Former Tory Energy Minister Quits Party and Backs Labour Leader

Conservative Party leader and incoming Prime Minister Rishi Sunak departs from Conservative Party Headquarters in London, on Oct. 24, 2022. Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

A former Conservative minister has attacked her own party, praising Labour for its “sober, fact-driven, competent political leadership” while applauding leader Keir Starmer for his green energy ambitions.

Claire Perry O’Neill, who served as UK minister for energy and clean growth in Theresa May’s Cabinet before leading the UK’s Cop26 team until she left politics in 2020, said that she has not joined Labour, but has left the Conservatives, saying she is “no longer a member of any political party.”