Labour has been accused of “pure hypocrisy” for forcing families and businesses towards electric vehicles when many Whitehall departments rent almost none. The sale of new petrol and diesel cars will be banned by 2030 but Sir Keir Starmer’s Government has failed to embrace the electric age when it comes to the vehicles it uses.

New research reveals the Department of Health and Social Care hired 14 vehicles in a year but not one single electric car. Of more than 1,000 hires at the Department for Work and Pensions, just one was electric.

The Department for Education hired just five electric cars over two years. And the Cabinet Office, the Government’s engine room, hired more than 1,500 vehicles in 2024-25 but only 14 were electric. A paltry six out of 149 hires at Ed Miliband’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero were electric.

A raft of other Government departments did not provide the information, saying it was not held, not collected centrally or too costly to obtain. The Conservatives, who obtained the figures, have pledged to abolish the 2030 ban on new petrol and diesel cars and end the legal requirement on manufacturers to sell a set percentage of electric vehicles each year.

The Tories accused Labour of “failing to lead by example and refusing to account for their own behaviour”.

Shadow Transport Secretary Richard Holden said: “Labour ministers rent petrol cars while telling the rest of the country what we are allowed to drive – that is pure hypocrisy. Labour carve out exemptions for themselves, dodge the data, then lecture families and businesses. This is one rule for them and another for us, an EV mandate forced on the public by people who refuse to live by it themselves.”

He pledged: “The Conservatives will end this nonsense, scrap the EV mandate, and end the ban on petrol and diesel cars, restoring freedom of choice for drivers. Scrapping the mandate puts Britain back in the driving seat.

“Our job is to support a transport system that works for people and not force industry and consumers down a one-way street before the country is ready.”

A Government spokesperson said: “We are fully committed to achieving a zero emissions fleet and have set ambitious targets for Government vehicles to make the switch to electric. We’re taking a practical approach to decarbonisation, supporting drivers to make the switch by investing over £7.5billion, including the £2billion Electric Car Grant, helping over 65,000 drivers to choose an EV since July last year.”

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