Ex-minister quits Tories

A FORMER Tory minister revealed yesterday that she has quit the party while lavishing praise on Sir Keir Starmer.

Claire Perry O’Neill, who was an energy minister in Theresa May’s government, said the Conservatives were overcome by ‘ideology and self-obsession’.

Ms O’Neill, Tory MP for Devizes from 2010 to 2019, said the party she has now rejected has a ‘cavalier approach to business and academia’ – and claimed Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt could not deliver change ‘in a fact-based, competent way’.

However, she praised Labour leader Sir Keir for his ‘sober, factdriven, competent political leadership’ and lauded his policies, such as industrial support for key green technologies.