Political chaos and uncertainty have become the norm in the UK over the last few years, with the latest chapter coming in the form of a Conservative Party leadership election.

Following Boris Johnson’s resignation last week, the Conservatives are looking for a new MP to become both party leader and prime minister. The party is looking to come to a swift decision, with the new prime minister set to be announced on 5 September.

The Conservative government has been far from perfect over the years, however, there is room for some positivity regarding the new crop of potential leaders.

The shortlist is the most diverse leadership election in history, with candidates from a variety of economic, racial, and ideological backgrounds.

The candidates are also committed to a clean break from the chaotic Johnson years. If there is one thing that unites the shortlist, it’s that the new government must operate and behave differently from the previous administration.

Despite this, there are several causes for concern for our industry.

The new leader will be looking for quick wins in the opening months of the administration in a bid to gain the trust of the Conservative electorate. This will likely come in the form of a tax cut or a Johnson policy roll-back, with the net-zero agenda firmly in the sights of the more right-wing candidates.

Most notably, Attorney General Suella Braverman and junior minister Kemi Badenoch have been vocal in their criticism of the net-zero agenda. Both candidates have patchy voting records when it comes to green issues and are likely to be influenced by the climate-sceptic European Research Group (ERG) in Parliament. Though not as extreme, other candidates such as Penny Mordaunt and Rishi Sunak also have mixed records when it comes to climate change.

It is of huge importance that net-zero does not become the policy victim of this leadership race. Right now, the impacts of global warming are becoming more apparent, with hotter weather, droughts and wildfires becoming all too regular summer occurrences.

There is certainly some room for improvement within Boris Johnson’s Net-Zero agenda, as stated in a recent report by the Climate Change Committee (CCC). However, the core premise must remain – the UK must decarbonise and become a green economy.

A second concern is the lack of housing focus, with no candidate offering any policy ideas or vision to solve the UK’s chronic housing shortage. Instead, the leadership race has been defined as a race to the bottom on taxation, with candidates trying to ‘out-tax cut’ each other in the hope of winning more grassroots support.

The UK Government needs to build 300,000 new homes a year to match the current demand and it must do so in a way that is both high quality and low carbon.

As outlined in our APPG report last year, timber offers a green and effective solution to this crisis. Timber frame has a low embodied carbon level compared to steel and concrete and is manufactured with offsite, modern methods of construction.

It would be excellent to hear a candidate outline some form of housing strategy, one which creates jobs and opportunities through investment in low-carbon, high-performance house construction.

We will be keeping a close eye on the race as it develops in the coming weeks. However, regardless of who wins, the CTI will continue to spread timber’s sustainable message in Parliament and whoever ends up in our latest government.

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