READING West MP Alok Sharma has hinted he could quit the government if the next prime minister does not back plans to tackle the climate emergency.
The COP26 minister told The Observer that it was essential for the county to be committed to a net zero agenda.
“Anyone aspiring to lead our country needs to demonstrate that they take this issue incredibly seriously,” he said.
And he declined to commit to staying in his role, which saw him chair the COP26 climate emergency conference in Glasgow last year, if any of the five remaining candidates didn’t continue with the progress already made.
“I want to see candidates very proactively set out their support for our net zero agenda for green growth,” he said.
Mr Sharma added: “I hope that we will see, particularly with the final two, a very clear statement that this is an agenda that they do support.”
If they didn’t, he would then make a decision of his future.
The five leadership candidates are Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak, Kemi Badenoch, Tom Tugendhat, and former Reading University Student Union president Penny Mourdant.
This week, Conservative MPs will take part in a series of votes to whittle the list down to two candidates.
The party’s membership will then be asked to vote for their preference, with the winner becoming the new prime minister in September.
The vote came about because Boris Johnson lost confidence of 50 ministers due to his leadership. Among the resignations was Bracknell MP James Sunderland.
Reading West is a target seat for Labour in the forthcoming general election, as Mr Sharma’s majority is just over 4,000 votes.
