Ex-Cabinet minister quits Tories with scathing rebuke and praises Keir Starmer

Claire Perry O'Neill said conservatives are now "dominated by ideology and self-obsession", while Keir Starmer offers " sober policies, evidence-based and competent leadership"

Claire Perry O'Neill said that conservatives are now "dominated by ideology and self-obsession" (

Image: Peter Summers

A former senior minister left the Tories tonight with a scathing rebuke - and lavished praise on Keir Starmer.

Claire Perry O'Neill, Conservative MP for Devizes from 2010 to 2019, said the Tories were now "dominated by ideology and self-obsession".

She said Rishi Sunak was unable to make changes in a “competent and fact-based manner” due to the state of the party.

She added that the Conservatives' "often cavalier approach to business and academia" has "damaged our ability to deliver the energy system we need."

In contrast, the ex-minister - who served in Cabinet under Theresa May but who Boris Johnson sacked as chair of the COP26 climate summit in 2020 - said she wanted to 'applaud " Keir Starmer and the Labor Party.

She “Building a low-carbon, secure and affordable energy system for the UK is a huge challenge that requires sober, evidence-based and capable political leadership.

"I feel that is exactly what we will get if Labor wins the next general election."

After stepping down as an MP, Ms O'Neill was due to chair the 2021 COP 26 UN climate summit in Glasgow.

But days before the summit was launched by Boris Johnson and Sir David Attenborough, she was sacked by the Prime Minister's special adviser, Dominic Cummings.

Sources in the COP26 unit questioned his suitability for the post and the role of chairman was changed to a government minister, Alok Sharma.

Following the sacking, she claimed Boris Johnson had secretly admitted he 'doesn't understand' climate change and denounced the Conservative government's 'enormous lack of leadership'.

She told the BBC: "He admitted to me that he didn't really understand it. He doesn't really understand, I think that's what he said."