Claire Coutinho.

Coutinho is one of the Conservatives' most active voices on energy policy, serving as Shadow Energy Secretary and using that platform to challenge the government's North Sea strategy and net zero trajectory. Her vote against the Draft Carbon Budget Order in June puts her at odds with the climate-action mainstream — she has sided with the government position on climate votes less than a third of the time. In the same vein, she opposed two statutory instruments extending employment tribunal claim windows, arguing they increase costs and uncertainty for businesses. She has no rebel votes and votes with her party 100% of the time.

Her parliamentary record is notably shaped by her energy brief: of 171 contributions across 55 debates, 39 touch on energy and 27 on the environment — well above the spread you would expect from a backbencher without portfolio. Her participation rate of 56% sits below the Commons average, though frontbench opposition roles typically involve more scrutiny work outside formal divisions. She votes consistently against tax rises and public ownership, strongly with her party on crime and business measures, and deviates from Conservative colleagues most sharply on local democracy — 22 percentage points above her party's average on that stance, visible in her opposition to the planning delegation regulations that strip elected councillors of oversight on smaller housing applications.

Before entering opposition, Coutinho served as Energy Secretary under Rishi Sunak — context that directly explains her specialist focus and her criticism of what she calls the government's "sheer lunacy" on North Sea development. Recent local news coverage skews toward crime issues (23 articles in the past 90 days, average sentiment near neutral), with more positive coverage tied to her energy advocacy and constituency casework, including her intervention on heating oil prices and her meeting with a Christian nurse dismissed by an NHS Trust. No committee memberships are currently recorded.