Claire Coutinho is the Tory MP for East Surrey, a position she has held since December 2019.
She has been the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero since August 31, 2023, replacing Grant Shapps, and previously worked in the Department of Education and the Department for Work and Pensions.
Upon being appointed Energy Security secretary, she pledged to “work with the Prime Minister to safeguard our energy security, reduce bills for families, and build cleaner, cheaper, homegrown energy”.
“That’s what Labour don’t understand though — you can’t punish people to reach net zero — you have to take people with you.”
Before becoming an MP, Coutinho worked at investment bank Merrill Lynch and later entered a career in social justice policy, working with former party leader Iain Duncan Smith.
She has a master’s degree in Maths and Philosophy from Oxford. Her parents, who are from India, worked as GPs in the NHS.
What did Coutinho say about the Labour tax hike?
When asked by Mr Lewis if it was time to apologise for the tax hike claim, Ms Coutinho said: “No absolutely not.
“What the letter says is that you can look on gov.uk and costings are done by Government departments, the Treasury, and those are official costings.”
Mr Lewis responded: “The letter said the figure being used should not have been used and said it came from the Civil Service.
“That is what the letter said, I’ve got it in black and white in front of me.”
But Mr Coutinho then said: “People can look online. There is an official document on gov.uk which has been costed by Treasury officials which the letter confirms.
“And as I can say as someone who used to work in the Treasury, Treasury officials do not sign off dodgy numbers. They are very smart people, they are independent, impartial civil servants.”