The Twilight of Consensus? The Energy and Climate Policy in the Election Manifestos of Major British Political Parties Before the 2024 General Election

Abstract

The UK’s transformation into a low-carbon economy has reached the halfway point. However, the next stage of the decarbonisation process will require socially unpopular actions to be taken more often than before. Against this background, British political parties published election manifestos before the general election in 2024. The analysis of these documents allows us not only to understand the parties’ priorities in the energy and climate policy, but also to observe the evolution of the approach to this topic in the UK. Through the analysis of election manifestos, the article aims to examine the state of consensus of major British political parties on the green transformation that has existed for almost two decades. The research results shed light on the importance of public participation in designing political programmes in the area of energy and climate, which is also significant in the context of challenges related to Polish and European energy and climate transformation.