David Cameron’s Conservative Party won a surprise majority government during the May 2015 UK general election. The outcome defied expectations of a hung parliament and saw the UK return to single-party government after five years of Tory-Liberal Democrat coalition. The other big story of the election was the Scottish National Party’s almost total victory north of the border, winning all but three seats.
Amber Rudd has been appointed as secretary of state for energy and climate change. She was welcomed by green groups for her stance on renewable energy, but as this DeSmog UK series shows, her appointment has also been enthusiastically welcomed by the fracking industry. Rudd will be joined by Andrea Leadson as energy minister.
The top line on the Conservative approach to climate and energy issues is that the party will stick to the UK‘s overarching carbon targets, while focusing on minimising costs. Here, we investigate who the new key players are what this all means for action on climate change and the fracking industry in Britain.
