The newly appointed Conservative Party shadow chancellor Andrew Griffith has been a regular feature at events linked to Donald Trump’s MAGA movement, DeSmog can report.
Griffith has been criticised since his appointment for previously helping to draft Liz Truss’s infamous 2022 mini-budget – an economic package that caused chaos in the markets and led to Truss’s resignation as prime minister after just 44 days in the job.
In more recent years, Griffith has been closely associated with pro-Trump groups, attending or speaking at events hosted by the Heartland Institute, a U.S. climate science denial group, the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), and the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (ARC) – a conservative network funded by Trump donors and oil interests.
Trump is unpopular in the UK and across Europe, with 85 percent of Brits saying they have an unfavourable view of the U.S. president. He has been blamed for surging oil prices across the globe following his protracted war with Iran, while his domestic policies have included turbocharging fossil fuel output, withdrawing funding for vital social services, and deploying armed ‘ICE’ units to detain and deport migrants.
Trump’s approval ratings are also falling in the U.S. ahead of crucial midterm elections in November.
In addition to his MAGA connections, Griffith has been rubbing shoulders with think tanks associated with the Conservative Party’s main right-wing rival, Reform UK. He has spoken at the Prosperity Institute (formerly Legatum Institute), which held several events at last week’s Reform annual conference and whose parent company co-owns GB News, which employs party leader Nigel Farage as its star presenter.
Griffith has also addressed the Henry Jackson Society, which is run by Reform advisor Alan Mendoza.
Farage is one of Trump’s closest international allies and has also frequently been given a platform by MAGA groups over the past two years.
Both Farage and Griffith spoke at CPAC Great Britain – a UK offshoot of the annual pro-Trump gala – in July. In his address, Griffith called for the trashing of climate policies, vowing to end wind and solar contracts, repeal the Climate Change Act, scrap net zero targets, and “get Britain drilling again, exploiting the billions of barrels of oil and gas in our own North Sea”.
The event was organised by Griffith’s former colleague Liz Truss – who celebrated his appointment as shadow chancellor in late August.
Griffith’s speeches
July 2026 — CPAC Great Britain
July 2026 — Onward
February 2026 — Henry Jackson Society
October 2025 — Centre for Policy Studies
July 2025 — Prosperity Institute
February 2025 — Alliance for Responsible Citizenship
Non-speaking events
December 2024 — Heartland Institute UK / Europe
Conservative Climate Conversion
Under Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, the party has dropped its support for climate action, calling the UK’s 2050 net zero target (which it passed into law) “impossible” and vowing to repeal the 2008 Climate Change Act.
During the summer’s record temperatures – which caused thousands of excess deaths, widespread school closures, and a “disaster” harvest – the Tories released an energy plan that would cut support for renewable energy and approve new North Sea oil and gas licences. Badenoch has also banned Tory candidates from supporting net zero.
Griffith appears to be on board with this agenda. In July, he said on X: “Insane Net Zero targets mean we can’t afford to make the most basic things in the UK. This is terrible for our resilience, terrible for our economy, and completely unnecessary. Scrap the net zero targets and cut energy prices!”
Climate scientists say the world must cut emissions to net zero in order to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, including droughts, flooding, and mass population displacement. The Climate Change Committee, and the Office for Budget Responsibility, two independent government advisory bodies, have said cutting UK emissions to net zero by 2050 is achievable and cheaper than runaway climate change. The growing net zero economy provides around one million jobs in the UK.
Now a critic of net zero, Griffith supported it enthusiastically while in government – much like Badenoch. He was the UK’s “Net Zero Business Champion” from November 2020 until the end of the 2021 COP26 UN Climate Summit – and on his appointment to the role said: “Our global leadership on climate change can open up new large and attractive sectors in the world economy in which British businesses will be well placed to succeed.”
Think Tank Talks
At CPAC GB, which was backed by a cryptocurrency lobby group, Griffith called for a free market “economic revolution”.
He also advocated for the dismantling of climate policies and the dramatic expansion of UK fossil fuel production – ideas espoused by Trump.
Griffith received £1,500 to speak at the 2025 ARC conference in London – a right-wing network fronted by Canadian influencer Jordan Peterson.
As revealed by DeSmog and Unearthed, ARC is funded by major donors to Trump’s campaigns alongside fossil fuel interests. The network was co-founded by Paul Marshall, owner of GB News and The Spectator, whose hedge fund has billions invested in fossil fuels.
At the event, Trump’s energy secretary Chris Wright, a former oil and gas executive, called the UK’s net zero target “sinister”.
Griffith also spoke at the Prosperity Institute (formerly Legatum Institute) as part of the group’s “free market road show”. The think tank belongs to the Legatum Group, a UAE-based investment firm that co-owns GB News and helps to run ARC alongside Marshall.
In February 2026, Griffith spoke at the Henry Jackson Society, receiving £349.91 for “accommodation and hospitality”. The group’s executive director Alan Mendoza is chief advisor on global affairs to Reform, and a former local candidate for the party.
The new shadow chancellor also attended the December 2024 launch of Heartland Institute’s UK-Europe branch. The Heartland Institute works with conservative parties across the globe to lobby against green policies. In February last year, Heartland UK-Europe director Lois Perry claimed the group is influencing the Trump administration “at the highest level”.
Perry’s branch was launched with help from Farage, and the event was attended by Reform donor and treasurer Nick Candy, and Liz Truss. A former UKIP leader, Perry has said it’s her “personal belief” that climate change “is happening” but “is not man-made”.
In July 2026, Griffith spoke at the centre-right think tank Onward about the UK economy. As DeSmog has reported, Onward has received funding from oil and gas giants Shell, BP, and Equinor via its ‘business network’, members of which pay £12,000 per year.
At the Conservative Party’s 2025 conference, Griffith spoke on a panel run by the Centre for Policy Studies (CPS), a conservative think tank set up by Margaret Thatcher in 1974. Griffith, a former chairman of the CPS’s advisory board, also helped to launch a CPS report while he was working at the Treasury.
CPS chairman Lord Michael Spencer is a Tory peer and donor who holds shares in Deltic Energy and Pantheon Resources, both oil and gas exploration companies.
Griffith received a £2,500 donation from Spencer in 2023.
