For most of the industrial age, the UK was what we now call ‘energy independent’. The great coal fields of the North, the Midlands and South Wales heated our homes. In time they were joined by a steady flow of oil and natural gas extracted from the North Sea. Yet as the years passed, we drifted into dependence on foreign sources. Global energy costs have been rising for some time; Putin’s invasion of Ukraine pushed them still higher and, ultimately, it is the consumer who ends up paying the price. How can we embrace safe, clean, affordable energy for a next generation and beyond?

Graham Stuart was appointed Minister of State in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero on 7 February 2023. He was previously Minister of State in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy from 6 September 2022. Graham was elected to the House of Commons as Member of Parliament for Beverley and Holderness in the 2005 general election. He attended Charles III's accession council in September and was formally appointed a privy counsellor three days later. He has previously chaired the Education Select Committee (2010 to 2015) and was Assistant Government Whip (2016 to 2018).