Former COP26 chair Sir Alok Sharma standing down as MP at next election

Published

1 year ago

September 27, 2023

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Conservative former cabinet member Sir Alok Sharma has announced he will not stand as an MP at the next election.

Sir Alok, who chaired the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, was critical of Rishi Sunak recently when the prime minister watered down the government’s climate commitments.

He said last week that “it’d be incredibly damaging for business confidence, for inward investment, if the political consensus that we have forged in our country on the environment and climate action is fractured.

“And, frankly, I really do not believe that it’s going to help any political party electorally which chooses to go down this path.”

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In his letter to his constituency announcing his decision, the MP for Reading West said he will still “champion in parliament the causes I care deeply about, especially climate action”.

Sir Alok’s seat, which he has held since 2010, is being changed as part of the review of constituency boundaries before the next election, expected in 2024. It will be renamed Reading West and Mid Berkshire.

In the 2019 general election, Sir Alok increased his majority to 4,117 from 2,876 in 2017.

Before serving as the president of COP26, he was a housing minister, then an employment minister. He went on to serve as international development secretary and business secretary.

As chair of COP26, Sir Alok was a vocal proponent of green policies within the Conservative government.

He travelled across the UK giving speeches and attending summits on the climate, including at COP27 in Egypt in 2022.

Sir Alok was knighted for his contributions as a world leader in the effort to tackle climate change in the 2023 New Year Honours List.

It was him – as well as the then transport secretary Grant Shapps – who announced plans to ban the sales of petrol and diesel cars by 2030. This policy was delayed until 2035 by Mr Sunak last week as the PM weakened pledges designed to help the UK achieve a net zero economy by 2050.

Speaking at the time, Sir Alok said: “I hope other nations will follow suit as the UK makes another ambitious commitment to protect our planet and reach our all-important target to end our contribution to climate change by 2050.”

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Writing to his constituency paper, Sir Alok said: “I have this evening informed my local Conservative Association that I have decided not to stand at the next general election and therefore do not seek to be adopted as the Conservative candidate for the revised seat of Reading West and Mid Berkshire. This has not been an easy decision for me.

“It has been the honour of my life to serve as the MP for a constituency in the town where I grew up and a privilege to serve in government and represent the UK on the international stage.”

He added: “I will continue to support my Conservative colleagues and serve my constituents diligently for the remainder of my time as an MP, as well as champion in parliament the causes I care deeply about, especially climate action.”

Politics

Trump’s tariffs may lead to savings for Americans through tax cuts: Research

Published

21 hours ago

February 22, 2025

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Trump’s tariffs may lead to savings for Americans through tax cuts: Research

Prior to the 16th Amendment, which was ratified in 1913, the United States did not have a permanent income tax levied on citizens.

Politics

Jess Phillips says there’s ‘no place’ where violence against women ‘doesn’t happen’ – as spiking to become new offence

Published

1 day ago

February 22, 2025

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Jess Phillips says there's 'no place' where violence against women 'doesn't happen' - as spiking to become new offence

Jess Phillips has said “there is no place” where violence against women and girls “doesn’t happen” – as a new law is set to make spiking a criminal offence.

Earlier on Friday, the government said spiking will now be its own offence with a possible 10-year prison sentence as part of the Crime and Policing Bill, which will be introduced in parliament next week.

It also announced a nationwide training programme to help workers spot and prevent attacks.

Speaking to Sky News correspondent Ashna Hurynag, the safeguarding minister said that while spiking is already illegal under existing laws, the new classification will simplify reporting the act for victims.

“Spiking is illegal – that isn’t in question, but what victims and campaigners who have tried to use the legislation as it currently is have told us is that it’s unclear,” Ms Phillips said.

UK ‘was never safe’ for women

When asked if the UK is becoming a less safe place for women, the minister for safeguarding and violence against women and girls, said: “I don’t think it’s becoming less safe, if I’m being honest. I think it was never safe.”

Speaking about a rise in coverage, Ms Phillips said: “We have a real opportunity to use that, the sense of feeling [built by campaigners] in the country, to really push forward political change in this space.”

“The reality is that it doesn’t matter whether it’s the House of Commons or any pub in your local high street – there is no place where violence against women and girls doesn’t happen, I’m afraid,” she added.

Spiking is when someone is given drugs or alcohol without them knowing or consenting, either by someone putting something in their drink or using a needle.

Police in England and Wales received 6,732 reports of spiking in the year up to April 2023 – with 957 of those relating to needle spiking.

London’s Metropolitan Police added that reports of spiking had increased by 13% in 2023, with 1,383 allegations.

As part of the nationwide training programme, a £250,000 government-funded scheme was started last week to teach staff how to spot warning signs of spiking crimes, prevent incidents and gather evidence.

It aims to train 10,000 staff at pubs, clubs and bars for free by April this year.

Alex Davies-Jones, minister for victims and violence against women and girls, said in a statement that “no one should feel afraid to go out at night” or “have to take extreme precautions to keep themselves safe when they do”.

“To perpetrators, my message is clear: spiking is vile and illegal and we will stop you,” he said. “To victims or those at risk, we want you to know: the law is on your side. Come forward and help us catch these criminals.”

Colin Mackie, founder of Spike Aware UK, also said the charity is “delighted with the steps being taken by the government to combat spiking”.

He added: “Spiking can happen anywhere, but these new initiatives are the first steps to making it socially unacceptable and we urge anyone that suspects or sees it happening, not to remain silent.”