Therese Coffey warns dropping green goals could cost next election

Ms Coffey emphasised the importance of demonstrating the party's commitment to the environment in order to secure electoral victory.

However, she also cautioned against burdening the public with excessive environmental regulations.

The Tories recently retained their hold on the Uxbridge and South Ruislip seat, albeit with a slim majority, which has prompted calls to reassess their approach to tackling the climate crisis.

Therese Coffey said the party must show it cares about the environment in order to win at the next election (Image: PA)

In response, Rishi Sunak has sought to align himself with motorists, criticising London Mayor Sadiq Khan's ULEZ anti-emissions charge, which has been associated with Labour's inability to win the seat.

Speculation has arisen that the government may dilute some of its net-zero policies to mitigate the impact during a period of economic hardship.

MPs on the right of the Tory party have been urging the Prime Minister to go further in that aspect.

'We need to continue to show that we care about the environment'

Ms Coffey told the Mail On Sunday that to win the next general election the party needed to "continue to show that we care about the environment".

She added: "We also need to show that there is a way to do that which doesn’t put burdens on hard-working people.”

The Environment Secretary also insisted that ministers are not weakening efforts to reach net-zero by 2050.

“There’s been a lot of noise over the last few weeks about this Government walking away from the environment, but the reality couldn’t be further from the truth,” she said.

“Trust us on our record, not on the clickbait.”

However, not all Conservatives believe Mr Sunak is committed to the environment, with Lord Zac Goldsmith alleging the PM is “uninterested” in the crisis as he resigned as a minister.