'I can no longer stand by': Former Tory minister Chris Skidmore to resign as MP next week over Sunak's oil and gas bill
5 January 2024, 17:51 | Updated: 5 January 2024, 18:42
Tory MP and former energy minister Chris Skidmore has resigned the Conservative whip in protest over new legislation which will allow greater fossil fuel extraction in the North Sea.
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Mr Skidmore also said he will stand down as MP "as soon as possible".
He will sit as an independent in the meantime.
It means another by-election will be triggered in his Kingswood seat in Gloucestershire.
"The bill would in effect allow more frequent new oil and gas licences and the increased production of new fossil fuels in the North Sea," he said.
"I can no longer stand by. The climate crisis that we face is too important to politicise or to ignore."
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The MP for Kingswood added that his decision to resign the whip meant his constituents "deserve the right to elect a new Member of Parliament".
He said: "I therefore will be standing down from Parliament as soon as possible."
