STROUD MP Siobhan Baillie has issued an apology and says it was never her intention to claim sole credit for creating a Natural History climate change GCSE.

She said in a Conservative Party leaflet and in a video on her website that she had created the qualification.

But Mary Colwell, the writer and conservationist who led the campaign for the Natural History GCSE since 2011, says the MP played no active role in this and that she has never met her.

The non-partisan conservationist said it took her 11 years, along with Caroline Lucas and Tim Oates from Cambridge Assessment.

She said: “This claim is disingenuous. I have asked for an explanations.

“Her website says she ‘ensured the government put Further Education and skills at the heart of its education strategy and secured a Natural History climate change GCSE amongst many other things.

“We expect our public representatives to have integrity and to be honest – Baillie is failing on both those counts.”

However, Ms Baillie explained it was never her intention to claim sole credit for creating a GCSE.

And she has seen hate being whipped up about her online due to the comment.

She said: “The creation of a Natural History GCSE in the future is a great achievement.

“I talk about it with schools all over the Stroud district as it is popular with young people.

“It was an honour to be invited by the Education Secretary to the GCSE’s launch at the Natural History Museum in recognition of my work with the Conservative Environment Network on the campaign.

“Many people were involved, as I said in my local press at the time.

“I have seen the hate being whipped up about me online due to one line in a leaflet.

"It was never my intention to claim sole credit for creating a GCSE, nor to detract from other super campaigners’ efforts.

“I apologise if anybody thought that was not the case.

"We all know that it takes loads of people and many years of work to get anything done in Westminster."