A former Tory minister has said he would be “very tempted” to vote Labour at the next election if the party toughens up its environmental policies.
Zac Goldsmith, who quit the Conservative frontbench with a blistering attack on Rishi Sunak in June, said he would be willing to “support them in any way I could”.
The Tory peer made the surprise comments in an interview with the BBC’s HARDtalk programme.
He said: “The simple truth is there is no pathway to net zero and there’s no solution to climate change that does not involve nature, massive efforts to protect and restore the natural world. And at the moment, I’m not hearing any of that from the Labour Party.
“If I do, if there’s a real commitment now - the kind of commitment, frankly, that we saw when Boris Johnson was the [Conservative] leader, then I’d be very tempted to throw my weight behind that party and support them in any way I could.”
Goldsmith resigned as minister for overseas territories, Commonwealth, energy, climate and environment saying he was “horrified” at the prime minister for having ditched promises to protect the environment.
In his resignation letter to Sunak, he said: “The problem is not that the government is hostile to the environment, it is that you, our prime minister, are simply uninterested.
“Having been able to get so much done previously, I have struggled even to hold the line in recent months.
“This government’s apathy in the face of the greatest challenge we have faced makes continuing in my current role untenable.”
His latest comments are further evidence of deep Tory splits on the environment and climate change.
The PM has insisted the government is still committed to achieving net zero by 2050, but has hinted that he will water down some green policies if they add to the cost of living crisis.