Given the crippling fossil fuel energy crisis caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Government has been mulling over ending the ban on shale gas extraction, commonly known as fracking. With the Tory leadership contest now underway, environmentalists now fear that Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s replacement will scrap many of his plans to get to net zero, which could include a return to the controversial practice.
However, a Conservative group has warned that such a move would alienate Red wall voters, many of whom backed the Tories in the 2019 elections.
Speaking to Express.co.uk, Sam Hall, the Director of the Conservative Environment Network, and former policy advisor to Michael Gove, warned that it is vital the party continue Mr Johnson’s record on the environment.
He said: “Politically, the environment is going to be very important for their election prospects in 2024.
“It’s a popular topic in both the Red Wall and the Blue Wall marginal seats and they’re very important for the party to hold onto.
“I think backsliding on the environment as a number of recent polls show will cost the Conservatives votes in those areas.”
Under Mr Johnson’s leadership, the UK has rolled out ambitious environmental policies and regulations and made greater progress in tackling the climate crisis than both of his predecessors in the past decade.
Mr Hall noted that while the Government and the PM candidates should take a look at every solution there is to tackling the energy crisis and lower bills, he warned that a return to fracking may come at a heavy cost.
He said: “If it’s possible to extract lots of gas through fracking in a way that local communities are willing to accept then I think it’s worth looking at.
“But I think the reality of its past experience of trying it in the UK is that our geology is just not suited to fracking, which creates seismic events.
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“Local communities don’t like the disruption, we’re a densely populated island and I think there would be significant opposition if fracking applications are made.”
Mr Hall also believed that the amount of gas and the benefits gained from reintroducing fracking would be “pretty small” compared to factors like seismicity and local support.
He added: “For that reason, I don’t know what candidates will say on this topic, but I would advise that it’s not a fix to the energy crunch and it’s not a cost of living measure either.
“It is likely instead to be very politically controversial instead in some of the marginal seats that the conservatives need to win in 2024.”
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“There’s been a lot of Red Wall MPs who have been strongly anti-fracking, Lee Rowly for example in northeast Derbyshire, and Alexander Stafford are both some of the strongest opponents of fracking and are both conservatives.
“I think in seats like that, there would be a real strong political backlash against attempts to restart fracking and I think politicians need to take that into account.”
Given how instrumental Red wall seats were in giving Tories an overwhelming majority in 2019, a strong anti-fracking backlash could jeopardise those plans.