Net Zero critic Jeremy Clarkson teases showdown with Ed Miliband — “I’ll bet the farm on it”

Jeremy Clarkson has suggested he could stand against Labour’s Ed Miliband at the next general election.

The former Top Gear presenter, who now runs his ‘Diddly Squat’ farm in Oxfordshire, hinted at a bid to become the next Donacaster North MP.

The South Yorkshire seat has been held by Mr Miliband, the Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary, since 2005.

But, in a social media post, Clarkson paved the way for a high-profile challenge against the Cabinet minister the next time voters go to the polls.

The 65-year-old, who was born in Mr Miliband’s constituency, wrote: ‘People of Doncaster North. Are you happy with your MP?

‘Would you like it if someone from your neck of the woods kicked him out?’

Clarkson has been a fierce critic of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and the Labour Government since they won power last July.

He has joined farmers’ protests against changes to inheritance tax and also spoken out against the Net Zero drive being spearheaded by Mr Miliband.

Mr Miliband could be at risk at the next general election if Labour continue to lag in the polls.

At the 2019 general election, he held his Doncaster North seat with a 2,370-vote majority.

But Mr Miliband was helped by the Right-wing vote being split between the Tories and the Brexit Party, which together gained almost 6,000 votes more than him.

Clarkson previously suggested he could enter politics ahead of the 2015 general election, at a time when Labour were being led by Mr Miliband.

He posted on Twitter in 2013: ‘I’m thinking I might stand in the next election as an independent for Doncaster North, which is where I’m from. Thoughts?’

Clarkson has previously expressed his support for the Conservatives and is a friend of former Tory PM David Cameron.

In his latest column for The Sun newspaper, he praised the Tories for the ‘common sense’ on display at their recent party conference in Manchester.

He also launched an attack on both Reform UK leader Nigel Farage and Sir Keir.

‘Farage rarely talks about the economy and when he does, his numbers don’t add up,’ Clarkson wrote.

‘He says he wants to cut taxes and increase spending by £150billion. Huh? But before anyone has the chance to question his logic, he scuttles back to his safe space and starts raging about small boats.

‘Starmer, meanwhile, has no clue what to do about the economy because he’s thick. That’s why he’s broken it.

‘The fact is that nothing in this country will work if the economy isn’t booming, and it won’t boom if we have a government that stifles it with rules and taxes.’