![By Annie Mole (Zac Goldsmith at Greener Kew launch party) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons](https://markavery.info/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/800px-Zac_Goldsmith_KewGardens.jpg)
And so we say farewell to Zac Goldsmith as an MP having been well and truly trounced by the electorate of Richmond Park (turning a majority of 23,000 into a loss of 1,900).
Had I been a voter in Richmond Park I would have been torn between voting for the LibDems in order to prove a point – although if asked I might have been struggling to know what that point was – or to vote for the pro-Brexit (whereas I remain a Remainer) candidate who ran a surprisingly nasty and unpleasant campaign for London mayor (which shocked me) but, but, but, and one last but, was one of the strongest environmentalists in the House of Commons and even more so amongst the Conservative Party.
Since it isn’t my manor I didn’t have the choice, but I might have made the decision to vote for a pro-Brexit environmentalist because nature and the environment need as many allies in the Palace of Westminster as possible. Or maybe I couldn’t have brought myself to do so. Who knows?
As you may have noticed, I rather like people of independent thoughts, even when they disagree with me (and even when those disagreements are over big and important things). And Zac did keep his promise to trigger a by-election if the government chose Heathrow. Being a millionaire made it a lot easier for Zac to plough his independent furrow, but that’s irrelevant. He was an independent voice for nature in Westminster. So much so, that had the timing been different, I would have tried very hard to persuade him to say something in the debate on grouse shooting, but he had resigned his seat the week before. So, who knows?
Farewell Zac Goldsmith and thank you for the good things you have done in parliament. Your defeat has done little to shift the balance in parliament over Brexit or race issues but it has noticeably weakened the Environmental Audit Committee and the credentials of the Conservative Party as being a nature-loving party.
Go on, which Conservative MP would you nominate as the most wildlife-friendly and wildlife-informed as of today?
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Depends if you count foxes, hares, mink, deer, hounds etc as nature. If you do, then he wasn’t much of an ally.
Furthermore and for what it’s worth… for me there are some red lines which cannot be crossed. One of these is offering any support to racists.
Rhishi Sunak obvs. He has absolutely no grasp………oh sorry I thought you said ‘least wildlife friendly’.
Silly old Martin.
Hmph. The Tories idea of environmentalism is to turn poor and disabled people into food for earthworms. That is it for them.
Definitely with you on this Mark – what the hell was he thinking during the mayor campaign. What a dick! Real shame he let nature down so badly by rendering himself unelectable.
You forgot to mention that Goldsmith only opted into the tax paying world in 2010 when he became an MP. From 2010, until he published his tax return in 2016, he paid £4.5m in tax on his income and capital gains so who knows how much he avoided before that. Saying that he was an environmentalist, so the racism, anti EU stance and tax avoidance don’t really count is along the lines of: “Say what you like about Hitler, at least he didn’t eat meat”.
You might like to read this article on Novara media with reference to Goldsmiths environmental credentials.
http://novaramedia.com/2016/12/01/4-reasons-zac-goldsmith-is-the-worst-kind-of-eco-hypocrite/
Gerald – thank you, I hadn’t seen that but they aren’t very convincing really.
Greatly respect your thoughts and opinions Mark, but I will never lend my a vote to a pro-fox hunter.