Photo used by permission of Parliament.

Voters go to the polls in the U.K. on Thursday after a campaign that, by many accounts, has failed to engage the electorate, despite the many weighty issues in play – such as climate change.

Perhaps that’s because on the surface, there’s not much space between the leading parties on climate policy – nothing like in the U.S. certainly. After all, just a couple of months ago, Prime Minister David Cameron and Labour leader Ed Miliband – and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg of the Liberal Democrats – signed a joint statement pledging to act on the climate threat.

Still, James Murray, editor at Business Green, says that with climate skepticism creeping into U.K. politics, the election results will be telling, beyond who ends up at No. 10 Downing Street.

(T)he fact remains the biggest policy threat to the green economy at this election comes from the plausible scenario whereby voices from the right of British politics who are deeply sceptical about the case for decarbonisation become a dominant force in the next government. Rather than pushing these voices to the margins David Cameron has given them succour with a Tory energy and environment strategy that throws the wind energy industry under a bus and seeks to fudge too many of the big issues the UK’s green economy faces.

That is why, for all the deep-seated concerns about Labour’s economic credibility, many within the green economy will be hoping that whatever the precise outcome of the election the next government has a mandate to sideline those who would deprioritise green industries and ensure the under-reported success story that is the UK’s green economy continues to go from strength to strength. – BusinessGreen Editor James Murray