Chris Skidmore

Christopher James Skidmore, OBE, FRHistS, FSA, FRSA (born 17 May 1981) is a British politician, and author of popular history. A member of the Conservative Party, he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Kingswood in Gloucestershire since 2010. He previously served as Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation from December 2018 to July 2019, and again from September 2019 to February 2020.

For the cricketer, see Chris Skidmore (cricketer).

The Right Honourable
Chris Skidmore
OBE FRHistS FSA FRSA MP
Official portrait, 2017
Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation
In office
10 September 2019 – 13 February 2020
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Preceded byJo Johnson
Succeeded byMichelle Donelan[lower-alpha 1]
Amanda Solloway[lower-alpha 2]
In office
5 December 2018 – 24 July 2019
Prime MinisterTheresa May
Preceded bySam Gyimah
Succeeded byJo Johnson
Minister of State for Health
In office
24 July 2019 – 10 September 2019
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Preceded byStephen Hammond
Succeeded byEdward Argar
Parliamentary Secretary for the Constitution
In office
17 July 2016 – 8 January 2018
Prime MinisterTheresa May
Preceded byJohn Penrose
Succeeded byChloe Smith
Member of Parliament
for Kingswood
Assumed office
6 May 2010
Preceded byRoger Berry
Majority11,220 (22.8%)
Personal details
Born (1981-05-17) 17 May 1981
Longwell Green, Avon, England
Political partyConservative
EducationBristol Grammar School
Alma materChrist Church, Oxford (BA)
Websitechrisskidmore.com

Skidmore was first elected at the 2010 general election, and became vice-chairman of the Conservative Party for Policy in 2018. He is notable for being the minister that signed the UK's Net Zero pledge into law.[1] Most recently, he served as the Chair of the Independent Government Review on Net Zero, a position he has held since September 2022.[2]

On 26 November 2022, Skidmore announced that he would be standing down at the next general election.[3][4]

Early life and education

Skidmore was born on 17 May 1981[5] in Longwell Green, Avon. As a teenager, he became a member of the Conservative Party in 1996.[6] Skidmore was educated at Bristol Grammar School, an independent day school, before attending Christ Church, Oxford, graduating in 2002 with a first-class degree in Modern History (BA).

Skidmore worked for David Willetts and Michael Gove as an advisor, and served as chairman of the Bow Group for 2007–08,[7] before being appointed by another right-leaning think tank, Policy Exchange, as a research fellow.[8]

Parliamentary career

After being selected to contest the marginal seat of Kingswood for the Conservatives in 2009, he was elected as its Member of Parliament at the 2010 general election, defeating incumbent Roger Berry of the Labour Party.[9]

Skidmore served as a member of the Health Select Committee, leaving that committee on 17 June 2013 (being replaced by Charlotte Leslie),[10] to sit on the Education Select Committee.[11] He is also a member of the Free Enterprise Group of MPs, and along with colleagues co-authored After the Coalition (2011) and Britannia Unchained (2012). The authors of Britannia Unchained claimed that "Once they enter the workplace, the British are among the worst idlers in the world".[12][13]

He was re-elected with an increased majority at the general election in 2015 and became Parliamentary Private Secretary to the chancellor of the exchequer.[14]

From 2016 to 2018, Skidmore was Parliamentary Secretary for the Constitution.[15] Following the 2018 cabinet reshuffle, he was sacked from this role but given the role of vice-chairman of the Conservative Party for policy.[16]

Skidmore was named by the ConservativeHome website in 2012 as one of a minority of loyal Conservative backbench MPs not to have voted against the government in any significant rebellions.[17] He was a regular guest on BBC political programmes, such as Daily Politics.

Skidmore was opposed to Brexit prior to the 2016 EU membership referendum.[18] 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".[19]

Skidmore was appointed Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation on 5 December 2018, following Sam Gyimah's resignation over the government's Brexit policy.[20]

On 27 June 2019, as Minister for Energy and Clean Growth, Skidmore signed the UK's Net Zero Pledge into law, becoming the first major economy to do so.[21]

Following the appointment of Boris Johnson as Prime Minister in July 2019, Skidmore was moved to the Department for Health and Social Care, serving as the minister of state for health.

Following the resignation of Jo 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 by Michelle Donelan as Minister of State for Universities and Amanda Solloway as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Science, Research and Innovation in the cabinet reshuffle of February 2020.

Skidmore submitted a letter of no confidence in Boris Johnson on 6 July 2022 during mass resignations of government ministers.[22]

He initially supported Rishi Sunak in the July–September 2022 Conservative Party leadership election, but changed his support to Liz Truss.[23]

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.[24]

On 19 October 2022, Skidmore put out a statement on Twitter, in advance of a debate on fracking, 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.[25][26]

On 16 January 2023, Skidmore published "Mission Zero",[27] the final report of the Net Zero Review. The 340 page report, containing 129 recommendations on how to deliver the UK's net zero commitments, has been widely welcomed by the energy and climate sector.[28][29]

Honours

Skidmore was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2022 Birthday Honours for parliamentary and public service.[35]

Bibliography
  • Edward VI: The Lost King of England (2007) ISBN 9780312351427
  • Death and The Virgin: Elizabeth, Dudley and the Mysterious Fate of Amy Robsart (2010) ISBN 9780297846505
  • Bosworth: The Birth of the Tudors (2013) ISBN 9780753828946 (published in the United States as The Rise of the Tudors: The Family That Changed English History, 2014)
  • Richard III: Brother, Protector, King (2017) ISBN 9780297870784

Notes
  1. As Minister of State for Universities.
  2. As Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Science, Research and Innovation.

References
  1. "UK becomes first major economy to pass net zero emissions law".
  2. Chair of the Net Zero review since September 2022
  3. "Tory MP Chris Skidmore to step down at next general election". Sky News. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  4. PA (26 November 2022). "Chris Skidmore ninth Tory MP to set exit plan as party hit with dire opinion polls". the Guardian. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  5. "Chris Skidmore MP". Democracy Live. BBC. Archived from the original on 24 February 2016. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
  6. "Chris Skidmore". Conservative Party. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  7. Bow Group
  8. "Chris Skidmore MP". Policy Exchange. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
  9. "Kingswood". BBC News. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
  10. "Health Committee – membership". UK Parliament. Archived from the original on 3 July 2013.
  11. "Membership - Education Committee". UK Parliament. Archived from the original on 2 July 2013.
  12. Kwarteng, Kwasi; Patel, Priti; Raab, Dominic; Skidmore, Chris; Truss, Liz (2012). Britannia Unchained: Global Lessons for Growth and Prosperity. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 61. ISBN 978-1-137-03223-2. Archived from the original on 7 August 2022. Retrieved 6 August 2022. "The British are among the worst idlers in the world. We work among the lowest hours, we retire early and our productivity is poor. Whereas Indian children aspire to be doctors or businessmen, the British are more interested in football and pop music"
  13. "Tackle 'lazy' Britain, fellow Tories tell David Cameron". Evening Standard. 17 August 2012. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  14. "David Cameron gives Bristol and South Gloucestershire MPs junior government roles". Bristol Post. 2 June 2015. Archived from the original on 23 July 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  15. "Parliamentary Secretary (Minister for the Constitution)". GOV.UK. Archived from the original on 22 January 2017.
  16. Wheeler, Brian (10 January 2018). "May buying MPS' support, claims Labour MP". BBC News.
  17. Barrett, Matthew (14 September 2012). "The 24 Conservative MPs who are still on the backbenches and have never rebelled". ConservativeHome. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
  18. Goodenough, Tom (16 February 2016). "Which Tory MPs back Brexit, who doesn't and who is still on the fence?". The Spectator. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  19. Daly, Patrick (5 March 2018). "What the Tories have to do to defeat 'ruthless' Jeremy Corbyn at the next election". Bristol Post. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  20. Gaind, Nisha; Vesper, Inga (5 December 2018). "Government loyalist appointed new UK science minister as Brexit woes continue". Nature. doi:10.1038/d41586-018-07655-9. S2CID 158206538. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
  21. Net Zero by 2050 pledge
  22. Burford, Nicholas Cecil, David Bond, Rachael (6 July 2022). "Boris Johnson rules out snap election but fights on amid further resignations". Evening Standard. Retrieved 12 August 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  23. "Tory Leadership: 10 more MPs announce support for Liz Truss". BBC News. 10 August 2022. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  24. Net Zero Review
  25. Skidmore, Chris (19 October 2022). "As the former Energy Minister who signed Net Zero..." Twitter. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
  26. "Government makes fracking ban vote test of Tory loyalty". BBC News. 19 October 2022. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
  27. Mission Zero - Independent Review of Net Zero
  28. Larson, Kevin (29 March 2023). "The opportunities presented by a net zero growth agenda in the United Kingdom".
  29. London School of Economics and Political Science (13 January 2023). "Response to Chris Skidmore's net zero review".
  30. "List of Current Fellows September 2022" (PDF). The Royal Historical Society. September 2022. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
  31. "Mr Christopher Skidmore". Society of Antiquaries of London. 10 October 2014. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
  32. "Privy Council appointment: 13 September 2019". Government of the United Kingdom. 13 September 2019. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  33. King, Ceri (8 October 2019). "ORDERS APPROVED AND BUSINESS TRANSACTED AT THE PRIVY COUNCIL HELD BY THE QUEEN AT BUCKINGHAM PALACE ON 8TH OCTOBER 2019" (PDF). The Privy Council Office. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  34. Tilbrook, Richard (6 November 2019). "ORDERS APPROVED AND BUSINESS TRANSACTED AT THE PRIVY COUNCIL HELD BY THE QUEEN AT BUCKINGHAM PALACE ON 6TH NOVEMBER 2019" (PDF). The Privy Council Office. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  35. "No. 63714". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 June 2022. p. B15.
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