Tory byelection victory gives Badenoch vital evidence to justify abandoning net zero

Kemi Badenoch with Douglas Lumsden after the latter’s byelection victory. Photograph: Michał Wachucik/PA

For the first time in 50 years, the Conservatives have won a byelection in Scotland, taking Aberdeen South from the Scottish National party and giving Kemi Badenoch one of her most significant achievements as party leader.

The win for Douglas Lumsden, which was secured with a 15% swing, giving the Tories a majority of 6,050, provides the party leader with an important piece of evidence that her decision to abandon the party’s commitment to net zero by 2050 is working.