Political Purpose Awards 2025

Nigel Farage MP shortlisted for major environmental award: the ‘Wooden Spoon’ Political Purpose Award

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Published: July 1, 2025
This Article was written by: Katie Hill - My Green Pod
environment, events, leadership, London, politics

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Ed Miliband MP and Nigel Farage MP have been shortlisted for the 2025 Political Purpose Awards.
 
Following the successful second ceremony in 2024, the awards will recognise the efforts of UK politicians who have championed – and castigated – environmental causes over the last year.

Mayor of London Sir Sadiq Khan has been shortlisted in the ‘Pollution, Waste & Air’ category, an award he won in 2024 for the expansion of the Ultra Low Emission Zone.

Incentivising greener politics

Nature 2030, the environmental campaign behind the awards, hopes to incentivise more MPs to devote their time to protecting nature.

This year’s ceremony is set to take place in September in the House of Commons. Last year’s winners included Lord Deben for the Lifetime Achievement Award and Ruth Jones MP for Animal Welfare.

Ed Miliband MP is among those shortlisted for this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

‘The 2025 shortlist demonstrates both the best and worst of British politics when it comes to environmental leadership. We’re seeing genuine champions going above and beyond their brief to protect our natural world, whilst others actively undermine decades of environmental progress.

‘These awards aren’t just about recognition – they’re about incentivising more politicians to step up and take nature seriously. With biodiversity in crisis and climate targets slipping, we need every MP to understand that their environmental record will be scrutinised and remembered.’

DOMINIC DYER
Chair of Nature 2030

The Wooden Spoon

The ‘Wooden Spoon’ award will once again recognise a politician hindering environmental progress.

Last year, this was awarded to Rishi Sunak MP. Nigel Farage MP and Kemi Badenoch MP are both nominated for the dubious prize this year. 

This year’s shortlisted nominees have been selected from the House of Commons, House of Lords, Devolved Assemblies, Local Authorities and Mayoralties.

Animals & Nature

The ‘Animal Welfare’ category, sponsored by Four Paws UK, includes nominations for Danny Chambers MP and last year’s winner Ruth Jones MP.

A new category for 2025, ‘Wildlife Crime Prevention’, sponsored by the League Against Cruel Sports, sees nominations for Mary Creagh MP and Matt Western MP.

For work in the ‘Rivers & Seas’ category, sponsored by River Action, nominees include Ellie Chowns MP and Tim Farron MP. The 2024 award was won by Baroness Jenny Jones of Moulsecoomb.

Another new category, ‘Rewilding and Restoring Nature’, sponsored by Rewilding Britain, includes nominations for Monica Lennon MSP and Toby Perkins MP.

Clean power

The ‘Green Energy & Renewables’ category includes another nomination for Ed Miliband, who won the award in 2024, and Sarah Jones MP.

Finally, the ‘Green Council of the Year’ award, sponsored by Keep Britain Tidy, features the City of London and Leeds City Council on the shortlist for work such as electrifying fleet vehicles and reducing waste. Kirklees Council won this award in 2024.

Alongside these categories, Nature 2030 will honour one politician with the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’, which will be announced on the awards night.

Nominees include The Baroness Young of Old Scone and Sir Roger Gale.

Lord Deben was the 2024 recipient.

‘The green economy is a massive opportunity for jobs and growth and bringing bills down – it’s not about polar bears and ice caps, The Political Purpose Awards celebrate the politicians on both sides of the debate, the visionary and the blinkered – acknowledging those who champion sustainability and the environment while having a poke at those obstructing progress. Last year Rishi Sunak deservedly won the wooden spoon. This year who knows.’

DALE VINCE OBE
Founder of Ecotricity

The judging panel features Dale Vince OBE, Founder of Ecotricity; Sonul Badiani-Hamment, UK Country Director, Four Paws; James Wallace, CEO of River Action; Rebecca Wrigley, CEO of Rewilding Britain; Allison Ogden-Newton OBE, CEO of Keep Britain Tidy; Chris Luffingham, Deputy CEO of League Against Cruel Sports; Dominic Dyer, Nature 2030 Chair and John Higginson, Founder of Higginson Strategy.