Net zero or not: will the next Tory leader embrace green agenda or oppose it?

The Tories have been urged to highlight their environmental achievements, such as the near elimination of coal from the UK energy mix. Photograph: Gary Calton/The Observer

When the Conservatives gather in Birmingham this weekend for their first party conference out of government in 15 years, the environment is not likely to be top of most members’ minds, amid the fever of a leadership campaign.

That is probably a good thing, many green-tinged Tory insiders feel. The leadership campaign is dominated by the right wing of the party, with the favourite, Robert Jenrick, slugging it out on issues such as immigration, Brexit and the “scourge of woke” with Kemi Badenoch, James Cleverly and Tom Tugendhat.