Most Tory voters want Boris Johnson's flagship Net Zero plan paused

Majority of Tory voters want party to pause Boris Johnson’s flagship Net Zero plans until the economy improves as poorest and oldest Britons revolt against green push

  • Almost six-in-10 want the move to reduce the UK’s emissions by 2050 eased 
  • Figure in YouGov poll contrasts with just 30 per cent of Labour / Lib Dem voters
  • Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss committed in July to the government’s Net Zero target 
  • But their leadership campaigns have seen the issue only feature peripherally

A majority of Tory voters want his successor to ‘pause’ his flagship Net Zero environmental policy, a new poll suggests.

Almost six-in-10 want the move to reduce the UK’s emissions by 2050 eased as families try to cope with soaring energy bills and rampant inflation.

The figure in a poll by YouGov contrasts with just 30 per cent of Labour and Lib Dem voters who think the policy should take a back seat to economic concerns. 

Both Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss committed in July to the government’s Net Zero target by signing an environment pledge from the Conservative Environment Network (CEN) – a green forum backed by more than 130 Tory MPs.

But their campaigns have seen the issue only feature peripherally, with party members more interested in tax cuts and help with the cost of living.

Ms Truss wants to suspend green levies added to energy bills and says there is a strong case for lifting the ban on fracking.

Mr Sunak has said he would fund energy efficiency measures by taking money from heat pump subsidies, and would not relax a ban on onshore wind farms in England.

The YouGov poll also found strong support for a full review of Net Zero among voters aged 65 and over, and working class voters, especially in the Midlands and Wales. 

Younger voters and those in London and Scotland were more likely to back the green push. 

Almost six-in-10 Tory voters want the move to reduce the UK’s emissions by 2050 eased as families try to cope with soaring energy bills and rampant inflation.


Both Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss committed in July to the government’s Net Zero target by signing an environment pledge from the Conservative Environment Network (CEN) – a green forum backed by more than 130 Tory MPs. But their campaigns have seen the issue only feature peripherally, with party members more interested in tax cuts and help with the cost of living

As Conservative party members start voting, some climate campaigners fear the ambitious emissions-cutting strategy planned by outgoing PM Boris Johnson could falter under his successor.

In a letter to the BBC after the broadcaster’s head-to-head debate last week, climate campaigners and organisations said it was ‘unacceptable’ for the issue to be ‘skimmed over in just 2-3 minutes’.

‘Whoever leads the next government … must show global leadership on this issue and prove they’re serious about delivering on commitments for climate and nature,’ said Katie White, campaigns director at green group WWF, who co-signed the letter.

Under Johnson in 2019, the Conservatives won a majority ‘on the back of their greenest manifesto ever’, so candidates should explain how they will deliver on those promises, she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in an email.

Last November, Britain hosted the COP26 talks in Glasgow, two years after becoming the first member of the Group of Seven (G7) wealthy nations to pass a law committing to reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

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