Zac Goldsmith

Zac Goldsmith

Frank Zacharias Robin Goldsmith, Baron Goldsmith of Richmond Park, PC (born 20 January 1975) is a British politician, life peer and journalist who served as Minister of State for Overseas Territories, Commonwealth, Energy, Climate and Environment from September 2022 to June 2023. A member of the Conservative Party, he was its candidate at the 2016 London mayoral election and was Member of Parliament (MP) for Richmond Park from 2010 to 2016 and 2017 to 2019. Ideologically characterised as having liberal and libertarian views, he is known for his support for environmentalism and localism.

Born in London into the Goldschmidt family, the son of billionaire businessman and financier Sir James Goldsmith, he was educated at Eton College (from which he was expelled) and the Cambridge Centre for Sixth-form Studies. In 1998, his uncle Edward Goldsmith made him editor of The Ecologist, a position he retained until 2007. Goldsmith was appointed Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Quality of Life Policy Group in 2005, co-authoring its report published in 2007. Goldsmith was placed on the Conservative A-List of potential candidates in 2006 and, in March 2007, was selected through an open primary to contest the constituency of Richmond Park against incumbent Liberal Democrat MP Susan Kramer. At the 2010 general election, he was elected to Parliament winning the seat with a majority of 4,091 votes.

Goldsmith was chosen as the Conservative candidate for the 2016 election for mayor of London, which he subsequently lost to Sadiq Khan of the Labour Party. Goldsmith announced his resignation as an MP following the government's decision in October 2016 to approve construction of a third runway at Heathrow Airport. His resignation triggered a by-election in the Richmond Park constituency in which Goldsmith stood as an independent candidate. He was defeated by Sarah Olney of the Liberal Democrats with a majority of 1,872 votes. After Theresa May called the 2017 general election, Goldsmith was reselected as the Conservative Party candidate for Richmond Park and won with a narrow majority of 45 votes.

Goldsmith was appointed as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment and International Development on 27 July 2019 and was promoted to Minister of State with the right to attend Cabinet on 10 September 2019. He was defeated at the 2019 general election, again by Sarah Olney, with a majority of 7,766 votes. After the election, Boris Johnson awarded Goldsmith with a life peerage, making him a member of the House of Lords and allowing him to retain his ministerial position. On 13 February 2020, he acquired additional responsibility for the Pacific. After Liz Truss became Prime Minister in September 2022, Goldsmith became Minister of State for Asia, Energy, Climate and Environment, later being reappointed by Rishi Sunak with new responsibilities for overseas territories and the Commonwealth.

Quotes

2000–2006

• Every man today is afraid he's firing blanks; it's becoming very much harder for humans to reproduce. According to Danish research, we now have the sperm count of a hamster.
• [On disorder and untidiness of his office at The Ecologist] This place is like a Swiss watch compared to my house - at least until Sheherazade moved in.
• I think whatever I was doing I would be pretty fanatical, but I find it hard to imagine how you can't be fanatical about these issues. We're facing extinction . . . and I can be driven to an unbelievable, uncontrollable anger by what's happening today.
  • "Golden boy in his Dad's old jacket" The Daily Telegraph (27 March 2000)
  • Goldsmith and his then wife Sheherazade Goldsmith's first child was expected imminently.

• In 10 years' time, I might be an eco terrorist. But I'll take the most effective path, whatever that is.
• [On Tony Blair, then Labour prime minister] Wouldn't trust him with my dog. Wouldn't trust him with my budgerigar.
• [On William Hague, then Conservative party leader] I'd have to drug myself before I voted for him. Get drunk beforehand. And then wash myself afterwards.
• If the magazine collapsed, if the world was going to self-destruct, I would just sink my hands into the mud and live like a pig. Not in a negative sense [...] I mean, I love pigs.
  • "To the manure born..." The Guardian (15 October 2000)

• I used to be obsessed by David Attenborough as a boy. He was my hero, and it was his work that made me fall in love with the natural world. At the same time I was exposed to information - through The Ecologist, actually, which in those days was rather boring - that told me how that natural world was under siege more than at any other time in its history.
  I used to sit in school learning about how to use a calculator and so on, but learning nothing about the threat to the ground beneath our feet. Why was no one screaming and yelling about it?
  • "Indulge in 'slowfood'" Evening Standard (4 April 2004)

• I am very, very cynical, and have never had much affection for politicians [...] But I am a punter, and a punter does not punt unless he has a chance of winning.
  I am not politically ambitious, and I do not need a career in this world [...] But I am genuinely excited by the opportunity that David Cameron has opened up.
  It's a punt. But I am not going to put myself in a position where I betray the things I believe in.
  • "Zac Goldsmith: The green gambler" The Independent on Sunday (11 December 2005)
  • With John Gummer as chair, Goldsmith was appointed deputy chair to the Conservative Quality of Life Policy Group by the newly elected leader, David Cameron.

• I can't be bought. I don't need to be bought. I'm not a careerist. I don't need to have a career in politics. I'm in a very, very luxurious position, but I am in a position of strength. I think I have been selected by Cameron, within the context of that understanding.
• There are all kinds of problems with the European Union but nevertheless these things are possible. How can putting a tax on aviation fuel and going through that negotiation process be any harder? It's clearly not harder than establishing a European Union.
  • "Interview: Zac Goldsmith" BBC News (11 January 2006)

2015–2023

• I was brought up by my father to identify very strongly as Jewish.
  But the truth is, that beyond my name, which is a fairly strong Jewish name, 'Zacharias Goldsmith' changed from 'Goldschmidts' – I cannot claim to be all that Jewish.
  But if you type in my name on Twitter, you will find that I am at the very heart of the Jewish conspiracy.
  [They say] I have this amazing control over the press – which should make my mayoral contest very easy; and that my family have completely infiltrated the royal family.
  • Speaking at the Conservative Friends of Israel lunch (7 December 2015), as cited in "Zac Goldsmith: I’ve been the victim of anti-Jewish abuse", The Jewish Chronicle (7 December 2015)

• I have been horrified as, bit by bit, we have abandoned these commitments - domestically and on the world stage. ... More worrying, the UK has visibly stepped off the world stage and withdrawn our leadership on climate and nature. Too often we are simply absent from key international fora.
  Only last week you seemingly chose to attend the party of a media baron rather than attend a critically important environment summit in Paris that ordinarily the UK would have co-led.
• Prime Minister, having been able to get so much done previously, I have struggled even to hold the line in recent months.The problem is not that the government is hostile to the environment, it is that you, our Prime Minister, are simply uninterested. That signal, or lack of it, has trickled down through Whitehall and caused a kind of paralysis.
  I will never understand how, with all the knowledge we now have about our fundamental reliance on the natural world and the speed with which we are destroying it, anyone can be uninterested. But even if this existential challenge leaves you personally unmoved, there is a world of people who do care very much.
  And you will need their votes. ... And as these issues inevitably grow in importance, so too will the gap between the British people and a Conservative Party that fails to respond appropriately.
  • Extracts from "Read Zac Goldsmith’s resignation letter in full as former minister attacks Tory election hopes" The Independent (30 June 2023)
  • Accepting his resignation, Rishi Sunak wrote: "You were asked to apologise for your comments about the privileges committee as we felt they were incompatible with your position as a minister of the crown. You have decided to take a different course" (The Times, 30 June 2023).

• [In response to Sunak's letter accepting his resignation] I am happy to apologise for publicly sharing my views on the Privileges Committee.
  I firmly believe our parliamentary democracy can only be strengthened by robust scrutiny, and parliamentarians should of course be free to be critical of its reports and proceedings.
  But as a minister I shouldn't have commented publicly. No 10 asked me to acknowledge that, and made clear that there was no question of my being 'sacked' if I did so. I was - and am - happy to do so. My decision to step down has been a long time coming.
  • "Zac Goldsmith: Rishi Sunak wrong to say I refused to apologise" BBC News (30 June 2023)

• [On the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) policy in London] You can make the case that it’s a clumsy policy, that it’s going to affect people who can least afford it. There are all kinds of arguments made about that and lots of policies relating to the environment and climate change. [...] The job of governments and politicians is to find the solutions that are going to be the least painful, most effective, and if that requires you to rethink individual policies then go for it. But what I think is not negotiable, is the overarching challenge that we face.
  • Comments (24 July 2023), as cited in "Rishi Sunak signals he could abandon green policies that cost consumers", The Guardian (24 July 2023)
  • The advocacy of ULEZ by London's Labour Mayor Sadiq Khan, and its imminent extension to outer London boroughs, was believed to have helped the Conservative Party to narrowly retain Boris Johnson's former seat in the 2023 Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election held on 20 July 2023. The party lost two other by-elections in seats it was defending on the same day with a large swing against them in both instances.