Rishi Sunak suffers large rebellion against the Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate

London, 5 December - In a vote late on Monday night, 38 MPs voted against the legislation bringing in the Government's Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate. The legislation enforces an 80% target for electric vehicles as a percentage of new car sales by 2030. With 28 Conservative MPs (including tellers) voting against, it is the biggest Tory revolt of Rishi Sunak's premiership, surpassing the total that voted against the Government on the Windsor Framework.

The rebellion comes after the Net Zero Scrutiny Group wrote to the Prime Minister on Saturday saying: “If the cost of buying and running an EV will become cheaper than petrol and diesel cars, mandating them with this law is unnecessary. This law is anti-consumer, anti-choice and anti-motorist, and will only leave the public poorer. Car-ownership could once again be restricted to the privileged few.”

The size of the rebellion is significant because it was enough to overturn the Tories’ Commons majority, meaning Sunak knows he is now more vulnerable in parliament. Greg Smith, chair of Conservative Way Forward and a member of the Net Zero Scrutiny Group, said: “We reached the magic number — enough to wipe out the government’s working majority if Labour hadn’t supported them.”

Craig Mackinlay MP, chairman of the Net Zero Scrutiny Group, said:

"We all heard the Prime Minister pledge a more proportionate and pragmatic approach to Net Zero, but this pledge has not been met with action. I am disappointed that this legislation has been forced through using a statutory instrument - avoiding the kind of scrutiny that Rishi himself called for."

Nevertheless, I am pleased that so many of my colleagues chose to rebel on this important issue. We will not stop our campaign against draconian Net Zero legislation and will continue to promote a better way that protects people's freedoms and does not leave them poorer."

Dame Andrea Jenkyns MP, who is a Board member of Net Zero Watch, said in a video to her supporters:

"To me, it's actions not words. Those MPs who say that they want to stop Net Zero - which is certainly affecting constituents in their pockets - should have voted against this measure this evening."

Harry Wilkinson, Net Zero Watch Head of Policy, said:

"This is a very significant vote which shows the strength of feeling on the backbenches. Conservative members are clearly deeply sceptical about the whole Net Zero agenda but they don't have a Government which reflects those views. I welcome Rishi's change of tone on Net Zero but that needs to be followed with a change of policy - he needs to stand up to the civil servants who keep pushing through draconian Net Zero measures."

The full list of MPs voting against the ZEV Mandate was as follows:

Noes

Adam Afriyie (Conservative - Windsor)
Ben Bradley (Conservative - Mansfield)
Suella Braverman (Conservative - Fareham)
Andrew Bridgen (The Reclaim Party - North West Leicestershire)
Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
William Cash (Conservative - Stone)
Miriam Cates (Conservative - Penistone and Stocksbridge)
Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Jeffrey M Donaldson (Democratic Unionist Party - Lagan Valley)
Richard Drax (Conservative - South Dorset)
Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative - Chingford and Woodford Green)
Marcus Fysh (Conservative - Yeovil)
Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Chris Green (Conservative - Bolton West)
Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Adam Holloway (Conservative - Gravesham)
Andrea Jenkyns (Conservative - Morley and Outwood)
David Jones (Conservative - Clwyd West)
Ian Liddell-Grainger (Conservative - Bridgwater and West Somerset)
Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Craig Mackinlay (Conservative - South Thanet) (Proxy vote cast by John Redwood)
Nigel Mills (Conservative - Amber Valley)
Anne Marie Morris (Conservative - Newton Abbot)
Lia Nici (Conservative - Great Grimsby)
Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party - North Antrim)
Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Jacob Rees-Mogg (Conservative - North East Somerset)
Rob Roberts (Independent - Delyn)
Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)

Tellers for the Noes: Greg Smith (Conservative - Buckingham) and Karl McCartney (Conservative - Lincoln)