Is Theresa May’s chief of staff behind the Hinkley Point jitters?

This week relations between Britain and China were placed under strain after the government delayed approval for the Hinkley Point nuclear plant. Under David Cameron and George Osborne, Britain’s first new nuclear power station — of which China General Nuclear has a one-third stake — had been expected to get the green light this month. However now Theresa May is in charge, the government appear to have got cold feet.

Announcing that no decision will be made until autumn, Greg Clark — the business, energy and industrial strategy secretary — said the government will now ‘consider carefully all the component parts of this project’. So, while May has never been the biggest fan of Osborne’s pet project, could it be her co-chief of staff Nick Timothy who is leading the voices of discontent?

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Last year Timothy — who has been described as May’s ‘political’ brain — penned a blog