The Conservative leadership race is dividing observers, as moments of suspense often do, into optimists and cynics. And on the question of what the winner will do about climate change, the divide is proving especially pronounced.
For green optimists within the Tory party and beyond, the fact that environmental protection is popular with the public is seen as a safeguard against backsliding. No future leader, when it comes to a national vote, they claim, would risk ignoring the fact that 78 per cent of Conservative voters support preserving the world for future generations, according to research by the centre-right think tank Onward.
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