Difference between revisions of "Zac Goldsmith"

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|wikipedia=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zac_Goldsmith
 
|wikipedia=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zac_Goldsmith
 
|image=Zac Goldsmith.jpg
 
|image=Zac Goldsmith.jpg
|description=
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|description=UK [[YGL 2008]] politician, brother of [[Ben Goldsmith]] ([[YGL 2010]])
 
|spouses=Sheherazade Ventura-Bentley (1999–2010), Alice Miranda Rothschild (2013–present)
 
|spouses=Sheherazade Ventura-Bentley (1999–2010), Alice Miranda Rothschild (2013–present)
 
|alma_mater=Eton College, Cambridge Centre for Sixth-form Studies
 
|alma_mater=Eton College, Cambridge Centre for Sixth-form Studies
 
|website=http://www.zacgoldsmith.com/
 
|website=http://www.zacgoldsmith.com/
|constitutes=Environmentalist and politician
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|constitutes=politician, editor, environmentalist
 
|birth_date=1975-01-20
 
|birth_date=1975-01-20
 
|birth_name=Frank Zacharias Robin Goldsmith
 
|birth_name=Frank Zacharias Robin Goldsmith
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|parents=Lady Annabel Goldsmith, Sir James Goldsmith
 
|parents=Lady Annabel Goldsmith, Sir James Goldsmith
 
|children=4 (3 with Sheherazade Goldsmith. 1 with Alice Miranda Rothschild)
 
|children=4 (3 with Sheherazade Goldsmith. 1 with Alice Miranda Rothschild)
|twitter=ZacGoldsmith
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|twitter=https://twitter.com/ZacGoldsmith
 
|powerbase=http://www.powerbase.info/index.php/Zac Goldsmith
 
|powerbase=http://www.powerbase.info/index.php/Zac Goldsmith
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|sourcewatch=http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Zac_Goldsmith
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|nationality=British
 
|employment={{job
 
|employment={{job
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|title=Minister of State for Asia Energy Climate and Environment
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|start=25 October 2022
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|end=30 June 2023
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|appointer=Rishi Sunak
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}}{{job
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|title=Minister of State for the Pacific and the International Environment
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|start=27 July 2019
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|end=25 October 2022
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|appointer=Boris Johnson
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}}{{job
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|title=Member of Parliament for Richmond Park
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|start=8 June 2017
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|end=6 November 2019
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}}{{job
 
|title=Member of Parliament for Richmond Park
 
|title=Member of Parliament for Richmond Park
 
|start=6 May 2010
 
|start=6 May 2010
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}}
 
}}
 
}}
 
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[[Zac Goldsmith]] (born 20 January 1975) is a British politician, former editor of ''[[The Ecologist]]'' magazine, journalist and the green adviser to [[David Cameron]]. He was selected as the Conservative Parliamentary candidate for the Richmond Park constituency in Greater London at an Open Primary in March 2007, and was elected at the 2010 General Election, defeating Lib Dem [[Susan Kramer]].<ref>''[https://twitter.com/paulmasonnews/status/13518642331 "Zac Goldsmith arrives @ #richmondpark count. Tells me the feeling is good; count going to wire but zac factor is a factor here"]'', [[Paul Mason]] on ''Twitter''</ref>
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[[Zac Goldsmith]] is a British [[Conservative Party]] [[politician]], former editor of ''[[The Ecologist]]'' magazine, journalist and [[Member of Parliament]] for Richmond Park. On 27 July 2019, newly-selected PM [[Boris Johnson]] appointed him Minister of State for the Pacific and the International Environment.
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Following Zac Goldsmith's defeat as an MP by the [[Lib Dems]] in the [[UK/2019 General Election|December 2019 General Election]], [[Boris Johnson]] gave him a life peerage so that he could retain his environment portfolio and continue to attend cabinet meetings.<ref>''[https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/dec/19/zac-goldsmith-handed-life-peerage-and-keeps-environment-role "Zac Goldsmith handed life peerage and keeps environment role"]''</ref>
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[[Lord Goldsmith]]'s ministerial responsibilities were revised by [[Rishi Sunak]] on 25 October 2022 when he became Minister of State for Asia, Energy, Climate and Environment at the [[Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office]]. On 30 June 2023, Zac Goldsmith resigned as Foreign Office minister, citing [[Rishi Sunak]]’s lack of interest in environmental issues:{{QB|
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:“The problem is not that the govt is hostile to the environment, it is that you, our Prime Minister, are simply uninterested.”<ref>''[https://twitter.com/lewis_goodall/status/1674692845104508928 "Zac Goldsmith resigns as Foreign Office minister, citing Rishi Sunak’s lack of interest in environmental issues"]''</ref><ref>''[https://news.sky.com/story/zac-goldsmith-tory-minister-named-in-boris-johnson-partygate-interference-report-quits-over-government-apathy-12912159 "Zac Goldsmith: Tory minister named in Boris Johnson partygate interference report quits over after refusing to apologise"]''</ref>}}
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==Political career==
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Zac Goldsmith was selected as the Conservative prospective parliamentary candidate for the Richmond Park constituency in Greater London at an Open Primary in March 2007, and was elected at the 2010 General Election, defeating Lib Dem [[Susan Kramer]].<ref>''[https://twitter.com/paulmasonnews/status/13518642331 "Zac Goldsmith arrives @ #richmondpark count. Tells me the feeling is good; count going to wire but zac factor is a factor here"]'', [[Paul Mason]] on ''Twitter''</ref>
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Zac Goldsmith stood unsuccessfully as the [[Conservative Party]] candidate in the [[2016 London mayoral election]] on 5 May.<ref>''[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2016-36232392 "Elections: Labour's Sadiq Khan elected London mayor"]''</ref> His support for [[Brexit]] in the [[EU Referendum]] called for 23 June 2016 was regarded as a boost for the [[Labour Party]] candidate [[Sadiq Khan]].<ref>''[http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2016/02/zac-goldsmiths-support-eu-exit-another-boost-sadiq-khan "Zac Goldsmith's support for EU exit is another boost for Sadiq Khan"]''</ref>
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On 25 October 2016, when [[Theresa May]]'s government approved the building of a third runway at Heathrow airport, Zac Goldsmith resigned his Parliamentary seat in protest. His decision forced a [[2016 Richmond Park by-election|by-election in his Richmond Park constituency]], where he said he would stand as an "Independent Conservative".<ref>''[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-37764269 "Zac Goldsmith quits as MP over Heathrow decision"]''</ref> The Conservatives, [[UKIP]] and the Green Party announced they would not field candidates in the by-election on 1 December 2016. However the [[Lib Dems]], who held the Richmond Park seat until 2010, had high hopes of winning it back, thanks to their opposition to Heathrow expansion and their support for the EU in a constituency where a large majority voted ''Remain'' in the referendum.<ref>''[https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/oct/27/ukip-backs-zac-goldsmith-in-richmond-park-byelection "UKIP backs Zac Goldsmith in Richmond Park byelection"]''</ref>
  
Zac Goldsmith stood unsuccessfully as the [[Conservative Party]] candidate in the [[2016 London mayoral election]] on 5 May.<ref>''[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2016-36232392 "Elections: Labour's Sadiq Khan elected London mayor"]''</ref> His support for [[Brexit]] in the [[EU Referendum]] called for 23 June 2016 was regarded as a boost for the [[Labour Party]] candidate [[Sadiq Khan]].<ref>[http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2016/02/zac-goldsmiths-support-eu-exit-another-boost-sadiq-khan "Zac Goldsmith's support for EU exit is another boost for Sadiq Khan"]</ref>
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Successfully overturning Goldsmith's 23,015 majority, [[LibDem]] [[Sarah Olney]] recorded an 1,872 majority of her own. Large numbers of local Labour voters backed her, with the Labour candidate, [[Christian Wolmar]], losing his deposit. Sarah Olney said that voters had:
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:“sent a shockwave through this Conservative [[Brexit]] government.”
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She added:
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:“And our message is clear: we do not want a hard Brexit. We do not want to pull out of the single market. We will not let intolerance, division and fear win.<ref>''[https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/dec/02/lib-dems-unseat-zac-goldsmith-in-richmond-park-byelection "Richmond Park byelection: Tory Brexit voters switched to us, say Lib Dems"]''</ref>
  
On 25 October 2016, when [[Theresa May]]'s government approved the building of a third runway at Heathrow airport, Zac Goldsmith resigned his Parliamentary seat in protest. His decision forced a [[2016 Richmond Park by-election|by-election in his Richmond Park constituency]], where he will stand as an "Independent Conservative".<ref>''[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-37764269 "Zac Goldsmith quits as MP over Heathrow decision"]''</ref> Both the Conservatives and [[UKIP]] announced they will not field candidates in the by-election scheduled for 1 December 2016. However the Lib Dems, who held the Richmond Park seat until 2010, have high hopes of winning it back, thanks to their opposition to Heathrow expansion and their support for the EU in a constituency where a large majority voted ''Remain'' in the referendum. Labour's [[National Executive Committee]] also confirmed they are going to contest the by-election, in which [[Paul Mason]]<ref>''[https://www.facebook.com/patrick.haseldine/posts/10209857560209894 "How about Paul Mason standing for Richmond Park Constituency Labour Party in the forthcoming by-election?"]''</ref> and [[Sir Tony Robinson]]<ref>''[https://twitter.com/BerntCarlsson/status/791754019878367232 "#Baldrick to stand against #ZacGoldsmith at #richmondparkbyelection?"]''</ref> have been named as possible candidates.<ref>''[https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/oct/27/ukip-backs-zac-goldsmith-in-richmond-park-byelection "UKIP backs Zac Goldsmith in Richmond Park byelection"]''</ref>
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In the [[UK/2017 General Election|June 2017 General Election]], Zac Goldsmith managed to regain the Richmond Park seat with a 45-vote majority over Sarah Olney.<ref>''[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-40216291 "Election Results 2017: Zac Goldsmith retakes Richmond Park"]''</ref>
  
==Background==
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==Billionaire father==
Zac Goldsmith is the son of billionaire financier and eurosceptic Sir [[James Goldsmith]]. You might think that there is nothing surprising about the heir to James Goldsmith’s £300 million fortune saying he would stand for the Conservative Party in the next General Election.<ref>[https://spinwatchwatch.wordpress.com/2010/04/28/hello-world/ "How Zac Goldsmith Bought The Green Movement"]</ref> But Zac Goldsmith has been deeply involved in the Green movement for the last decade and says he chose to back the Tories because Labour had become "the party of big business":
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Zac Goldsmith is the son of billionaire financier and eurosceptic Sir [[James Goldsmith]]. You might think that there is nothing surprising about the heir to James Goldsmith’s £300 million fortune saying he would stand for the [[Conservative Party]] in the next General Election.<ref>''[https://spinwatchwatch.wordpress.com/2010/04/28/hello-world/ "How Zac Goldsmith Bought The Green Movement"]''</ref> But Zac Goldsmith has been deeply involved in the Green movement for the last decade and says he chose to back the Tories because Labour had become "the party of big business":
 
:"You can judge [[Tony Blair|Mr Blair]]'s position on almost any issue on the basis of what would the big lobby groups want him to do," he argues.<ref>Wheeler, Brian, ''[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4544600.stm "Interview: Zac Goldsmith"]'', BBC News, 11 January 2006, accessed 29 April 2010.</ref>
 
:"You can judge [[Tony Blair|Mr Blair]]'s position on almost any issue on the basis of what would the big lobby groups want him to do," he argues.<ref>Wheeler, Brian, ''[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4544600.stm "Interview: Zac Goldsmith"]'', BBC News, 11 January 2006, accessed 29 April 2010.</ref>
  
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==Controversies==
 
==Controversies==
 
===Non-domicile status===
 
===Non-domicile status===
According to an article in ''The Times'' in November 2009, Zac Goldsmith admitted that he claimed off-shore non-domicile tax status, "enabling him to avoid huge sums of tax on his estimated £200m fortune" from his late father, Sir [[James Goldsmith]].<ref>Woolf, Marie, "[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6936364.ece Tory Zac Goldsmith admits he is a non-dom]," ''Times Online'', 29 November 2009, accessed 29 April 2010.</ref> Since the news became public and David Cameron publicly told him to end it, he renounced his non-dom status in December 2009.<ref>Wintour, Patrick and Andrew Sparrow, "[http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/dec/01/cameron-goldsmith-non-dom-status David Cameron tells Zac Goldsmith to end 'non-dom' tax status]," ''Guardian'', 01 December 2009, accessed 29 April 2010.</ref><ref>Porter, Andrew, "[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/6711985/Zac-Goldsmith-gives-up-non-dom-status-after-row.html Zac Goldsmith gives up non-dom status after row]," ''Telegraph'', 03 December 2009, accessed 29 April 2010.</ref>  
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According to an article in ''The Times'' in November 2009, Zac Goldsmith admitted that he claimed off-shore non-domicile tax status, "enabling him to avoid huge sums of tax on his estimated £200m fortune" from his late father, Sir [[James Goldsmith]].<ref>Woolf, Marie, ''[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6936364.ece "Tory Zac Goldsmith admits he is a non-dom"]'' Times Online, 29 November 2009, accessed 29 April 2010.</ref> Since the news became public and [[David Cameron]] publicly told him to end it, he renounced his non-dom status in December 2009.<ref>Wintour, Patrick and Andrew Sparrow, ''[http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/dec/01/cameron-goldsmith-non-dom-status "David Cameron tells Zac Goldsmith to end 'non-dom' tax status"]'' Guardian, 01 December 2009, accessed 29 April 2010.</ref><ref>Porter, Andrew, ''[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/6711985/Zac-Goldsmith-gives-up-non-dom-status-after-row.html "Zac Goldsmith gives up non-dom status after row"]'' Telegraph, 03 December 2009, accessed 29 April 2010.</ref>  
  
The article said the Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman [[Chris Huhne]] "has calculated that Goldsmith is likely to have avoided, at a conservative estimate, around £580,000 a year in UK taxes over the past decade as a result of being defined as a non-dom."<ref>Helm, Toby and Rajeev Syal, "[http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/dec/13/zac-goldsmith-tax Tory candidate Zac Goldsmith accused of avoiding £5.8m tax as non-dom]," ''Guardian'', 13 December 2009, accessed 29 April 2010.</ref> Although Goldsmith dismissed Huhne's figures as "fantasy", he had not yet published his tax returns to prove that the "vast majority" of his income comes to the UK and is taxed there as he claims.<ref>Helm, Toby and Rajeev Syal, "[http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/dec/13/zac-goldsmith-tax Tory candidate Zac Goldsmith accused of avoiding £5.8m tax as non-dom]," ''Guardian'', 13 December 2009, accessed 29 April 2010.</ref>
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The article said the [[Liberal Democrat]] home affairs spokesman [[Chris Huhne]] "has calculated that Goldsmith is likely to have avoided, at a conservative estimate, around £580,000 a year in UK taxes over the past decade as a result of being defined as a non-dom."<ref>Helm, Toby and Rajeev Syal, ''[http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/dec/13/zac-goldsmith-tax "Tory candidate Zac Goldsmith accused of avoiding £5.8m tax as non-dom"]'' Guardian, 13 December 2009, accessed 29 April 2010.</ref> Although Goldsmith dismissed Huhne's figures as "fantasy", he had not yet published his tax returns to prove that the "vast majority" of his income comes to the UK and is taxed there as he claims.<ref>Helm, Toby and Rajeev Syal, ''[http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/dec/13/zac-goldsmith-tax "Tory candidate Zac Goldsmith accused of avoiding £5.8m tax as non-dom"]'' Guardian, 13 December 2009, accessed 29 April 2010.</ref>
  
 
On his blog, Zac Goldsmith replied to the press reports on his tax status as follows:
 
On his blog, Zac Goldsmith replied to the press reports on his tax status as follows:
:The Lib Dems have made false claims about my Tax status, which made national news. In the media stampede, there is no doubt the Lib Dems won the PR war. But it was based on nonsense.
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:The [[Lib Dems]] have made false claims about my Tax status, which made national news. In the media stampede, there is no doubt the Lib Dems won the PR war. But it was based on nonsense.
  
 
:There were 4 claims: that I was non-resident, non-tax resident, that I owed millions to the taxman, and that I had only changed my status following pressure from others.
 
:There were 4 claims: that I was non-resident, non-tax resident, that I owed millions to the taxman, and that I had only changed my status following pressure from others.
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:The Lib Dem assertion that trust-ownership of my home leaves the taxman short makes no sense and is wrong. When a person’s primary home is sold, there is no Capital Gains Tax to pay. Not so the trust-owned home I occupy if it is sold for a gain. The taxman will therefore gain from these arrangements.
 
:The Lib Dem assertion that trust-ownership of my home leaves the taxman short makes no sense and is wrong. When a person’s primary home is sold, there is no Capital Gains Tax to pay. Not so the trust-owned home I occupy if it is sold for a gain. The taxman will therefore gain from these arrangements.
  
:I no longer have non-dom status, a decision that I took before being approached by any newspapers, and which will apply as of a full year before the launch of this election.<ref>Zac Goldsmith blog, [http://www.zacgoldsmith.com/default.asp?contentID=86. Zac's Tax Status], accessed 29 April 2010.</ref>
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:I no longer have non-dom status, a decision that I took before being approached by any newspapers, and which will apply as of a full year before the launch of this election.<ref>Zac Goldsmith blog, ''[http://www.zacgoldsmith.com/default.asp?contentID=86. "Zac's Tax Status"]'', accessed 29 April 2010.</ref>
  
An article on Zac Goldsmith's tax status in ''The Guardian'' said that he "confirmed that he retained the non-domiciled tax status inherited from his billionaire father, Sir James Goldsmith. He said he had derived 'very few' benefits from being a non-dom and had already decided to give it up."<ref>White, Michael, "[http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/nov/29/zac-goldsmith-non-domiciled-tax I'm non-domiciled but not a tax dodger, says Tory candidate Zac Goldsmith]," ''The Guardian'', 29 November 2010, accessed 29 April 2010.</ref>
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An article on Zac Goldsmith's tax status in ''[[The Guardian]]'' said that he "confirmed that he retained the non-domiciled tax status inherited from his billionaire father, [[Sir James Goldsmith]]. He said he had derived 'very few' benefits from being a non-dom and had already decided to give it up."<ref>White, Michael, ''[http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/nov/29/zac-goldsmith-non-domiciled-tax "I'm non-domiciled but not a tax dodger, says Tory candidate Zac Goldsmith"]'' The Guardian, 29 November 2010, accessed 29 April 2010.</ref>
  
 
===Conservative Party donor===
 
===Conservative Party donor===
According to ''Times Online'', "[t]he Conservative party hid donations of £40,000 from Zac Goldsmith, his brother Ben and two billionaire brothers in an apparent breach of the law."<ref>Woolf, Marie and Solomon Hughes, "[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6982403.ece "Tories covered up cash donations from Zac Goldsmith"], ''Times Online'', 10 January 2010, accessed 29 April 2010.</ref> The donations adding up to £40,000 in series of cash gifts to the party between 2005 and 2008 were registered with the Electoral Commission as coming from [[Unicorn Administration]], a wealth management firm. However, the money had been paid by a number of donors including Zac Goldsmith, his brother [[Ben Goldsmith]], his wife [[Kate Goldsmith]], a member of the Rothschild family.<ref>Prince, Rosa, "[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/conservative/6961292/Zac-Goldsmith-donations-improperly-registered-by-Tories.html Zac Goldsmith donations 'improperly registered' by Tories]," ''Telegraph'', 10 January 2010, accessed 29 April 2010.</ref>
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According to ''Times Online'', "[t]he Conservative party hid donations of £40,000 from Zac Goldsmith, his brother Ben and two billionaire brothers in an apparent breach of the law."<ref>Woolf, Marie and Solomon Hughes, ''[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6982403.ece "Tories covered up cash donations from Zac Goldsmith"]'' Times Online, 10 January 2010, accessed 29 April 2010.</ref> The donations adding up to £40,000 in series of cash gifts to the party between 2005 and 2008 were registered with the Electoral Commission as coming from [[Unicorn Administration]], a wealth management firm. However, the money had been paid by a number of donors including Zac Goldsmith, his brother [[Ben Goldsmith]], his wife [[Kate Goldsmith]], a member of the Rothschild family.<ref>Prince, Rosa, ''[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/conservative/6961292/Zac-Goldsmith-donations-improperly-registered-by-Tories.html "Zac Goldsmith donations 'improperly registered' by Tories"]'' Telegraph, 10 January 2010, accessed 29 April 2010.</ref>
  
There has been no suggestion that any of the donors or [[Unicorn Administration]] acted improperly, and all were eligible to provide funds. It is known that the Goldsmiths have been regular Conservative Party donors in the past and their names are lodged with the Electoral Commission. However, the Conservatives failed to tell the Electoral Commission, the official watchdog, even though electoral law makes it clear that the true source of funds must not be concealed.<ref>Woolf, Marie and Solomon Hughes, "[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6982403.ece Tories covered up cash donations from Zac Goldsmith]," ''Times Online'', 10 January 2010, accessed 29 April 2010.</ref><ref>Prince, Rosa, "[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/conservative/6961292/Zac-Goldsmith-donations-improperly-registered-by-Tories.html Zac Goldsmith donations 'improperly registered' by Tories]," ''Telegraph'', 10 January 2010, accessed 29 April 2010.</ref>
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There has been no suggestion that any of the donors or [[Unicorn Administration]] acted improperly, and all were eligible to provide funds. It is known that the Goldsmiths have been regular Conservative Party donors in the past and their names are lodged with the Electoral Commission. However, the Conservatives failed to tell the Electoral Commission, the official watchdog, even though electoral law makes it clear that the true source of funds must not be concealed.<ref>Woolf, Marie and Solomon Hughes, ''[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6982403.ece "Tories covered up cash donations from Zac Goldsmith"]'' Times Online, 10 January 2010, accessed 29 April 2010.</ref><ref>Prince, Rosa, ''[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/conservative/6961292/Zac-Goldsmith-donations-improperly-registered-by-Tories.html "Zac Goldsmith donations 'improperly registered' by Tories"]'' Telegraph, 10 January 2010, accessed 29 April 2010.</ref>
  
 
===Expenses in the 2010 General Election===
 
===Expenses in the 2010 General Election===
A joint investigation by ''Channel 4 News'' and the ''Bureau of Investigative Journalism'' raised questions over Zac Goldsmith's 2010 election campaign. The Electoral Commission spending limit for candidates in Goldsmith's Richmond Park constituency of £11,003 to spend on short campaign materials in the 23 days before polling day. Goldsmith’s expenses declaration says that he came £220 below this with a campaign total of £10,783. The investigation found that the Goldsmith campaign spent some £2,800 for 600 signs. According to the report:  
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A joint investigation by ''[[Channel 4 News]]'' and the ''[[Bureau of Investigative Journalism]]'' raised questions over Zac Goldsmith's 2010 election campaign. The Electoral Commission spending limit for candidates in Goldsmith's Richmond Park constituency of £11,003 to spend on short campaign materials in the 23 days before polling day. Goldsmith’s expenses declaration says that he came £220 below this with a campaign total of £10,783. The investigation found that the Goldsmith campaign spent some £2,800 for 600 signs. According to the report:  
 
:When it came to declaring how much the campaign spent on these signs during the key campaigning period, the amount is reduced by 90 per cent – to just £262. This reduction helped to keep him under his legal spending limit. It appears he managed to do this by claiming half these costs were for another campaign – but he has not revealed which one. Costs are also reduced further by saying, for example, some signs were used before parliament was dissolved.
 
:When it came to declaring how much the campaign spent on these signs during the key campaigning period, the amount is reduced by 90 per cent – to just £262. This reduction helped to keep him under his legal spending limit. It appears he managed to do this by claiming half these costs were for another campaign – but he has not revealed which one. Costs are also reduced further by saying, for example, some signs were used before parliament was dissolved.
  
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It would seem to me to be logical to claim for the ones they’ve ordered because these are materials for the purposes of the campaign. It also would be impossible to audit. You can audit the receipt for the items ordered, you can’t audit whether or not something’s been delivered.
 
It would seem to me to be logical to claim for the ones they’ve ordered because these are materials for the purposes of the campaign. It also would be impossible to audit. You can audit the receipt for the items ordered, you can’t audit whether or not something’s been delivered.
  
Goldsmith’s election agent argued against the investigation saying that ‘We were scrupulous in ensuring that all our election expenses complied with both the letter and the spirit of Electoral Commission rules.’<ref>Bureau of Investigative Journalism, [http://thebureauinvestigates.com/2010/07/15/questions-over-zac-goldsmiths-election-expenses/ Questions over Zac Goldsmith's election expenses], ''Bureau of Investigative Journalism'', 15-July-2010</ref> Goldsmith himself described the investigation as 'sleazy journalism'<ref>BBC News, [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-10654543 Complaint over Tory MP Zac Goldsmith's election budget], ''BBC News'', 15-July-2010</ref>
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Goldsmith’s election agent argued against the investigation saying that ‘We were scrupulous in ensuring that all our election expenses complied with both the letter and the spirit of Electoral Commission rules.’<ref>Bureau of Investigative Journalism, ''[http://thebureauinvestigates.com/2010/07/15/questions-over-zac-goldsmiths-election-expenses/ "Questions over Zac Goldsmith's election expenses"]'' Bureau of Investigative Journalism, 15-July-2010</ref> Goldsmith himself described the investigation as 'sleazy journalism'<ref>BBC News, ''[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-10654543 "Complaint over Tory MP Zac Goldsmith's election budget"]'' BBC News, 15-July-2010</ref>
  
 
===Dirty mayoral campaign===
 
===Dirty mayoral campaign===
 
Invoking the [[7 July 2005 London bombings]] in a seemingly desperate attempt to avoid defeat in the 2016 London mayoral election, Goldsmith wrote in the ''Mail on Sunday'' on 1 May 2016:
 
Invoking the [[7 July 2005 London bombings]] in a seemingly desperate attempt to avoid defeat in the 2016 London mayoral election, Goldsmith wrote in the ''Mail on Sunday'' on 1 May 2016:
:“On Thursday, are we really going to hand the world’s greatest city to a Labour Party that thinks terrorists are its friends?”<ref>[http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/zac-goldsmith-london-mayor-campaign-sadiq-khan-baroness-warsi-a7009126.html "Zac Goldsmith criticised by former Tory minister Baroness Warsi over Sadiq Khan 7/7 London terror bus image"]</ref>
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:“On Thursday, are we really going to hand the world’s greatest city to a Labour Party that thinks terrorists are its friends?”<ref>''[http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/zac-goldsmith-london-mayor-campaign-sadiq-khan-baroness-warsi-a7009126.html "Zac Goldsmith criticised by former Tory minister Baroness Warsi over Sadiq Khan 7/7 London terror bus image"]''</ref>
  
 
To which, [[Sadiq Khan]] tweeted in response:
 
To which, [[Sadiq Khan]] tweeted in response:
:@ZacGoldsmith's campaign is getting more desperate and divisive by the day.<ref>[https://twitter.com/SadiqKhan/status/726779736228241409 "Zac Goldsmith's campaign is getting more desperate and divisive by the day"]</ref>
+
:@ZacGoldsmith's campaign is getting more desperate and divisive by the day.<ref>''[https://twitter.com/SadiqKhan/status/726779736228241409 "Zac Goldsmith's campaign is getting more desperate and divisive by the day"]''</ref>
  
 
==Monsanto edition of ''The Ecologist'' pulped by printers==
 
==Monsanto edition of ''The Ecologist'' pulped by printers==
Line 90: Line 121:
 
The following day, Penwells asked ''[[The Ecologist]]'' to send a letter to [[Monsanto]]'s lawyers requesting that if the issue were considered libellous, Monsanto would agree to sue only the editors, editorial board, and owners. [[Monsanto]] refused to agree. The next day, Penwells shredded 14,000 copies of ''[[The Ecologist]]''.
 
The following day, Penwells asked ''[[The Ecologist]]'' to send a letter to [[Monsanto]]'s lawyers requesting that if the issue were considered libellous, Monsanto would agree to sue only the editors, editorial board, and owners. [[Monsanto]] refused to agree. The next day, Penwells shredded 14,000 copies of ''[[The Ecologist]]''.
  
In the end, the edition was printed by another printer.<ref>Lilliston, Ben, "[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1295/is_2_63/ai_53706056/ Shredding `The Ecologist' - printer feared libel suit from conglomerate]," ''The Progressive'', February 1999, accessed 29 April 2010.</ref>
+
In the end, the edition was printed by another printer.<ref>Lilliston, Ben, ''[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1295/is_2_63/ai_53706056/ "Shredding `The Ecologist' - printer feared libel suit from conglomerate"]'' The Progressive, February 1999, accessed 29 April 2010.</ref>
  
 
==Writings and publications on the LM network==
 
==Writings and publications on the LM network==

Latest revision as of 11:52, 30 June 2023

Person.png Zac Goldsmith   Powerbase Sourcewatch Twitter WebsiteRdf-entity.pngRdf-icon.png
(politician, editor, environmentalist)
Zac Goldsmith.jpg
BornFrank Zacharias Robin Goldsmith
1975-01-20
City of Westminster, London
NationalityBritish
Alma materEton College, Cambridge Centre for Sixth-form Studies
Parents • Lady Annabel Goldsmith
• Sir James Goldsmith
Children4 (3 with Sheherazade Goldsmith. 1 with Alice Miranda Rothschild)
Siblings • Jemima Goldsmith
• Ben Goldsmith
• India Jane Birley
• Rupert Birley
• Isabel Goldsmith
• Manes Goldsmith
• Alix Goldsmith
Spouse • Sheherazade Ventura-Bentley (1999–2010)
• Alice Miranda Rothschild (2013–present)
Member ofGoldsmith family, WEF/Young Global Leaders/2008
PartyConservative
UK YGL 2008 politician, brother of Ben Goldsmith (YGL 2010)

Employment.png Member of Parliament for Richmond Park

In office
8 June 2017 - 6 November 2019

Employment.png Member of Parliament for Richmond Park

In office
6 May 2010 - 25 October 2016

Zac Goldsmith is a British Conservative Party politician, former editor of The Ecologist magazine, journalist and Member of Parliament for Richmond Park. On 27 July 2019, newly-selected PM Boris Johnson appointed him Minister of State for the Pacific and the International Environment.

Following Zac Goldsmith's defeat as an MP by the Lib Dems in the December 2019 General Election, Boris Johnson gave him a life peerage so that he could retain his environment portfolio and continue to attend cabinet meetings.[1]

Lord Goldsmith's ministerial responsibilities were revised by Rishi Sunak on 25 October 2022 when he became Minister of State for Asia, Energy, Climate and Environment at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. On 30 June 2023, Zac Goldsmith resigned as Foreign Office minister, citing Rishi Sunak’s lack of interest in environmental issues:

“The problem is not that the govt is hostile to the environment, it is that you, our Prime Minister, are simply uninterested.”[2][3]

Political career

Zac Goldsmith was selected as the Conservative prospective parliamentary candidate for the Richmond Park constituency in Greater London at an Open Primary in March 2007, and was elected at the 2010 General Election, defeating Lib Dem Susan Kramer.[4]

Zac Goldsmith stood unsuccessfully as the Conservative Party candidate in the 2016 London mayoral election on 5 May.[5] His support for Brexit in the EU Referendum called for 23 June 2016 was regarded as a boost for the Labour Party candidate Sadiq Khan.[6]

On 25 October 2016, when Theresa May's government approved the building of a third runway at Heathrow airport, Zac Goldsmith resigned his Parliamentary seat in protest. His decision forced a by-election in his Richmond Park constituency, where he said he would stand as an "Independent Conservative".[7] The Conservatives, UKIP and the Green Party announced they would not field candidates in the by-election on 1 December 2016. However the Lib Dems, who held the Richmond Park seat until 2010, had high hopes of winning it back, thanks to their opposition to Heathrow expansion and their support for the EU in a constituency where a large majority voted Remain in the referendum.[8]

Successfully overturning Goldsmith's 23,015 majority, LibDem Sarah Olney recorded an 1,872 majority of her own. Large numbers of local Labour voters backed her, with the Labour candidate, Christian Wolmar, losing his deposit. Sarah Olney said that voters had:

“sent a shockwave through this Conservative Brexit government.”

She added:

“And our message is clear: we do not want a hard Brexit. We do not want to pull out of the single market. We will not let intolerance, division and fear win.”[9]

In the June 2017 General Election, Zac Goldsmith managed to regain the Richmond Park seat with a 45-vote majority over Sarah Olney.[10]

Billionaire father

Zac Goldsmith is the son of billionaire financier and eurosceptic Sir James Goldsmith. You might think that there is nothing surprising about the heir to James Goldsmith’s £300 million fortune saying he would stand for the Conservative Party in the next General Election.[11] But Zac Goldsmith has been deeply involved in the Green movement for the last decade and says he chose to back the Tories because Labour had become "the party of big business":

"You can judge Mr Blair's position on almost any issue on the basis of what would the big lobby groups want him to do," he argues.[12]

Affiliations

Controversies

Non-domicile status

According to an article in The Times in November 2009, Zac Goldsmith admitted that he claimed off-shore non-domicile tax status, "enabling him to avoid huge sums of tax on his estimated £200m fortune" from his late father, Sir James Goldsmith.[13] Since the news became public and David Cameron publicly told him to end it, he renounced his non-dom status in December 2009.[14][15]

The article said the Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Chris Huhne "has calculated that Goldsmith is likely to have avoided, at a conservative estimate, around £580,000 a year in UK taxes over the past decade as a result of being defined as a non-dom."[16] Although Goldsmith dismissed Huhne's figures as "fantasy", he had not yet published his tax returns to prove that the "vast majority" of his income comes to the UK and is taxed there as he claims.[17]

On his blog, Zac Goldsmith replied to the press reports on his tax status as follows:

The Lib Dems have made false claims about my Tax status, which made national news. In the media stampede, there is no doubt the Lib Dems won the PR war. But it was based on nonsense.
There were 4 claims: that I was non-resident, non-tax resident, that I owed millions to the taxman, and that I had only changed my status following pressure from others.
In fact I have always been resident in the UK, and have always chosen to be tax resident in the UK. I therefore haven’t merely paid tax on UK income – but on income generally – at the full rate. Non-dom status can mean many things. Through my choices, it offered me little benefit, a fact that has been confirmed in writing by Price Waterhouse Coopers.
The Lib Dem assertion that trust-ownership of my home leaves the taxman short makes no sense and is wrong. When a person’s primary home is sold, there is no Capital Gains Tax to pay. Not so the trust-owned home I occupy if it is sold for a gain. The taxman will therefore gain from these arrangements.
I no longer have non-dom status, a decision that I took before being approached by any newspapers, and which will apply as of a full year before the launch of this election.[18]

An article on Zac Goldsmith's tax status in The Guardian said that he "confirmed that he retained the non-domiciled tax status inherited from his billionaire father, Sir James Goldsmith. He said he had derived 'very few' benefits from being a non-dom and had already decided to give it up."[19]

Conservative Party donor

According to Times Online, "[t]he Conservative party hid donations of £40,000 from Zac Goldsmith, his brother Ben and two billionaire brothers in an apparent breach of the law."[20] The donations adding up to £40,000 in series of cash gifts to the party between 2005 and 2008 were registered with the Electoral Commission as coming from Unicorn Administration, a wealth management firm. However, the money had been paid by a number of donors including Zac Goldsmith, his brother Ben Goldsmith, his wife Kate Goldsmith, a member of the Rothschild family.[21]

There has been no suggestion that any of the donors or Unicorn Administration acted improperly, and all were eligible to provide funds. It is known that the Goldsmiths have been regular Conservative Party donors in the past and their names are lodged with the Electoral Commission. However, the Conservatives failed to tell the Electoral Commission, the official watchdog, even though electoral law makes it clear that the true source of funds must not be concealed.[22][23]

Expenses in the 2010 General Election

A joint investigation by Channel 4 News and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism raised questions over Zac Goldsmith's 2010 election campaign. The Electoral Commission spending limit for candidates in Goldsmith's Richmond Park constituency of £11,003 to spend on short campaign materials in the 23 days before polling day. Goldsmith’s expenses declaration says that he came £220 below this with a campaign total of £10,783. The investigation found that the Goldsmith campaign spent some £2,800 for 600 signs. According to the report:

When it came to declaring how much the campaign spent on these signs during the key campaigning period, the amount is reduced by 90 per cent – to just £262. This reduction helped to keep him under his legal spending limit. It appears he managed to do this by claiming half these costs were for another campaign – but he has not revealed which one. Costs are also reduced further by saying, for example, some signs were used before parliament was dissolved.

The investigation also found that:

A quarter of the costs of the signs – some £700 – was moved from Goldsmith’s own personal parliamentary campaign, onto the expenses of local Conservative candidates in the council election, despite the fact that they all appear to bear the face and name of Zac Goldsmith.

Political funding expert Professor Keith Ewing argued that ‘I would think it would be quite hard to see how it would be possible to argue that a poster which contains only the image of a candidate for a particular election could be said to be poster which is designed to promote the election of anyone other than the candidate in question.’ The report also quotes Tony Stafford from the Electoral Commission as saying ‘Certainly if you’ve got something that clearly identifies the candidate and encourages people to vote for the candidate then you’d call that a candidate return.’ Goldsmith’s team also spent over £2,000 on 200 blue “I back Zac” jackets for his campaigners the cost of them was reduced in his spending declaration by 90 per cent because the cost of the jacket was separated from the cost of the sticker. The investigation argued that:

According to the invoice that Channel 4 News has seen, the full cost of 200 of these was £2,168. Removing the cost of the jackets took more than £1,400 from his declared campaign spend, leaving £753. The Goldsmith team made further deductions by saying for example that he did not use all the “I back Zac” stickers, and that left him with a total declared campaign spend for these 200 jackets of just £170. Again, if Goldsmith was wrong to leave the cost of the jackets out of his declaration, he would be over his legal limit.

The campaign also spent over £14,000 on 272,000 campaign leaflets. This cost was defragged by claiming that he simply did not use 62,000 of them. This cut his spending declaration by over £2,500. The investigation consulted election expert Professor Justin Fisher about this and he argued that It would seem to me to be logical to claim for the ones they’ve ordered because these are materials for the purposes of the campaign. It also would be impossible to audit. You can audit the receipt for the items ordered, you can’t audit whether or not something’s been delivered.

Goldsmith’s election agent argued against the investigation saying that ‘We were scrupulous in ensuring that all our election expenses complied with both the letter and the spirit of Electoral Commission rules.’[24] Goldsmith himself described the investigation as 'sleazy journalism'[25]

Dirty mayoral campaign

Invoking the 7 July 2005 London bombings in a seemingly desperate attempt to avoid defeat in the 2016 London mayoral election, Goldsmith wrote in the Mail on Sunday on 1 May 2016:

“On Thursday, are we really going to hand the world’s greatest city to a Labour Party that thinks terrorists are its friends?”[26]

To which, Sadiq Khan tweeted in response:

@ZacGoldsmith's campaign is getting more desperate and divisive by the day.[27]

Monsanto edition of The Ecologist pulped by printers

Zac Goldsmith devoted the October 1998 edition of The Ecologist to exposé articles about Monsanto.

The day before the October issue was to be released, Goldsmith received an unexpected call. Penwells, The Ecologist's printer for the past 25 years, expressed concern about the content of the issue. Under British law, a printer can be held liable for distributing libellous material. Goldsmith assured Penwells that the new issue had been thoroughly checked. He reminded the printer that The Ecologist had never been sued in 29 years.

The following day, Penwells asked The Ecologist to send a letter to Monsanto's lawyers requesting that if the issue were considered libellous, Monsanto would agree to sue only the editors, editorial board, and owners. Monsanto refused to agree. The next day, Penwells shredded 14,000 copies of The Ecologist.

In the end, the edition was printed by another printer.[28]

Writings and publications on the LM network

Zac Goldsmith has written articles in mainstream newspapers exposing the links between Sense About Science and the LM network.

In 2003 Zac Goldsmith, in his role as editor of The Ecologist, published an article on Sense About Science and its links with the LM network:

  • Andy Rowell and Jonathan Matthews, "Strange Bedfellows," The Ecologist, May 2003, accessed 29 April 2010.

Resources

 

Employee on Wikispooks

EmployeeJobAppointedEnd
Carrie SymondsCampaign AdviserMay 2017June 2017

 

Related Documents

TitleTypePublication dateAuthor(s)Description
Document:Austerity has brought anguish and hardship – that is why I am fighting Richmond Park for LabourArticle7 November 2016Christian WolmarLabour's Christian Wolmar aims to replace Tory Zac Goldsmith as MP for Richmond Park
Document:Richmond Park prospective candidate: I would vote against Article 50 in ParliamentStatement4 November 2016Christian WolmarStatement by Labour Party prospective parliamentary candidate Christian Wolmar who aims to win the 2016 Richmond Park by-election
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References

  1. "Zac Goldsmith handed life peerage and keeps environment role"
  2. "Zac Goldsmith resigns as Foreign Office minister, citing Rishi Sunak’s lack of interest in environmental issues"
  3. "Zac Goldsmith: Tory minister named in Boris Johnson partygate interference report quits over after refusing to apologise"
  4. "Zac Goldsmith arrives @ #richmondpark count. Tells me the feeling is good; count going to wire but zac factor is a factor here", Paul Mason on Twitter
  5. "Elections: Labour's Sadiq Khan elected London mayor"
  6. "Zac Goldsmith's support for EU exit is another boost for Sadiq Khan"
  7. "Zac Goldsmith quits as MP over Heathrow decision"
  8. "UKIP backs Zac Goldsmith in Richmond Park byelection"
  9. "Richmond Park byelection: Tory Brexit voters switched to us, say Lib Dems"
  10. "Election Results 2017: Zac Goldsmith retakes Richmond Park"
  11. "How Zac Goldsmith Bought The Green Movement"
  12. Wheeler, Brian, "Interview: Zac Goldsmith", BBC News, 11 January 2006, accessed 29 April 2010.
  13. Woolf, Marie, "Tory Zac Goldsmith admits he is a non-dom" Times Online, 29 November 2009, accessed 29 April 2010.
  14. Wintour, Patrick and Andrew Sparrow, "David Cameron tells Zac Goldsmith to end 'non-dom' tax status" Guardian, 01 December 2009, accessed 29 April 2010.
  15. Porter, Andrew, "Zac Goldsmith gives up non-dom status after row" Telegraph, 03 December 2009, accessed 29 April 2010.
  16. Helm, Toby and Rajeev Syal, "Tory candidate Zac Goldsmith accused of avoiding £5.8m tax as non-dom" Guardian, 13 December 2009, accessed 29 April 2010.
  17. Helm, Toby and Rajeev Syal, "Tory candidate Zac Goldsmith accused of avoiding £5.8m tax as non-dom" Guardian, 13 December 2009, accessed 29 April 2010.
  18. Zac Goldsmith blog, "Zac's Tax Status", accessed 29 April 2010.
  19. White, Michael, "I'm non-domiciled but not a tax dodger, says Tory candidate Zac Goldsmith" The Guardian, 29 November 2010, accessed 29 April 2010.
  20. Woolf, Marie and Solomon Hughes, "Tories covered up cash donations from Zac Goldsmith" Times Online, 10 January 2010, accessed 29 April 2010.
  21. Prince, Rosa, "Zac Goldsmith donations 'improperly registered' by Tories" Telegraph, 10 January 2010, accessed 29 April 2010.
  22. Woolf, Marie and Solomon Hughes, "Tories covered up cash donations from Zac Goldsmith" Times Online, 10 January 2010, accessed 29 April 2010.
  23. Prince, Rosa, "Zac Goldsmith donations 'improperly registered' by Tories" Telegraph, 10 January 2010, accessed 29 April 2010.
  24. Bureau of Investigative Journalism, "Questions over Zac Goldsmith's election expenses" Bureau of Investigative Journalism, 15-July-2010
  25. BBC News, "Complaint over Tory MP Zac Goldsmith's election budget" BBC News, 15-July-2010
  26. "Zac Goldsmith criticised by former Tory minister Baroness Warsi over Sadiq Khan 7/7 London terror bus image"
  27. "Zac Goldsmith's campaign is getting more desperate and divisive by the day"
  28. Lilliston, Ben, "Shredding `The Ecologist' - printer feared libel suit from conglomerate" The Progressive, February 1999, accessed 29 April 2010.