Tory peer Lord Spicer decides to step down from EnergyUK
Lord Spicer, the former chair of the Conservative 1922 committee, is stepping down from chairing EnergyUK – the industry’s trade association – just as the domestic energy market is coming under intense political pressure.
According to Sky News, Lord Spicer notified EnergyUK’s board earlier this year of his decision. Angela Knight, the former chief executive of the British Bankers Association, will continue to lead Energy UK, which declined to comment on the speculation about a replacement.
His decision to stand down comes at a turbulent time for Britain’s energy industry, with the big six retailers under intense public and political pressure over prices and a string of mis-selling scandals.
Labour leader Ed Miliband announced late last year that he would introduce an energy price freeze until 2017 if he won the 2015 general election.
Lord Spicer, a former parliamentary under-secretary at the Department of Energy during Margaret Thatcher’s premiership, was on the board of the Association of Electricity Producers before it became part of EnergyUK in 2012.