Thérèse Coffey: What are the new environment secretary's forestry credentials?

Thérèse Coffey, the deputy prime minister during Liz Truss' 49 days in office, returns to Defra having served as a junior minister under both Theresa May and Boris Johnson. During her previous spell, her remit included forestry, and industry figures have today cautiously welcomed her appointment. 

Her predecessor, Ranil Jayawardena, was among the first casualties of Rishi Sunak's revamped administration, becoming the shortest-serving environment secretary of all time when he resigned from office this week. 

READ MORE: Ranil Jayawardena becomes shortest-serving environment secretary in history after Rishi Sunak wins PM race

Despite this, Mr Jayawardena's one month and 19 days in the role weren't exactly quiet. He faced mounting anger over apparent plans to halt the Environmental Land Management Scheme (ELMS), although such proposals were always denied by ministers.

Throw in ongoing reviews on payments to farmers and the fact the UK isn't even close to its target of planting 30,000 hectares of new woodland each year – something that's caused much concern in forestry circles – and it looks like Ms Coffey will have her hands full. 

While it's hard to know right now just what she'll bring to the table, a quick glance at her voting record and previous statements on the environment offers some clues. 

Coffey backed the sale of England's national forests 

It was the scandal that many in the forestry sector still haven't recovered from. Shortly after the Conservatives returned to power in 2010, they announced plans to sell off around 150,000 ha of forest and woodland in England in what would have been the biggest sale of public land for nearly 60 years. At the time, Defra said it wanted to move from "big government" to "big society", putting the management of the nation's forests in the hands of individuals. 

Right Rev James Jones, right, chaired the forestry panel

Unsurprisingly, the plans did not go down well. Around half a million people signed a petition against them, and the Independent Forestry Panel – set up in the wake of the backlash – said new woodland could not be created without public money. In the end, the government was forced into "an embarrassing" climbdown. 

But, in a February 2011 vote, Ms Coffey backed the sale of England's public forest estate. 

According to They Work For You, the Tory MP has frequently voted against measures to prevent climate change (26 votes against to just eight for). 

What has she said on the environment? 

(right to left) Minister Coffey, Antoinette Sandbach MP for Eddisbury, Mike Seddon, Director of Operations, Forest Enterprise, Alan Harrison, Head of Plant and Seed Supply (Forestry Commission) (Image: Defra)

But she has shown support for green issues, and Confor's chief executive today said Ms Coffey was "supportive of the sector" during her time as forestry minister. This is the biggest feather in her cap. 

As minister, she visited Delamere Nursery to officially open its new greenhouse in 2018, and said: "The forests and woodlands that these trees will go on to be a part of are vital for providing timber, protecting wildlife, and helping us improve our environment for the next generation."

While secretary of state for the Department for Work and Pensions, Ms Coffey encouraged green investment, saying: “Pensions can be the superpower in delivering prosperity for people and the planet in our race to net zero.”

Ms Coffey also welcomed the Dasgupta review into biodiversity, and Defra’s nature strategy in 2020, proclaiming: “This is a really exciting moment for our natural environment after years of work. Our nature strategy in harmony with and a great catalyst for our climate change strategy will help us both achieve net zero and save our planet.”

This piece is an extract from today’s Forestry Features newsletter, which is emailed out at 4PM every Wednesday with a round-up of the week's top stories. 

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