Christopher James Skidmore, (born 17 May 1981) is a British politician, and author of popular history. He served as Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation from December 2018 to July 2019, and from September 2019 to February 2020, during which h
signed UK's Net Zero pledge into law
He also served a
Interim Minister for Energy and Clean Growth
Currently, he serves as th
Chair of the Net Zero review since September 2022
Skidmore was first elected in 2010 as the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

member of Parliament (MP) for Kingswood, South Gloucestershire, and became vice-chairman of the Conservative Party for Policy in 2018. On 26 November 2022, he announced that he would be standing down at the

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Early life and education

Skidmore was born on 17 May 1981 in Longwell Green,

Avon Avon may refer to: * River Avon (disambiguation), several rivers Organisations *Avon Buses, a bus operating company in Wirral, England *Avon Coachworks, a car body builder established in 1919 at Warwick, England, relaunched in 1922, following ...

. As a teenager, he became a member of the Conservative Party in 1996. Skidmore was educated at

Bristol Grammar School Bristol Grammar School (BGS) is a 4–18 mixed, independent day school in Bristol, England. It was founded in 1532 by Royal Charter for the teaching of 'good manners and literature', endowed by wealthy Bristol merchants Robert and Nicholas Thorn ...

, an independent day school, before attending Christ Church, Oxford, graduating in 2002 with a

first-class degree The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied (sometimes with significant variati ...

in Modern History ( BA). Skidmore worked for

David Willetts David Linsay Willetts, Baron Willetts, (born 9 March 1956) is a British politician and life peer. From 1992 to 2015, he was the Member of Parliament (MP) representing the constituency of Havant in Hampshire. He served as Minister of State for ...

and

Michael Gove Michael Andrew Gove (; born Graeme Andrew Logan, 26 August 1967) is a British politician serving as Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and Minister for Intergovernmental Relations since 2021. He has been Member of Parli ...

as an advisor, and served as chairman of the

Bow Group The Bow Group is a UK-based think tank promoting conservative opinion. Founded in 1951, it is the oldest group of its kind, counting many senior Conservative Party MPs and peers among its members. It represents a forum for political debate with ...

for 2007–08, before being appointed by another right-leaning

think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmental ...

Policy Exchange Policy Exchange is a British conservative think tank based in London. In 2007 it was described in ''The Daily Telegraph'' as "the largest, but also the most influential think tank on the right". ''The Washington Post'' said Policy Exchange's re ...

, as a

research fellow A research fellow is an academic research position at a university or a similar research institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a p ...

Parliamentary career

After being selected to contest the

marginal seat A marginal seat or swing seat is a constituency held with a small majority in a legislative election, generally one conducted under a single-winner voting system. In Canada, they may be known as target ridings. The opposite is a safe 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. Skidmore served as a member of the

Health Select Committee The Health and Social Care Select Committee (abbreviated to HSC, HSCC and HSCSC) is a Departmental Select Committee of the British House of Commons, the lower house of the United Kingdom Parliament. Its remit is to examine the policy, administ ...

, leaving that committee on 17 June 2013 (being replaced by Charlotte Leslie), to sit on the

Education Select Committee The Education Select Committee is a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The remit of the committee is to examine the expenditure, administration and policy of the Department for Education and any ass ...

. 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". He was re-elected with an increased majority at the general election in 2015 and became

Parliamentary Private Secretary A Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) is a Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom who acts as an unpaid assistant to a minister or shadow minister. They are selected from backbench MPs as the 'eyes and ears' of the minister in the H ...

to the chancellor of the exchequer. From 2016 to 2018, Skidmore was Parliamentary Secretary for the Constitution. Following the 2018 cabinet reshuffle, he was sacked from this role but given the role of vice-chairman of the Conservative Party for policy. Skidmore was named by the

ConservativeHome ConservativeHome is a British right-wing blog which supports, but is independent of, the Conservative Party. It was first established by Tim Montgomerie in 2005 with the aim of arguing for a broad conservative spectrum, which is serious about b ...

website in 2012 as one of a minority of loyal Conservative backbench MPs not to have voted against the government in any significant rebellions. He was a regular guest on

BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

political programmes, such as ''

Daily Politics ''Daily Politics'' was a BBC Television programme which aired between 6 January, 2003 and 24 July, 2018, presented by Andrew Neil and Jo Coburn. ''Daily Politics'' took an in-depth review of the daily events in both Westminster and other areas ...

''. Skidmore was opposed to

Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAE ...

prior to the

2016 EU membership referendum The United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, commonly referred to as the EU referendum or the Brexit referendum, took place on 23 June 2016 in the United Kingdom (UK) and Gibraltar to ask the electorate whether the country shoul ...

. 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". Skidmore was appointed Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation on 5 December 2018, following

Sam Gyimah Samuel Phillip Gyimah (; born 10 August 1976) is a British politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for East Surrey from 2010 to 2019. First elected as a Conservative, Gyimah rebelled against the government to block a no-deal ...

's resignation over the government's

policy. On 27 June 2022, as Minister for Energy and Clean Growth, Skidmore signed the UK'
Net Zero by 2050 pledge
into law, becoming the first major economy to do so. Following the appointment of

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

in July 2019, Skidmore was moved to the

Department for Health and Social Care The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of Government of the United Kingdom, His Majesty's Government responsible for government policy on health and adult social care ma ...

, serving as the

minister of state for health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental health. Coun ...

. Following the resignation of

Jo Johnson Joseph Edmund Johnson, Baron Johnson of Marylebone, (born 23 December 1971) is a British politician who was Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation from July to September 2019, as well as previously from 2015 to 2 ...

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 Michelle Emma May Elizabeth Donelan (born 8 April 1984) is a British politician who has served as Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport since September 2022. She previously served as Minister of State for Higher and Further E ...

as Minister of State for Universities and

Amanda Solloway Amanda Jane Solloway (née Edghill, 6 June 1961) is a British politician serving as Lord Commissioner of the Treasury since September 2022. She served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Equalities and Parliamentary Under-Secretary ...

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Science, Research and Innovation The Minister of State for Science, Research and Innovation (also known as Science Minister) is a mid-level position in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy in the British government. It was re-created by the Second Johnson ...

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. He initially supported

Rishi Sunak Rishi Sunak (; born 12 May 1980) is a British politician who has served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party since October 2022. He previously held two cabinet positions under Boris Johnson, lastly as ...

in the July–September 2022 Conservative Party leadership election, but later changed his support to

Liz Truss Mary Elizabeth Truss (born 26 July 1975) is a British politician who briefly served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from September to October 2022. On her fiftieth day in office, she stepped down ...

. On 26 September 2022, Skidmore launched th
Net Zero Review
On 19 October 2022, Skidmore put out a statement on

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, saying he could not 'support fracking' in a vote, citing his unwillingness to 'undermine the pledges emade at the 2019 General Election'. The government was reportedly treating this vote in favour of fracking as a confidence vote, so he could risk losing the Conservative Party whip.

Honours

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

ship of the

Royal Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...

(FRSA) (2008) *

ship of the

Royal Historical Society The Royal Historical Society, founded in 1868, is a learned society of the United Kingdom which advances scholarly studies of history. Origins The society was founded and received its royal charter in 1868. Until 1872 it was known as the Histori ...

(FRHistS) (2010) *

ship of the

Society of Antiquaries of London A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Soci ...

(FSA) (10 October 2014) * He was sworn in as a member of Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council on 6 November 2019 at Buckingham Palace. This gave him the honorific title "

The Right Honourable ''The Right Honourable'' (abbreviation: ''Rt Hon.'' or variations) is an honorific Style (form of address), style traditionally applied to certain persons and collective bodies in the United Kingdom, the former British Empire and the Commonwealth ...

" for life. Skidmore was appointed

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(OBE) in the

2022 Birthday Honours The 2022 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as p ...

for parliamentary and public service.

Bibliography

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

Notes

References

External links

Official websiteProfile
on the Conservative Party website
''Debrett's People of Today''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Skidmore, Chris 1981 births Living people People educated at Bristol Grammar School Politicians from Bristol Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford English non-fiction writers English male non-fiction writers Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Politics of South Gloucestershire District Fellows of the Royal Historical Society Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London UK MPs 2010–2015 UK MPs 2015–2017 UK MPs 2017–2019 UK MPs 2019–present Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Ministers for Universities (United Kingdom) Officers of the Order of the British Empire Free Enterprise Group