A decade ago, Ed Miliband walked out of the doors of the then department for energy and climate change (DECC) as Labour lost power for the first time in 13 years.
On the verge of that anniversary, Miliband is back on his old beat after being appointed to the business, energy and industrial strategy (BEIS) brief in newly elected Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer’s first shadow cabinet reshuffle a fortnight ago.
The energy landscape has certainly changed dramatically since Miliband handed over the reins at DECC. In those days, coal was still king of UK electricity generation, renewables was a fledgling sector and the big six had virtually the entire supply market sewn up.
In 2020 the energy system looks very different. The big six is a redundant term and recent weeks have seen renewable energy account for a record share of UK generation, albeit a level suppressed by the current coronavirus pandemic-induced shutdown of the economy.
“He (Miliband) is coming to an industry that is completely and utterly different and we hope he will recognise that,” says Simon Markall, head of public affairs and engagement at Energy UK.
So why has Miliband, who has cultivated a sideline as an entertaining podcast host since stepping down as Labour leader in 2015, returned to the often thankless role of opposition front bench spokesman?
Polly Billington, Miliband’s advisor when he was at DECC, says the change-over at the top of the Labour party following Jeremy Corbyn’s departure as leader was clearly a factor.
“He and Keir are very closely politically aligned,” she says.
And climate change is clearly close to the heart of Miliband, reflected in his agreement to co-chair a commission for the IPPR thinktank on how to ensure that the poorest don’t lose out in the rush to decarbonise.
As DECC secretary of state, he introduced the 2008 Climate Change Act, which paved the way for the 2050 net zero emissions goal introduced last year.
The extent of the consensus that now exists around this issue shows that Miliband was ahead of the curve.
Writing a different script
He is likely to want to use his new role to burnish his green credentials, which were slightly tarnished by his role as DECC secretary in approving the development of a new coal fired power plant, albeit one that would have been fitted with CCS (carbon capture and storage) technology.
“He does himself a favour by being able to write a different script,” says Alan Simpson, the ex-backbench Labour MP who piloted the introduction of feed in tariffs through Parliament when Miliband was DECC secretary of state.
But Simpson, who subsequently advised Miliband’s successor Jeremy Corbyn on climate change issues, believes that the new shadow business secretary had limited leeway on green issues when a minister.
And even when leader, he was reluctant to pick fights with his shadow chancellor of the exchequer Ed Balls, who never displayed the same enthusiasm about green issues, says Simpson: “He didn’t have the freedom that he would have liked on this issue.”
Now Miliband returns to the front bench in very different circumstances.
For starters, as a former party leader, he is the most heavyweight figure in Starmer’s top team, which should provide considerable scope to chart his own course.
The surrounding political environment has also changed dramatically. Before the current corona crisis, climate change had raced up the political agenda.
Starmer has a long-standing track record of commitment to environmental issues, dating back to when he made his name as a young lawyer in the early 90s by defending the McLibel activists when they were sued by McDonalds.
Billington points out that Sera, Labour’s environment movement, nominated Starmer for leader even though his left-wing rival Rebecca Long-Bailey arguably had stronger credentials as the architect of Labour’s Green New Deal policy.
Not to be ignored either is the appointment of Annelise Dodds as shadow chancellor of the exchequer.
“He will have a shadow chancellor who is much more climate savvy than Gordon or Ed were,” says Simpson.
Billington agrees, noting that Dodds’ roots in the environmental movement are stronger than anybody else who has been chancellor or shadowed the post. “It’s totally in her bones.”
And within Labour, Starmer is less beholden to the big trade unions than previous leaders including Corbyn, whose shock victory in the 2015 leadership campaign owed much to his support from Unite with its big membership in traditional fossil fuel generation plants.
“From the opposition benches, he will have the freedom to run with it (the climate change agenda). I hope he uses the space that is open to him,” says Simpson.
Ramping up the pressure
So what role is Miliband likely to play from his position on the opposition benches. Billington believes that Miliband’s style means he will not be tempted to play party games with the climate issue. “He won’t be chasing political points,” she says.
But his track record suggests he will put pressure on the government to back up its green warm words with practical policies, she says “He knows that once you have a target you need to design a policy to fit.”
And he will be interested in building a consensus on these issues, Billington says: “He knows that’s the way things don’t get unpicked.”
An example of this consensus building in action was the IPPR commission, which Miliband co-chaired with ex-Tory MP, Laura Sandys and the Green Party’s sole Commons representative Caroline Lucas.
Despite their party-political differences, Sandys told Utility Week’s recent webinar on net zero that she is excited about Miliband’s return to frontline politics.
“It’s going to be tremendously important in the coming months to have a really strong opposition that can hold the government to account and challenge them and keep things moving along. He is very much committed to the climate change agenda which is a good thing.”
“His heart is absolutely in the right place on the issue of climate and a rapid systemic shift to renewables and sustainability.
“He will be much more forensic when it comes to pushing the government and really kicking the tires of any arguments that come out.”
And he will be assisted in this work by Alan Whitehead who has been given an expanded brief covering energy and Labour’s plans for a Green New Deal, which Miliband signalled his commitment in the first statement following his appointment.
Energy UK’s Markall is glad that Whitehead has been kept in place, “He understands the sector.”
A greater worry though is the approach that Miliband will take to energy suppliers.
Few will have forgotten his shock announcement at Labour’s 2014 annual conference that the party would freeze energy prices if it came into power. The subsequent furore kickstarted a process that led ultimately to last year’s imposition of the energy price cap.
Nationalisation debate lurks in the shadows
Utilities companies will be waiting nervously to see whether Labour’s new top team will maintain Corbyn’s commitment to restore public ownership over the utilities.
Markall points out that while he expressed a commitment to common ownership of utilities during the Labour leadership campaign, Starmer talked about water but never specifically mentioned energy.
Billington suspects that whatever emerges under the new regime will be less top down and better thought through than the policy that Labour took into the last election.
Noting Labour’s manifesto proposal to renationalise the big six, Markall says: “It shows they didn’t really understand the sector.”
“The challenge will be where renationalisation fits into this agenda. If renationalisation is going to be in there, we are going to be going round in the same circles again.”
In practice though of course, the biggest item on Miliband’s agenda in his new brief will be post-pandemic efforts to rescue the economy.
“Until we are really sure about our resilience to the virus some of those things are going to be trickier to do,” says Billington
But the current crisis also presents opportunities for fresh thinking, says Simpson: “He (Miliband) comes into a completely different shadow cabinet at a time when the economy has imploded so it isn’t going to be steady as she goes. This is a time when only transformative policies are going to have any relevance.”
Billington says: “The biggest challenge for everyone who cares about climate is how to keep an eye on tackling that at the same time as the current crisis and recognise that the two cannot be separated. We can’t wait for one thing to be over before we get on with the other.”