THE wealthy Conservative MP narrowly won back the Richmond Park seat after sensationally resigning from government over the plans to expand Heathrow and then losing the by-election.
But tragedy has struck the man who once ran for the post of London mayor with the death of his 15-year-old niece.
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Who is Zac Goldsmith?
Born into the wealthy Goldsmith banking family, Frank Zacharias Robin Goldsmith is the son of financier Sir James and Lady Annabel.
Goldsmith’s wealth makes him the second richest MP, according to The Telegraph.
The Guardian reported he inherited between £200 and £300 million of his father’s reported £1.2 billion estate.
He has two full siblings environmentalist Ben and journalist Jemima Khan.
Goldsmith was once expelled from Eton – one of four independent schools he attended – after drugs were found in his room.
He travelled extensively around the world following his A-Levels, living in and working in both California and India.
The passionate environmental campaigner has debated at Oxford and writes regular columns for UK national newspapers.
Under his directorship, The Ecologist magazine’s circulation trebled.
He joined the Conservative Party in 2005.
He was elected to Richmond Park at the 2010 general election and saw his majority rise from 4,091 to 23,015 votes five years later.
The Guardian noted Goldsmith’s “environmentalism” but called him a “proper Tory”, who supported the ‘bedroom tax’, VAT increases while opposing high tax rates to the highest earners and the ‘mansion tax’.
He is a passionate Brexit supporter.
Goldsmith is married to Alice Miranda Rothschild. He has three children with his first wife of ten years Sheherazade Ventura Bentley.
His brother’s daughter, Iris Annabel, died in a tragic quad bike accident in July 2019 which left her parents “devastated”.
Iris was the heiress to two of Britain’s most powerful dynasties – the Goldsmith and Rothschild families.
She was the first child of Ben and his ex-wife Kate Emma Rothschild, who are believed to have a joint fortune of more than £300million.
Why did Zac Goldsmith resign as an MP in 2016?
After the Government gave Heathrow not Gatwick its backing for airport expansion, Goldsmith resigned as the MP for Richmond Park like he promised.
In a letter published on his website and The Telegraph, Goldsmith said: “I promised voters I would step down and hold a by-election if Heathrow gets the go-ahead and I will stand by that pledge, but the fallout will be much wider, and it will hard for our brilliant local councils to weather the storm.”
On October 25 2016, Goldsmith, who stood as an independent candidate, watched on tearfully as his whopping 23,000-strong majority in the leafy London suburb was wiped out by Sarah Olney, who ended up beating him by almost 2,000 votes in the by-election.
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Was he elected as the MP for Richmond Park in the 2017 General Election?
After Theresa May triggered a shock election on Thursday June 8, Goldsmith threw his hat into the ring as the Conservative candidate for Richmond Park.
Following a tense election – Goldsmith won his seat back for the Tories by just 45 votes.
The former London Mayor candidate clawed back the seat with the narrow majority – proving every vote counts.
Why is Goldsmith against Heathrow expansion?
In the letter published Goldsmith explained: “With only two runways, air pollution around Heathrow already exceeds European Union limits.
“A third runway would add 300,000 extra flights and around 25 million extra road journeys per year.
“Heathrow is Europe’s noisiest airport. An extra runway would inflate that problem, with up to a million people affected by the Heathrow footprint.
“Heathrow also faces uniquely complex planning risks, and the project requires a rate of construction spend never before achieved on a single site in the UK.
“Nor is there a clear plan for how the scheme will be financed. Heathrow claims the cost of adapting surface transport is around £1 billion.
“Transport for London puts it closer to £20 billion, which the taxpayer will have to pick up.
“Heathrow’s landing costs are already the highest in the world, and the extra costs would make things far worse.
“British Airways, Heathrow’s biggest customer, has said the cost of the third runway is ”outrageous’’, making it ”undeliverable’’.
“Then there are the risks of flying more planes in congested airspace over one of the most densely populated parts of the country.”
In a previous interview with Get West London, Goldsmith said he wanted a “better not bigger Heathrow”.
