Tory plan to repeal Climate Change Act 'direct echo' of Reform policy developed in Doncaster, councillor says

The Conservative Party’s national leader announced the new policy on Thursday morning, saying she would replace the act with a new “energy strategy” focussed on cheaper energy.

However, a senior Reform UK councillor in Doncaster is claiming the announcement as further evidence the insurgent party is influencing policy at the top of politics.

It is said that Badenoch’s new policy is a “direct echo” of a motion proposed by Councillor Rachel Reed of the City of Doncaster Council, to Reform UK’s party conference in September – which was adopted as the party’s position.

Cllr Reed told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “When I brought forward this motion, I did so because local people across Doncaster and South Yorkshire are paying the price for energy policies imposed without consent.

“Net Zero ideology has pushed up standing charges, destroyed our countryside with solar and battery projects, and left us dependent on imports.

“The fact that the Conservatives now admit we were right showed just how far the debate has moved in our favour.”

Economists refute the suggestion that Net Zero policy is solely responsible for rising energy prices, with the biggest contributor widely accepted to be the hike in gas prices after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Ofgem, the energy regulator, has previously stated that roughly 12 per cent of the £111 rise to the energy price cap in April 2025 was Net Zero-related.

Reed added: “Reform UK’s motion, which called for the repeal of the failed Climate Change Act and the abolition of the Climate Change Committee, argued that Britain’s energy future must be built on sovereignty, affordability, and reliability – not dictated by unelected quangos and legally binding carbon budgets that have driven up bills and weakened industry.

“[Kemi] Badenoch has now committed the Conservatives to precisely this position. This represents a remarkable shift in the political debate – and a clear sign that Reform is setting the agenda while the Conservatives scramble to catch up.”

Reed had made local headlines in recent weeks after she stepped down as Doncaster Reform UK’s deputy group leader.

The Conisbrough ward councillor had been listed as a co-director on a new company, named after Doncaster Council’s arms-length Doncaster Sheffield Airport company, seemingly intended to capture public contracts.

Reed resigned as a director of the business when the saga was first reported, leaving recent Reform exile Cllr David Knight as its only director.