Chris Skidmore | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2017 | |
| Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation | |
| In office 10 September 2019 – 13 February 2020 | |
| Prime Minister | Boris Johnson |
| Preceded by | Jo Johnson |
| Succeeded by | |
| In office 5 December 2018 – 24 July 2019 | |
| Prime Minister | Theresa May |
| Preceded by | Sam Gyimah |
| Succeeded by | Jo Johnson |
| Minister of State for Health | |
| In office 24 July 2019 – 10 September 2019 | |
| Prime Minister | Boris Johnson |
| Preceded by | Stephen Hammond |
| Succeeded by | Edward Argar |
| Minister of State for Energy and Clean Growth | |
| In office 20 May 2019 – 24 July 2019[c] | |
| Prime Minister | Theresa May |
| Preceded by | Claire Perry |
| Succeeded by | Kwasi Kwarteng |
| Parliamentary Secretary for the Constitution | |
| In office 17 July 2016 – 8 January 2018 | |
| Prime Minister | Theresa May |
| Preceded by | John Penrose |
| Succeeded by | Chloe Smith |
| Member of Parliament forKingswood | |
| In office 6 May 2010 – 8 January 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Roger Berry |
| Succeeded by | Damien Egan |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1981-05-17)17 May 1981 (age 44) Bristol, England |
| Party | Conservative (1996–2024)[3] |
| Education | Bristol Grammar School |
| Alma mater | Christ Church, Oxford (BA) |
Christopher James Skidmore (born 17 May 1981) is a British formerConservative Party politician and author of popular history who served as Member of Parliament (MP) forKingswood inSouth Gloucestershire from 2010 to 2024.[4][5]
Skidmore was first elected at the2010 general election. As abackbencher, he joined theFree Enterprise Group of Conservative MPs, founded byLiz Truss, and co-authored a number of papers and books, includingAfter the Coalition (2011) andBritannia Unchained (2012). FollowingTheresa May's appointment as prime minister in July 2016, he was appointedParliamentary Secretary for the Constitution; he was removed from this position in theJanuary 2018 reshuffle, becoming the Conservative Party's policy vice chairman. He returned to government in 2018 asMinister of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation followingSam Gyimah's resignation. He was interimMinister of State for Energy and Clean Growth from May to July 2019, covering forClaire Perry. In this position, he signed the UK'sNet Zero pledge into law.[6]
Skidmore becameMinister of State for Health afterBoris Johnson became prime minister in July 2019. He returned to his former position of universities minister in September 2019 followingJo Johnson's resignation, and was dismissed from government in theFebruary 2020 reshuffle. Skidmore chaired a review of the government's net-zero strategy in 2022 and 2023. He resigned as an MP in January 2024 over the proposed introduction of the government's Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill.[7][8]
Skidmore was born on 17 May 1981 inBristol, and grew up inLongwell Green andBitton,Avon.[9][10][11] In 1996, as a teenager, he became a member of the Conservative Party.[12] Skidmore was educated atBristol Grammar School, an independent day school, before attendingChrist Church, Oxford, graduating in 2002 with afirst-class degree in Modern History (BA).[citation needed] In 2001, he served as President of the Oxford Reform Club, whose ex-members includeLiz Truss andOlly Robbins.[13]
Skidmore worked forDavid Willetts andMichael Gove as an advisor, and served as chairman of theBow Group for 2007–08,[14] before being appointed by another right-leaningthink tank,Policy Exchange, as aresearch fellow.[15] He is the author of four books on medieval and Tudor history.[16]
After being selected to contest themarginal seat ofKingswood for the Conservatives in 2009, he was elected as its Member of Parliament at the2010 general election, defeating incumbentRoger Berry of theLabour Party.[17]
Skidmore served as a member of theHealth Select Committee, leaving that committee on 17 June 2013 (being replaced byCharlotte Leslie),[18] to sit on theEducation Select Committee.[19] He is also a member of theFree Enterprise Group of MPs, founded byLiz Truss, and along with Truss,Priti Patel,Kwasi Kwarteng andDominic Raab, he co-authoredAfter the Coalition (2011) andBritannia Unchained (2012).[20]
He was re-elected with an increased majority at thegeneral election in 2015 and becameParliamentary Private Secretary to theChancellor of the Exchequer.[21]
From 2016 to 2018, Skidmore wasParliamentary Secretary for the Constitution.[22] Following the2018 cabinet reshuffle, he was sacked from this role but given the role of vice-chairman of the Conservative Party for policy.[23]
Skidmore was named by theConservativeHome website in 2012 as one of a minority of loyal Conservative backbench MPs not to have voted against the government in any significant rebellions.[24]
Skidmore was opposed toBrexit prior to the2016 EU membership referendum.[25] In February 2018, he argued in a speech to the Centre for Policy Studies that his party needed a broad and positive policy programme to gain wider support, further stating: "If we are just going to talk about Brexit then the Conservative Party will rapidly decline".[26]
Skidmore was appointed Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation on 5 December 2018, followingSam Gyimah's resignation over the government'sBrexit policy.[27]
On 27 June 2019, as Interim Minister for Energy and Clean Growth, Skidmore signed the UK'sNet Zero Pledge into law, becoming the first major economy to do so.[6]
Following the appointment ofBoris Johnson asPrime Minister in July 2019, Skidmore was moved to theDepartment for Health and Social Care, serving as theMinister of State for Health. After the resignation ofJo Johnson from cabinet, Skidmore re-assumed his position of minister of state for universities, science, research and innovation in September 2019. However, he was dismissed from government and replaced byMichelle Donelan asMinister of State for Universities andAmanda Solloway asParliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Science, Research and Innovation in thecabinet reshuffle of February 2020.
Skidmore submitted a letter of no confidence in Boris Johnson on 6 July 2022 during mass resignations of government ministers.[28] He initially supportedRishi Sunak in theJuly–September 2022 Conservative Party leadership election, but changed his support toLiz Truss.[29]
On 26 September 2022 Skidmore launched the Net Zero Review, pledging to use the review to focus on the UK's fight against climate change while maximising economic growth to ensure energy security and affordability for consumers and businesses.[30]
On 19 October 2022, Skidmore put out a statement onTwitter, in advance of a debate onfracking, saying that "[a]s the former Energy Minister who signed Net Zero into law", he could not vote "to support fracking and undermine the pledges I made at the 2019 General Election". The government was reportedly treating this vote as a confidence vote, putting Skidmore at risk of losing the Conservative Party whip.[31][32]
On 16 January 2023, Skidmore published "Mission Zero", the final report of the Net Zero Review.[33] The 340-page report contained 129 recommendations on how to deliver the UK's net zero commitments. The report was published just weeks after Chris Skidmore declared he had taken up a paid role (£80,000 per annum) as adviser to the "Emissions Capture Company", for providing 160–192 hours per annum advice on the global energy transition and decarbonisation.[34]
In June 2023, it was announced that Skidmore had been appointed to a professorship at theUniversity of Bath to undertake research on sustainability and climate change.[35][36]
On 26 November 2022, Skidmore announced that he would not seek re-election as an MP at thenext general election, later stating in Parliament that "my constituency of Kingswood is being formally abolished in theboundary changes and there is nowhere for me to go."[37][38][39]
In the event, Skidmore announced on 5 January 2024 that he would resign his parliamentary seat in protest at the introduction of the Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill, describing the relaxation of net zero targets as "the greatest mistake of [Rishi Sunak's] premiership".[40][41] On 8 January, Skidmore formally submitted hisresignation as an MP,[4] which was effected on the same day by his appointment asSteward of the Chiltern Hundreds.[42] In response to Skidmore's resignation statement,Karl McCartney, Tory MP forLincoln, tweeted: "A now 'former colleague', who was gifted various positions, ahead of many better, well-qualified, and collegiate colleagues, dumps on all from a great height. Once more, another non-Conservative handpicked as part of[David] Cameron'sA List."[43]
Post Resignation
Following his resignation from Parliament, Skidmore set out in his resignation letter his intention to focus on enabling the energy transition and deliver the net zero commitment he signed into law.[44]
Skidmore’s Net Zero Review, Mission Zero, was published as a book in late 2023, and received positive reviews in early 2024 upon publication.[45] Having established the Mission Zero Coalition in 2023, to focus on delivering the recommendations in his Net ZeroReview[46] Skidmore continued to publish reports into early 2024, includingBuilding The Future in March2024[47][48] andAt A Crossroads in June 2024, which was published on the fifth anniversary of Skidmore signing the UK’s net zero commitment into law, which he co-authored with Renewable UK CEO Dan McGrail.[49][50]
In June 2024, at London Climate Action Week, former US Climate Envoy Secretary John Kerry launched the Climate Action Coalition, which Skidmore chairs.[51] The Climate Action Coalition has launched several taskforces including the Global Clean Power Taskforce which Skidmore co-chairs with former UNFCCC Executive Secretary PatriciaEspinosa[52].Skidmore and Espinosa have written jointly on the opportunity that the global energy transition presents, and the need to focus on developing positive narratives to demonstrate the opportunity of the ‘electrotech revolution’.[53]How we are working to boost the ‘electrotech revolution’
Skidmore was also appointed as Chair of the Centre for Economic Transition Expertise (CETEX) at the Grantham Research Institute for Climate Change at the London School of Economics in November 2024.Chris Skidmore appointed Chair of CETEx[54]
In February 2025 Skidmore was announced as Chair of the UK Transition Finance Council working group on Policy Transition Finance Council.[55] Skidmore gave a keynote speech at the UNEP-FI Sustainable Investment Forum in Paris in April 2025 setting out the work of the Council working group on Policy.[56]
Skidmore helped launch Better Earth, a company that focuses on delivering the international energy transition in March 2024.[57] In May 2024, it was announced that the former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson would act as co-chair of Better Earth.[58]
In July 2024, Skidmore announced the launch of Desmos Capital Partners, an advisory investment bank that would seek to help raise investment for sustainable companies.[59] Skidmore is Chair of Desmos. In November Desmos announced that it was establishing four regional centres.[60] Its mandates have included a $30 million raise for Meatable,[61] while Desmos has announced its Senior Adviser network includes the former Assistant Secretary of Defense Brendan Owens and the former UK Minister for Africa, Andrew Stephenson.[62]
Skidmore is also a founding Senior Advisor of the sustainable fund Smart Society Ventures[63] and hosts a podcast, the Smart Society Show with co-host Brynne Kennedy.[64]
On 20 June, Skidmore announced that in the2024 UK general election he would vote Labour because of the party's Net Zero policies.[65]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forKingswood 2010–2024 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Parliamentary Secretary for the Constitution 2016–2018 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation 2018–2019 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of State for Health 2019 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation 2019–2020 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
