Ben Goldsmith, the veteran Conservative environmentalist and ally of Boris Johnson, has been approached to write Reform UK’s policies on nature, as Nigel Farage’s party attempts to make inroads with voters put off by his stance on the climate crisis.
Goldsmith will work with the Reform leader and his policy adviser James Orr on policies such as fishing and preservation of the green belt, as party figures admit they are struggling to win over Conservative voters who care about the environment.
It is understood the financier and wildlife campaigner will not be joining the party, but is happy to advise them on nature policy. Goldsmith has been a leading figure in the rewilding movement, has supported efforts to return animals including the beaver to the UK, and has worked to preserve rare wildlife around the world.
Reform has made huge inroads among Tory voters in the past 18 months, propelling the party to the top of the polls and on course for a majority at the next election.
But polling shows the party’s opposition to net zero has made it unpalatable to some green Conservatives, something Farage is understood to be hoping to correct with a series of policies centred on preserving nature.
Sources said Orr had been showing polling to top figures on the right, that shows more than 80% of Reform voters care deeply about nature, and that Tories who are more reluctant to vote for Nigel Farage’s party care the most about the issue of any voter.
Luke Tryl, the UK director of More in Common, told the Guardian: “The right is united in their priority on nature: across both climate-sceptic Reform voters and the pro-climate Conservative voters they may need to win over, majorities say they would be more likely to vote for a political party that prioritised nature protection.” His figures show 57% of Reform voters think the government should prioritise nature, and 66% of Conservative voters do.
A Reform spokesperson said of the approach to Goldsmith: “We are constantly seeking input from people with relevant experience and expertise across different areas of public policy. That does not mean we are outsourcing policymaking to them.”
Farage has set up camp in the exclusive Mayfair club 5 Hertford Street, which is owned by Robin Birley, the half-brother of Ben and Zac Goldsmith. It is a favourite haunt of establishment Tories, and the Reform leader has been trying to persuade them to join. Both Goldsmiths have so far refused, with Zac loyal to the Conservatives and Ben refusing to join any party so he can be an impartial advocate for nature.
It is difficult for the Labour government to break from the EU on nature policies, such as banning destructive bottom trawling in marine protected areas, as it seeks a closer trading relationship with the bloc.
“This is a massive opportunity for Reform,” a source said, “Labour can’t ban bottom trawling, which David Attenborough has been campaigning for and which is an issue that hugely resonates with the public, because the Danish and Dutch fishermen would go mad.”
Labour has refused to ban bottom trawling, the practice of dragging immense and heavy nets across the seabed to scoop up all in their path, most of which is discarded while more prized fish such as sole, cod and haddock are kept.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has said: “The government’s policy is not to introduce whole-site bans on bottom-towed fishing gear in MPAs [marine protected areas].”
Another issue likely to feature in Reform’s nature plan is Labour’s drive to build on the green belt, as well as the general planning deregulation to build homes on nature sites.
Reform figures including Richard Tice have campaigned against Ed Miliband’s drive to build renewables such as solar and onshore wind, arguing that it blights the countryside. Their nature policy will probably include promises to “protect the countryside” from this, despite the fact solar farms have been found to contain more nature than intensively farmed land.
Tice and other Reform figures have also pledged to scrap net zero and poured doubt on the contribution of humans, and fossil fuels, to climate breakdown.
