UK Party Conferences 2025: Energy Policy Divides Come Into Focus
Reform UK’s surprise surge in the polls has shaken British politics. A Find Out Now survey released October 1st put Nigel Farage’s party on 35%, well ahead of Labour on 19%, just days after Keir Starmer’s conference speech in Liverpool. While most headlines focused on Labour’s clash with Reform over immigration and inequality, the deeper policy divide on energy is becoming just as central — and may shape the direction of Britain’s economy for years to come.
Labour: Clean Power by 2030, Ban on Fracking
At Labour’s conference, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband cast the government’s early energy moves as a break from “14 wasted years” under the Conservatives. He highlighted rapid reversals of Tory restrictions — lifting the onshore wind ban “in 72 hours,” unblocking solar projects, and reviving offshore wind auctions.
The centrepiece is Great British Energy, a publicly owned company investing in renewables and community power schemes. Miliband promised “clean power by 2030” from an “armory” of wind, solar, nuclear, hydrogen, carbon capture, and tidal, while reindustrialising Britain with green jobs in manufacturing and construction. He pledged that North Sea oil and gas workers would play a key role in the transition, moving their skills into floating wind, CCS, and hydrogen.
On fracking, Miliband was unequivocal: Labour will ban it. He attacked Reform UK’s call for new shale gas projects, calling fracking “bill-raising, job-destroying, climate-trashing” and vowing to “send those frackers packing.”
Conservatives: Oil and Gas Expansion, Scrapping Climate Laws
The Conservatives, under new leader Kemi Badenoch, are signalling a sharp turn away from the UK’s existing climate commitments as they head into conference. Badenoch has pledged to repeal the UK’s climate change legislation, which she argues has “tied us in red tape, loaded us with costs, and did nothing to cut global emissions.”
In September, the party outlined plans to “liberate Britain’s oil and gas industry”. That includes ending Labour’s ban on new North Sea licences, letting UK Export Finance promote oil and gas abroad, and giving the North Sea Authority a single mandate: “maximise extraction.” The Conservatives present this as a strategy for “cheap and reliable” energy, aimed at driving growth and “British prosperity,” in direct contrast with Labour’s renewables-first approach.
Reform UK: Scrap Net Zero, Fast-Track Fossil Fuels
Reform UK has taken the starkest stance, making energy central to its platform. Its Our Contract With You calls Net Zero “unaffordable and unachievable,” blaming it for higher bills, lost industrial competitiveness, and weaker national security. The party says scrapping Net Zero could save the public sector £30 billion annually.
Reform’s pledges include ending renewable subsidies, fast-tracking North Sea oil and gas licences, and restarting shale gas projects on test sites. It also backs new Small Modular Reactors, UK lithium mining, and other technologies — but insists fossil fuels must remain the foundation of cheap and secure energy.
At the 2025 Reform UK conference, Farage sharpened the message, calling the government’s energy policy “a complete and utter disaster” and pledging to “scrap ridiculous, harmful, wasteful Net Zero policies.” He told supporters: “We will start producing our own oil and gas. We will end the subsidies for renewables that have been on your bills for years yet no one told you. We will bring cheap energy and reindustrialize Britain.”
The Battle Ahead
The party conferences highlight how polarised Britain’s energy debate has become. Labour is promising a clean power revolution by 2030, underpinned by state-led investment and a ban on fracking. The Conservatives are gearing up to restore oil and gas as the backbone of the economy, scrapping climate laws in the process. Reform UK, now riding high in the polls, is pledging to ditch Net Zero altogether and double down on fossil fuel extraction.
With the cost of living, climate pressures, and industrial competitiveness all in play, the battle over energy policy is shaping up to be one of the defining issues of the coming political cycle.