Rishi Sunak reportedly approached vegan Meera Vadher, a former special adviser, after he was criticised due to flip-flopping over his COP27 attendance.
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Rishi Sunak has hired a vegan to be his head of environmental policy, according to the Guardian.
The outlet reports that the prime minister approached Meera Vadher, a former special adviser, in an effort to improve his eco-credentials.
As well as coming under fire after flip-flopping over his attendance at COP27, the politician was then criticised over his speech at the climate summit, which was branded ‘tepid’ by environmentalists from the social justice campaign group Global Justice.
They added that his speech ‘failed to address the scale of the climate emergency’.
The PM also came under fire from opposition politicians, with Ed Miliband, shadow climate and net zero secretary, saying: “Rishi Sunak is a fossil fuel Prime Minister in a renewable age.
“This is the man who had to be dragged to go to Cop27. You could tell that he did not want to be there from his vacuous and empty speech to leaders.”
Rishi Sunak hires vegan
Ms Vadher, who will reportedly take on the role in early 2023, was special adviser to Transport Secretary Grant Shapps from 2020 to 2022.
Her political career started in 2011, when she started working as a parliamentary assistant to the then MP Edward Garnier.
Roles in regional politics followed, with a stint working for West Midlands mayor, Andy Street, and a job working on the NHS’s Covid test-and-trace system for the Department for Health and Social Care.
Her work for the Department for Transport’s green schemes followed, before she moved to Flint Global last year, where she works as a management consultant.
Ms Vadher, whose job involves advising her clients on the government’s policy on green transport, describes herself on Instagram as a vegan who has a ‘strong desire to smash the jargon and simplify politics and current affairs’, according to the Guardian.
Posting online about Mr Sunak during the recent leadership contest, Ms Vadher wrote: “I’ve had the pleasure of working with Rishi and he’s always nice, always attentive, always into the detail. Seeing him over the past few weeks on a marathon of the country, never flailing, never stressy, always listening, has reminded me what it means to be really good at your job.”
Plant-based foods can be good for the planet. Find how going vegan impacts the environment and our health.
Featured image credit: Samir Hussein via Getty Images
