Rishi Sunak faces by-election challenge as Tory MP quits over bill that ‘promotes production of new oil and gas’

Rishi Sunak faces another by-election challenge as former energy minister Chris Skidmore is poised to resign as an MP, after quitting the Tories over a bill he argues ‘clearly promotes the production of new oil and gas’.

Mr Skidmore, who led a Government review of net zero, has announced he will stand down, with a scathing attack on the Prime Minister’s environmental stance.

The MP for Kingswood in South Gloucestershire said the “future will judge harshly” anyone who backs the Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill due before the Commons on Monday.

In a lengthy statement posted on X, formerly Twitter, he said: “Next week the Government will be introducing the Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill in the House of Commons.

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“This Bill would in effect allow more frequent new oil and gas licences and the increased production of new fossil fuels in the North Sea. It is a Bill that I have already stated my opposition to, by not voting in the King’s Speech debate in protest at the Bill’s inclusion in the Government’s legislative programme.

“As the former energy minister who signed the UK’s net zero commitment by 2050 into law, I cannot vote for a Bill that clearly promotes the production of new oil and gas.”

He went on: “To fail to act, rather than merely speak out, is to tolerate a status quo that cannot be sustained. I am therefore resigning my party whip and instead intend to be free from any party-political allegiance.”

The MP added that his decision to resign the whip meant his constituents “deserve the right to elect a new