Christopher James Skidmore OBE FSA FRSA FRHistS (born 17 May 1981) is a British former Conservative Party politician and author of popular history who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Kingswood in South Gloucestershire from 2010 to 2024.

As a backbencher, he joined the Free Enterprise Group of Conservative MPs, founded by Liz Truss, and co-authored a number of papers and books, including After the Coalition (2011) and Britannia Unchained (2012).

[12] Skidmore worked for David Willetts and Michael Gove as an advisor, and served as chairman of the Bow Group for 2007–08,[13] before being appointed by another right-leaning think tank, Policy Exchange, as a research fellow.

[22] Skidmore was named by the ConservativeHome website in 2012 as one of a minority of loyal Conservative backbench MPs not to have voted against the government in any significant rebellions.

[25] Skidmore was appointed Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation on 5 December 2018, following Sam Gyimah's resignation over the government's Brexit policy.

[26] On 27 June 2019, as Interim Minister for Energy and Clean Growth, Skidmore signed the UK's Net Zero Pledge into law, becoming the first major economy to do so.

After the resignation of Jo Johnson from cabinet, Skidmore re-assumed his position of minister of state for universities, science, research and innovation in September 2019.

[35][36] On 26 November 2022, Skidmore announced that he would not seek re-election as an MP at the next general election, later stating in Parliament that "my constituency of Kingswood is being formally abolished in the boundary changes and there is nowhere for me to go.

"[37][38][39] In the event, Skidmore announced on 5 January 2024 that he would resign his parliamentary seat in protest at the introduction of the Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill, describing the relaxation of net zero targets as "the greatest mistake of [Rishi Sunak's] premiership".