ENVIRONMENT
Tide turns against Thérèse Coffey over sewage ‘inaction’
Criticism of record eats away at 20,000 majority in ousted minister’s coastal seat
Thérèse Coffey has not endeared herself to some groups trying to bring wild swimming to the River Deben in Suffolk and faces criticism over river and sea pollution by water companies during her time as environment secretary
“We have seen some difficult situations with water companies,” Thérèse Coffey told the House of Commons when she started her job as environment secretary. Yet sewage spills and water firms were not her priority, she said, because other ministers were working on them.
Last week, one year on from those words, Coffey was deposed as environment secretary with public anger over river pollution at a high-water mark despite the MP hailing her “plan for water” as one of her big achievements.
Her Suffolk Coastal constituency, which she has held since 2010 and retained with a 20,533 majority in 2019, appears a safe Tory seat. But local people and opposition politicians think her handling of water pollution issues in the county could be her undoing at
