Former Tory minister quits ‘self obsessed’ Conservative party and praises Keir Starmer’s Labour

‘Self-obsessed’ ruling party can’t take Britain into a green future, says May-era minister

A former Conservative minister has quit the party with a damning broadside against the “ideology and self-obsession” of her former colleagues.

Claire Perry O’Neill, a member of Theresa May’s cabinet and an MP from 2010 to 2019, said she left the “cavalier” Tories earlier this month and praised Sir Keir Starmer for his “sober” leadership of the Labour party.

Perry O’Neill was energy minister in the last two years of Ms May’s leadership and led UK preparations for the Cop26 summit before Boris Johnson sacked her in favour of Alok Sharma.