All change in Parliament as we see the largest influx of new MPs in 65 years

A total of 233 new members of parliament were elected last week and will now try to govern effectively in a Conservative-Liberal coalition. With such an influx of new faces in the House of Commons some have begun to debate whether both newly elected and returning Members of Parliament hold stronger views in favour of environmental policies than ever before, potentially heralding the coming of age of green politics.

Many green political figures have recaptured and gain seats. We witnessed a significant and memorable moment as the electorate voted in the first Green MP, Caroline Lucas. Caroline secured the Brighton Pavilion seat, which swung to Labour in 1997 and, previously, had been a Conservative stronghold. While Caroline celebrated, Greg Clark, formally Conservative Shadow Secretary for Energy and Climate Change, Ed Miliband, formally Labour Environment Minister and Simon Hughes, formally Lib Dem Spokesman on Energy and Climate Change, all held on to their seats in Tunbridge wells, Doncaster North and Bermondsey & Old Southwark respectively.

Further climate change evangelists in Parliament include Labour MP, Emily Thornberry, who kept her seat in Islington South and Finsbury and Zac Goldsmith, multimillionaire environmentalist, who took Richmond Park from Lib Dem candidate, Susan Kramer.

Renewable Energy Association chief executive, Gaynor Hartnell, has said that this next Parliament will be our last chance to deliver on renewables and carbon targets. The official coalition agreement states that both parties are agreed that they will seek to increase the target for energy from renewable sources, subject to the advice of the Climate Change Committee. The parties also agree to implement a full programme of measures including the full establishment of feed-in tariff systems in electricity to encourage householders to create their own renewable energy – as well as the maintenance of banded Renewable Obligation Certificates, to provide support for larger renewables projects.

So, never has there been a more important time for the new and returning MPs to hold the new government to these promises.  It’s important we ensure climate change and renewable energy are front of mind for the governmental agenda. We’re continuing the WIMBY campaign to lobby our local MPs to support wind energy. Our database of MPs has now been updated to reflect the changes in elected officials to ensure your email of support is directed to the right person. If you would like to lobby your local MP, be they newly elected or a returning member, please visit the EmbraceMyPlanet homepage (www.embracemyplanet.com) and click on the pink button to locate your local candidate.

Keep checking the blog for updates on the WIMBY database or keep apprised on Facebook (www.facebook.com/embracemyplanet) and Twitter (http://twitter.com/embracemyplanet)