GOLDSMITH’S MORAL CRUSADE

“Very rich men who go into politics almost invariably turn out to be duds,” said Peter Oborne in the Daily Mail. Particularly when their wealth is inherited, such people tend to be “spoilt brats, selfindulgently playing politics because they think they have a God-given right to rule”. Zac Goldsmith is a prime example. Last week he resigned as Conservative MP for Richmond Park and North Kingston, in protest at the Government’s plans to expand Heathrow Airport, and will now fight the by-election as an independent. Of course, most MPS are not wealthy enough to risk their careers by flouncing out. And by doing so, Goldsmith has betrayed his party – reducing Theresa May’s majority to ten “at a time when she needs every last Tory vote in the Commons”.

I fail to see how Goldsmith’s wealth disqualifies him from taking a principled stand, said Ian Birrell in the i newspaper. But I do think his “stunt” is fairly pointless. The Tories have wisely declined to field a candidate, recognising that voters “facing more noisy flights over their homes would give them a drubbing”. So Goldsmith’s only real opponent, the Liberal Democrat candidate Sarah Olney, is someone who opposes the third runway equally strongly – and whose party has always done so. In fact, while posing as a “green crusader”, Goldsmith may find that he is cast as the villain of the piece. Richmond Park voted strongly in favour of remaining in the EU, while Goldsmith is a life-long Eurosceptic. Voters may also recall how Goldsmith’s mayoral campaign sought to stir up anti-muslim feeling against his Labour rival Sadiq Khan – “the dirtiest kind of dog-whistle politics”. All in all, there’s a good chance of a Lib Dem victory.

Perhaps, said Andrew Rawnsley in The Observer. Some had hoped that the by-election might be a testing ground for a “progressive alliance” of the Left. Three influential Labour MPS suggested that their party should not field a candidate, to maximise the Lib Dems’ chances. But this sensible idea “received a predictably icy response from the party leadership”. The Richmond Greens also rejected a plea from leader Caroline Lucas to stand aside. “So there will be Labour and Green candidates contesting Richmond Park, even though they don’t stand a hope of winning.” By contrast, the Tories are allowing local activists to campaign for Goldsmith, and UKIP has actually endorsed him. “If the Right knows one thing, it’s how to cooperate,” said Zoe Williams in The Guardian. As usual, the Left remains hopelessly divided.