Tories urge Sunak to water down green pledges after by-election carnage

Rishi Sunak was on Friday urged by Conservative MPs to bounce back from a night of parliamentary by-election carnage by watering down some of the party’s green pledges, including a ban on the sale of new petrol cars from 2030.

The prime minister insisted that a Tory defeat at the next general election was “not a done deal”, despite suffering two crushing losses in the previously safe seats of Selby and Ainsty in northern England and Somerton and Frome in the south-west.

Sunak drew comfort from a surprise victory in a third by-election in Boris Johnson’s old seat of Uxbridge and South Ruislip, where voters strongly opposed plans by London Labour mayor Sadiq Khan to impose a £12.50 daily charge on drivers with highly polluting vehicles.

The narrow win encouraged some Tory MPs to argue that Sunak should exploit voter concerns about the costs of green measures at a national level, portraying Labour as willing to impose high bills on households.

“The lesson is surely that green policies are very unpopular when there’s a direct cost to people,” said Lord David Frost, former Brexit minister, adding that Sunak should “rethink” the timeframe for switching to electric cars and heat pumps.

Craig Mackinlay, chair of the net zero scrutiny group of Conservative MPs, warned Sunak against pursuing “overbearing costs, charges, taxes” associated with Britain’s plan to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

He added: “There’s a lot to learn from Uxbridge — that a way to create some significant blue water between us and Labour is to rethink these charges and the net zero pathway.”

Sunak’s allies insisted the prime minister would not renege on green commitments and would continue to do “the right thing”, but that families were rightly concerned about the cost of living.

Ministers have already opened up dividing lines with Labour on green issues, agreeing to open a coal mine in Cumbria last year and vowing to continue issuing licences for North Sea oil and gas exploration and production.

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The Tories are trailing Labour by 20 percentage points in opinion polls, and are dogged by high inflation, failing public services and the recent chaos of the Johnson and Liz Truss premierships.

But Sunak insists he can still turn things around. He is planning a cabinet reshuffle, maybe in September but possibly next week. Sunak’s aides would only confirm there would not be any cabinet changes over the weekend.

Sunak’s fears of a wipeout in three by-elections were allayed in the early hours of Friday when the Tories held on to Uxbridge with a majority of just 495 votes after a recount. Johnson had a majority of 7,210 at the 2019 election.

The Conservative victory in Uxbridge was attributed to concern over Khan’s planned extension of London’s ultra-low emissions zone, a charge on polluting vehicles, to outer boroughs in the capital.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer appeared to chide Khan, saying it was “clear” the Conservatives won the seat because of Ulez and that the mayor needed to “reflect” on the issue.

But the local issues at play did not mask disastrous results for Sunak elsewhere, with the Tories suffering massive swings to opposition parties.

Labour won the Selby and Ainsty by-election in North Yorkshire from the Tories with a swing of more than 21 per cent, overturning a majority of 20,137. This made it Labour’s best performance in a by-election.

Starmer said his party’s victory showed “just how powerful the demand for change is”.

“This is a historic result that shows that people are looking at Labour and seeing a changed party that is focused entirely on the priorities of working people with an ambitious, practical plan to deliver,” he added.

Labour candidate Keir Mather — who at 25 will become the youngest MP in the House of Commons — won Selby with 16,456 votes, defeating the Tory candidate with 12,295.

The Liberal Democrats won Somerton and Frome in Somerset with a swing of 28 per cent, giving party leader Sir Ed Davey hope of securing more Tory seats in the south-west. “This stunning victory shows the Liberal Democrats are firmly back in the west country,” he said.

The Lib Dems’ Sarah Dyke won 21,187 votes in Somerset and Frome, easily beating the Conservative candidate’s 10,179.