Joining the Conservatives: 2005–2010 Goldsmith joined the Conservative Party in 2005. He had previously supported the election campaigns of
Michael Gove and
Joanne Cash. He stated he regarded
Labour as "the party of big business" which had become shaped by big lobbying groups and which had become too authoritarian and centrist. After the Conservatives lost the
2005 general election to Labour, they elected
David Cameron as their new leader. Goldsmith thought highly of Cameron, expressing the view that while he was generally "cynical about politicians", he felt that Cameron was different. Describing Cameron, he said "I don't know
David Cameron very well... [but] I like him. I think you can judge a book by its cover... [and] I think the cover is pretty good." At the 2005 Conservative annual conference, Goldsmith stated he saw no contradiction between his interest in environmental issues and being a Conservative. In December 2005,
David Cameron approved Goldsmith's appointment as deputy chairman of the
Quality of Life Policy Group, under former
Environment Secretary John Gummer. The group's 600-page report, jointly authored by Goldsmith and Gummer, was presented at the
Royal Institute of British Architects on 13 September 2007. Its proposals included a moratorium on airport expansions; taxing short-haul flights and highly polluting vehicles, with proceeds being used to cut the cost of
clean alternatives; and rebates on stamp duty and council tax for people who improved the energy efficiency of their homes. The report drew criticism from Labour, several Conservative politicians and the aviation industry. For Cameron, the report was an important part of rebranding the party to escape its reputation as the "Nasty Party" and pledged many of its recommendations would be included in the
manifesto. The Conservatives initially placed Goldsmith as their candidate for the
safe seat of
East Hampshire. Goldsmith felt uneasy about representing this constituency, with which he had no previous connection, and thus pulled out to avoid
carpetbagging. He then entered the
Richmond Park Conservative Association's
open primary, which he won in March 2007. , Goldsmith,
Charles, Prince of Wales and event founder
Steven Glaser at the launch of the annual Revolve Eco-Rally on
U.N. World Environment Day, 3 June 2007 In 2007, Goldsmith opposed the opening of a
superstore by supermarket chain
Sainsbury's in
Barnes. He spearheaded a referendum conducted by the
Electoral Reform Society to poll local residents on the issue, working closely with a local campaign group. With a turnout of 61.6%, more than 4,000 residents, who made up 85% of the votes cast, came forward to oppose the construction of the store at White Hart Lane. Sainsbury's ultimately opened the branch after revising its planning application. at
Kew, London in June 2008 In 2008 Goldsmith was asked to comment about donations of £7,000 to his Party while not on the
electoral register. Commenting on the issue, Goldsmith explained: "everything has been declared on time and accurately; however, for a few weeks last year I was not on the Electoral Roll, my name having been removed from Kensington and Chelsea's voter list, given that I was in the process of signing up for Richmond. Whatever was donated in that time may have to be repaid, but there is no suggestion that anything other was improprietous". In late 2009, the press asserted that Goldsmith had
non-domiciled status and that as a London
resident, albeit a discretionary beneficiary, he had use of British properties through a
trust set up by his late father. Goldsmith responded, in a statement about the suggestion of tax avoidance, that he has "always chosen to be tax resident in the UK" and virtually all his income was paid into British banks. Of non-dom status as a result of his late father's international status, Goldsmith added that he had already instructed his accountants to relinquish it of his own volition by early 2009. However,
Chris Huhne, the Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesperson, said that Goldsmith was likely to have avoided paying £580,000 per year for each year in the previous decade as a result of his non-dom status. In February 2016,
The Evening Standard quoted Goldsmith stating that non-domiciled status let individuals "make lifestyle choices to
avoid paying tax" and saying "I've never been accused of not paying tax." In 2010, the
Labour government sought to recover its expenditure on a programme of remedial works on the public car parks in
Richmond Park through the introduction of parking fees for visitors to the
royal park. Goldsmith organised a rally attended by over 1,000 people in the royal park on 30 January 2010 in conjunction with other local Conservatives to protest the proposed charging.
Parliamentary career: 2010–2015 Goldsmith defeated the
Liberal Democrat MP
Susan Kramer in Richmond Park at the
2010 general election; he saw a 7% swing in the vote go to him. The election resulted in a
hung parliament and the formation of a
coalition government led by Cameron and the Conservatives. At the
next general election, in May 2015, he increased his majority from 4,091 to 23,015 votes. He achieved an increase of 8.5 percent of the share of the vote from the 2010 general election, receiving a total of 58.2 percent of all votes cast by his constituents. This was the biggest increase in
majority of any MP at the 2015 general election. In July 2010,
Channel 4 News questioned whether Goldsmith had under-reported the sums spent on signs, stickers and jackets used in his campaign and claimed his campaign spending was much higher than other MPs they investigated. They presented their case online including scans of the spending documents. He insisted he had followed the same procedures as other candidates and countered by stating Channel 4 engaged in sleazy unethical journalism. He argued expenditure was being spread across multiple campaigns: "The formula we used is exactly the same formula ... as used by MPs and candidates around the country. Every decision we took was approved by electoral experts at Conservative Central Office". It was debated whether signs that said "Vote Zac Goldsmith" and "Vote Conservative" could be charged to the election budget for a local election candidate when that other candidate was not mentioned on the sign. Goldsmith responded that it had been "checked" and was "standard practice" across the country. The second question was about jackets with "I back Zac" stickers on the back. "They cost £2,168 but you only said you paid (spent) £170". Goldsmith said the stickers cost £170 and the jackets were "off the shelf" and would be reused for other campaigns. Goldsmith clashed with presenter
Jon Snow, who accused him of "prevaricating" in a confrontational live interview on
Channel 4 News. Both parties criticised each other in the aftermath. Snow suggested Goldsmith take the matter to
Ofcom, which rejected Goldsmith's complaint about Snow and
Channel 4 News' conduct. The
Bureau of Investigative Journalism complained to the
Electoral Commission over the report about Goldsmith's expenses. The Commission announced, following their initial 5-day assessment, they had decided to upgrade the investigation to the status of "case under review" and to make enquiries "in order to establish the facts of the matter". They reported in December 2010, deciding in "the absence of any evidence of intentional circumvention of the rules, we do not consider that a referral to the police is appropriate." However, they did observe the cost-sharing between general election and local election contests was "not consistent with the Commission's guidance or good practice", the submission was "unclear in places" and Goldsmith's campaign may have overspent by £966 in the short campaign. Goldsmith co-ordinated a cross-party group of MPs to call for a Hillsborough-style inquiry into
child sex abuse. He co-wrote a letter to Home Secretary
Theresa May demanding a full independent inquiry with six other MPs:
Tim Loughton,
Tom Watson,
Simon Danczuk,
John Hemming,
Tessa Munt and
Caroline Lucas. The Prime Minister,
David Cameron, initially rejected the call but was subsequently forced to concede, after 145 further MPs added their names to Goldsmith
et al.'s letter. In December 2015, Goldsmith voted in support of the government's plans to expand the aerial bombing of
Islamic State targets. He also endorsed a government bill that would have restricted trade unions in their ability to strike.
London mayoral campaign Goldsmith had initially ruled out standing as a candidate in the
2016 London mayoral election, stating that "I think people have had quite enough of white male Etonians". However, as the election approached, it became apparent that he was the Conservatives' strongest potential candidate. On 9 June 2015, Goldsmith announced his interest in running for the
mayoralty of London after encouragement both from members of his own party and others (notably the former Green Party Candidate
Jenny Jones, Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb). Before declaring himself as a nominee, Goldsmith spent around £50,000 of his own money sending a
postal ballot to his 77,000 Richmond Park
constituents, asking them if they would consent to him standing for Mayor. A majority who responded supported him. On 23 June 2015, he formally put his name forward with his three rivals being
Andrew Boff,
Syed Kamall, and
Stephen Greenhalgh. The
London Conservatives held an open primary, in which 9,227 votes were cast; of these, 6,514 went to Goldsmith. In October, Goldsmith's selection as Conservative Mayoral candidate was announced in a press release without accompanying ceremony. During his campaign, Goldsmith repeatedly spoke out against
proposed expansion of
Heathrow Airport. He stated that he was confident that the Cameron government would reject Heathrow expansion but that if they did not then he would resign as an MP and trigger a by-election. In July 2015, he also condemned the
Airports Commission report written by the economist
Howard Davies which backed Heathrow expansion; Goldsmith claimed that Davies had already decided on his conclusion before producing the three-year study. Davies responded by alleging that Goldsmith was lying, but the latter stood by his claim, as evidence citing that information he supplied to Davies' commission was not taken seriously. A key issue in the campaign was London's housing shortage. To deal with the problem, Goldsmith suggested building "high density, low-rise buildings which are in keeping with communities" on publicly owned land currently controlled by the boroughs or
Transport for London. He went against prevailing opinion in London by welcoming foreign investment into the property market, arguing that this investment could help to finance more house building. He ruled out supporting development on London's
Green belt, although stated that option might need to be considered in ten or fifteen years hence if the city's population continued to rise. He also suggested an expansion of the
London congestion zone, and endorsed
Boris Johnson's plans to construct a
Garden Bridge across the
River Thames. Goldsmith hired
Lynton Crosby's company to run his campaign and appointed Mark Fulbrook as his campaign director. Goldsmith's campaign emphasised connections between
London Labour candidate
Sadiq Khan and newly elected socialist Labour leader
Jeremy Corbyn, despite Khan's own attempts to distance himself from Corbyn. Both the Conservative campaign and several Conservative-aligned newspapers sought to tar Khan as an apologist for, or even sympathiser with, Islamic extremism. Goldsmith's campaign material referred to Khan as "radical and divisive", while comments on the Conservatives'
Facebook campaign material often displayed anti-Muslim sentiment. Labour accused Goldsmith's campaign of using '
dog-whistle politics' and racist or Islamophobic campaigning. In April 2016, Labour MP
Yvette Cooper wrote "What started as a subtle dog-whistle is becoming a full blown racist scream". Conservative politician
Baroness Warsi also criticised Goldsmith for using an image of the bus destroyed in the
7/7 terrorist attacks to illustrate an article he wrote. Goldsmith was also accused of 'racial profiling' voters in the London mayoral campaign. Goldsmith strongly denied claims his campaign had been racist and accused his rival Khan of 'playing the race card'. The Conservatives responded it was "utterly predictable that Labour label their opponents as racists", citing the fact that during the 2008 mayoral campaign, the party had also accused Johnson of employing racist rhetoric. Khan's campaign emphasised Goldsmith's comparative lack of political experience and employment history. Khan portrayed Goldsmith as a spoiled dilettante, stating that he "never finished anything he starts ... he's somebody who before becoming a member of parliament has had one proper job, which was given to him by his uncle." Goldsmith went on to lose the election to Sadiq Khan in the second round by 315,529 votes. Khan achieved 57% of the vote to Goldsmith's 43% and polled a record number of votes after second round votes were counted. Goldsmith's campaign was later criticised by Labour MP
David Lammy for being "divisive" by focusing on attempts to link Khan to Islamist extremists.
By-election and political return: 2016–2019 Goldsmith had promised, as far back as a June 2012 edition of the BBC's
Sunday Politics programme, he would not stand as a Conservative candidate at the next election if the Conservative Party backed the expansion of Heathrow Airport, an issue to which he was strongly opposed. In December 2016, he lost a
by-election in Richmond Park he had initiated by the act of resigning his seat. He stood as an independent instead of as a Conservative but was endorsed by UKIP. Neither UKIP nor the Conservatives stood a candidate in the by-election. In April 2017, Goldsmith was reselected as the Conservative Party candidate for Richmond Park prior to the
upcoming snap general election to be held on 8 June. He regained the constituency as a Conservative candidate but winning with a majority of just 45 votes, the fifth-slimmest in the election. Following Boris Johnson's election as Conservative Party leader and Prime Minister in July 2019, Goldsmith was appointed as
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at both the
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and
Department for International Development. After
Amber Rudd's resignation as
Work and Pensions Secretary in September 2019, Johnson reshuffled his frontbench and promoted Goldsmith to
Minister of State with the right to attend
Cabinet. Upon his promotion, he was sworn in as a member of the
Privy Council, giving him the
honorific title "
The Right Honourable" for life. He appeared at number 98 on the 'Top 100 Most Influential Conservatives of 2019' by
LBC's
Iain Dale. Liberal Democrat
Sarah Olney defeated Goldsmith by 7,766 votes in the
12 December 2019 snap general election (despite the election providing the Conservative Party's largest share of votes since
1979) and won back the Richmond Park seat. Shortly after his electoral defeat, it was announced he would continue to serve as a minister in the government by being awarded a
life peerage and sitting as a member of the
House of Lords.
House of Lords: 2020–present On 7 January 2020, Goldsmith was created
Baron Goldsmith of Richmond Park,
of Richmond Park in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. His ennoblement to the House of Lords was criticised by the
Muslim Council of Britain as "rewarding racism", and by opposition politicians as being "cronyist" and "hypocritical" in light of a tweet Goldsmith had made in 2012 which described the
House of Lords Reform Bill as being one that promoted "party apparatchiks" and "insulated" them from "democratic pressure". However, Labour MP and former
Shadow Environment Secretary Kerry McCarthy said she believed Goldsmith was committed to the government's promise to maintain standards in environmental regulation after Brexit, adding: "because of that I welcome the fact that he is still around to carry on and do that work". In his maiden speech in the House of Lords, Goldsmith rebutted accusations of cronyism, saying "One political rival described me as a 'turd that won't flush' – a phrase my children are very unlikely to let me forget. But equally I know many of those heroic people engaged in the battle to protect this extraordinary planet and the species it holds are cheered by having another voice in Parliament and it is an enormous privilege." In
Boris Johnson's
post-Brexit reshuffle, Goldsmith was given the additional role of
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs with responsibility for
the Pacific. In June 2020, Johnson announced the Department for International Development would be merged with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to form the
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office which was subsequently created in September of that year. On 1 June 2020, the
Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards concluded Goldsmith had breached the standards commission's code of conduct by his use of publicly-funded stationery and postage for political purposes around 1 November 2019, shortly before the 2019 general election. The commission released a report in June upholding an allegation made against Goldsmith on 5 November 2019. The report said they had considered the "timing, tone, and content of the letter and concluded that it was of a party-political nature rather than a communication for parliamentary purposes". He accepted the commission's finding and agreed to re-pay £8,954.33 to cover the mailing costs. In September 2022, Goldsmith was appointed
Minister of State for Asia, Energy, Climate and Environment by
Liz Truss. He was reappointed by
Rishi Sunak with new responsibilities for overseas territories and the Commonwealth. On 30 June 2023, Goldsmith resigned from his ministerial position, saying the government showed "apathy" towards environmental issues and that Sunak's "simply uninterested" attitude had paralysed policymaking. A day earlier, he had been named as one of 10 parliamentarians accused of waging a "co-ordinated campaign" to interfere with a
Commons investigation into Boris Johnson, ==Political positions and views==