared he had taken up a paid role (£80,000 per annum) as adviser to the "Emissions Capture Company",for providing 160-192 hours per annum advice on the global energy transition and decarbonisation.[34]
In June 2023,it was announced that Skidmore had been appointed to a professorship at the University of Bath to undertake research on sustainability and climate change.[35][36]
Resignation
On 26 November 2022,Skidmore announced that he would not seek re-election as an MP at the next general election,later stating in Parliament that "my constituency of Kingswood is being formally abolished in the boundary changes and there is nowhere for me to go."[37][38][39]
In the event,Skidmore announced on 5 January 2024 that he would resign his parliamentary seat in protest at the introduction of the Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill,describing the relaxation of net zero targets as "the greatest mistake of [Rishi Sunak's] premiership".[40][41] On 8 January,Skidmore formally submitted his resignation as an MP,[5] which was effected on the same day by his appointment as Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds.[42] In response to Skidmore's resignation statement,Karl McCartney,Tory MP for Lincoln,tweeted:"A now 'former colleague',who was gifted various positions,ahead of many better,well-qualified,and collegiate colleagues,dumps on all from a great height. Once more,another non-Conservative handpicked as part of [David] Cameron's A List."[43]
On 20 June,Skidmore announced that in the 2024 UK general election he would vote Labour because of the party's Net Zero policies.[44]
Death and The Virgin: Elizabeth, Dudley and the Mysterious Fate of Amy Robsart (2010) ISBN9780297846505
Bosworth: The Birth of the Tudors (2013) ISBN9780753828946 (published in the United States as The Rise of the Tudors: The Family That Changed English History, 2014)
↑ Claire Perry went on leave of absence from 20 May 2019 with Skidmore taking over in the interim until he was replaced by Kwasi Kwarteng when Boris Johnson became Prime Minister.[1][2]
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A list of events relating to politics and government in the United Kingdom during 2022.
Liz Truss's tenure as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom began on 6 September 2022 when she accepted an invitation from Queen Elizabeth II to form a government, succeeding Boris Johnson, and ended 49 days later on 25 October upon her resignation. As prime minister, she also served simultaneously as First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, Minister for the Union, and Leader of the Conservative Party.
On 23 September 2022, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Kwasi Kwarteng, delivered a Ministerial Statement entitled "The Growth Plan" to the House of Commons. Widely referred to in the media as a mini-budget, it contained a set of economic policies and tax cuts such as bringing forward the planned cut in the basic rate of income tax from 20% to 19%; abolishing the highest (45%) rate of income tax in England, Wales and Northern Ireland; reversing a plan announced in March 2021 to increase corporation tax from 19% to 25% from April 2023; reversing the April 2022 increase in National Insurance; and cancelling the proposed Health and Social Care Levy. Following widespread negative response to the mini-budget, the planned abolition of the 45% tax rate was reversed 10 days later, while plans to cancel the increase in corporation tax were reversed 21 days later.
The October 2022 Conservative Party leadership election was triggered by Liz Truss's announcement that she would resign as Leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, amid an economic and political crisis.
In September and October 2022, the Conservative Party government led by newly appointed prime minister Liz Truss faced a credibility crisis. It was caused by the September 2022 mini-budget and a disorganised vote in the House of Commons over a parliamentary vote to ban fracking, ultimately resulting in the loss of support of Conservative members of parliament (MPs).
A by-election took place on 15 February 2024 in the UK Parliament constituency of Kingswood in South Gloucestershire. This followed the resignation of Conservative MP Chris Skidmore, in protest at the UK government's decision to issue more oil and gas licences. Skidmore announced his resignation on 5 January and it was effected three days later.
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