Lois Perry: The Woman Behind CAR26 Who Called Net Zero “Net Stupid”

Lois Perry has been on British television screens for over 18 years, appearing on the Jeremy Vine Show on BBC Radio 2, Channel 5, GB News, and TalkTV, and yet the questions people type into Google about her in 2026 are the same ones they typed five years ago: how old is she, who funds her, and is she actually a scientist? The answers are simpler than the search volume suggests, and this article provides all of them in one place.

Perry is the founder of CAR26, the anti-net zero campaign group she launched in 2021 ahead of the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow. She is the Director of Heartland UK/Europe, the British arm of the American climate sceptic think tank. She was briefly leader of UKIP from May to June 2024. She appears regularly on GB News and TalkTV arguing against net zero policy, renewable energy subsidies, and what she calls the “anti-capitalist agenda” behind climate action. She is one of the most prominent and most searched faces of British climate scepticism – and her Wikipedia page, while it exists, leaves most of what people actually want to know unanswered.

As political figures shaping the UK energy debate gain influence, the betting markets tracking election outcomes and policy shifts are moving alongside. Here are the top-rated licensed bookmakers currently operating in the UK:

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Lois Perry – Quick Facts	Details
Full Name	Lois Jasmine Perry
Date of Birth	June 1981
Age (2026)	44–45
Nationality	British
Origin	South of England
Education	Background in PR and communications
Founded	CAR26 – 2021
Role	Director, Heartland UK/Europe
Former role	Leader of UKIP (May–June 2024)
Former party	Reclaim Party (South East spokesperson)
Ex-husband	Richard Hillgrove (PR executive, divorced 2016)
PR background	Co-founded 6 Hillgrove PR agency
Media	GB News, TalkTV, BBC Radio 2 (18 years on Jeremy Vine)
X (Twitter)	@LoisPerry26
Wikipedia	Exists but limited – most searched facts missing

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Who Is Lois Perry?

Lois Jasmine Perry was born in June 1981, making her 44 or 45 in 2026. She grew up in southern England and built her early career in public relations – she co-founded 6 Hillgrove, a PR agency, with her then-husband Richard Hillgrove, a PR executive whose client list included the National Lottery, Aldi, Vivienne Westwood, and James Caan from Dragons’ Den. Perry was an associate at the company until 2021, the same year she founded CAR26.

Her PR background explains what her critics and supporters both acknowledge: she is exceptionally good at creating media moments, viral slogans, and the kind of visual political communication that cuts through in the age of social media. Calling net zero “net stupid.” Commissioning a YouGov poll on a net zero referendum and getting it onto the front page of the Daily Telegraph. Creating a campaign mascot – a talking sunflower named Ambassador Seeotu (CO2) – that is simultaneously absurd and memorable. These are not the moves of an amateur.

Before her climate activism, Perry spent 18 years as a regular commentator on BBC Radio 2’s Jeremy Vine Show – a mainstream media career that predates her association with the right-wing alternative media ecosystem she now inhabits.

CAR26 – What It Is and Why People Search It

CAR26 was founded by Perry in October 2021, registered as a company with its business activities described as “market research and public opinion polling.” Perry is the only person listed as being involved in the company at the time of its founding. The name is a direct reference to COP26, the UN climate summit held in Glasgow in November 2021.

The group campaigns against the UK government’s net zero by 2030 target, questioning what Perry describes as the scientific consensus on man-made climate change. CAR26 positions itself as offering “informed rational analysis of climate matters with an irreverent satirical spin” – Perry’s PR instincts are visible in every element of the branding.

The group’s funding has been a persistent subject of public interest. CAR26 asks supporters for £26 memberships, which include a Seeotu mascot toy, a sunflower badge, and a brooch. Larger funding sources have not been disclosed. Perry’s association with the Heartland Institute – an American think tank that has historically received funding from fossil fuel interests – has fuelled speculation, but no direct funding relationship between CAR26 and energy companies has been publicly documented.

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Lois Perry – Career Timeline	Details
Pre-2021	18 years as BBC Radio 2 Jeremy Vine Show regular commentator
Pre-2021	Co-founded 6 Hillgrove PR agency with Richard Hillgrove
2016	Divorced from Richard Hillgrove
2021	Founded CAR26 ahead of COP26 summit
2021	CAR26 commissioned YouGov poll – front page of Daily Telegraph
2022–present	Regular GB News and TalkTV appearances
2023	Announced as Director of Heartland UK/Europe
2024	Joined and won UKIP leadership contest
May–June 2024	Leader of UKIP
2025–2026	Net Zero Strike campaign, viral confrontation with lorry drivers protest
2026	“Heat or Eat” campaign – most forwarded WhatsApp slogan of the year

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The Science Question

The most frequently asked question about Lois Perry – often with ironic intent – is whether she is a scientist. The answer is no. Perry’s background is in public relations and media, not in climate science, atmospheric physics, or any related discipline. She describes herself as a campaigner and political commentator, not a scientist, and her arguments on climate draw on a range of sources that fall outside the scientific mainstream.

Her position, stated repeatedly on GB News and TalkTV, is that man-made climate change is not real or not significant, that the historical record shows warming periods before industrialisation, and that net zero policy represents an “anti-capitalist agenda” rather than an environmental response to a genuine crisis.

The scientific consensus, as documented by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and every major national scientific academy, is that climate change is happening, is primarily driven by human activity, and poses serious risks. Perry disputes this consensus. That dispute is documented here factually – readers can examine the evidence on both sides.

Husband and Personal Life

Perry was married to Richard Hillgrove, the PR executive who co-founded 6 Hillgrove with her. They divorced in 2016. She has not publicly discussed subsequent relationships and her personal life remains largely private beyond the facts of her marriage and divorce.

Net Worth

Perry’s income sources include her media work across GB News, TalkTV, and BBC appearances, her role as Director of Heartland UK/Europe, and her work through 6 Hillgrove before 2021. No verified net worth figure has been published. Industry estimates for political commentators with her level of media presence typically range from £80,000 to £200,000 annually across combined income sources, but Perry has never disclosed her earnings.

Is She a Scientist? Is She Right?

These are the two questions that drive most of the search traffic around Lois Perry, and they deserve direct answers.

On the first: no, she is not a scientist by training or qualification.

On the second: the scientific consensus contradicts her central claims about man-made climate change. Whether her arguments about the economic impact of net zero policy have merit is a separate and more contested question – energy costs, industrial competitiveness, and the pace of transition are genuine policy debates with reasonable arguments on multiple sides. Her climate science positions, however, place her outside the mainstream of peer-reviewed research on the subject.

Lois Perry is the founder of CAR26, former UKIP leader, and Director of Heartland UK/Europe – a PR executive turned political activist who has spent 18 years on British television making the case against net zero, and whose age, funding, and scientific credentials remain the most searched facts about her in 2026.