Fresh by-election headache for Sunak confirmed as Skidmore officially resigns

Rishi Sunak is set to face another by-election challenge after ex-net zero tsar Chris Skidmore formally resigned as an MP in protest at the Government’s plans to boost oil and gas drilling in the North Sea.

The Conservatives will now have to set a date for the vote being held in the Kingswood, in South Gloucestershire, after the former energy minister officially quit the Commons on Monday.

Mr Skidmore was appointed to be Steward and Bailiff of the Three Hundreds of Chiltern by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt under the archaic procedure required to stand down as an MP.

Writing to the Chancellor to formally stand down, Mr Skidmore said: “Where the UK Government once led in promoting climate action at Cop26, it now finds itself opposing the International Energy Agency, the UNCCC, the Committee on Climate Change, in promoting the opening of new additional oilfields and licences for extraction that will not take place at best until decades from now.

“The choice before us is whether to invest in the industries of the future, or to be tied to the industries of the past. No-one has ever denied that we will not need the oil and gas we are using today, but to seek to open up future new sources of fossil fuels, that will be sold on international markets and owned by foreign companies, will do nothing for our energy security.”

His resignation came ahead of a debate on the Government’s Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill that had been scheduled for Monday, meaning he will not vote on the proposed legislation.

The Bill would mandate that licences for oil and gas projects in the North Sea are awarded annually, and was seen as a challenge to Labour, which said it would ban new exploration licences to focus on renewables.

Boundary changes mean Mr Skidmore’s Kingswood seat, near Bristol, is due to be abolished at the next election and the former universities minister had already announced his intention not to stand for another seat.

But his early resignation will cause another headache for the Prime Minister, who already faces at least one other by-election in the coming months after the successful recall petition in Peter Bone’s Wellingborough constituency.

With a majority of 11,200 over second-placed Labour, the Conservatives will have a tough battle to retain the seat given the Opposition’s recent success in overturning much larger deficits.

A third by-election could take place in the marginal seat of Blackpool South should incumbent MP Scott Benton’s 35-day suspension from the Commons be upheld and 10% of his constituency sign a recall petition.

Mr Benton is appealing against a decision of the Standards Committee, which recommended the suspension after finding he had breached Commons rules by offering to lobby ministers and table parliamentary questions on behalf of gambling investors.

Since becoming Prime Minister, Mr Sunak has lost four seats in by-elections and only managed to retain Uxbridge and South Ruislip by 495 votes.