Earlier in the day The Huffington Post reported that Conservative members in Richmond Park had received an email from the local party stating:
You will no doubt have seen the announcement in the media this morning that the government has given the green light for expansion at Heathrow.
Zac has contacted the association to let us know that he intends to honour his pledge to resign and force a by-election in Richmond Park.
The chairman has called an emergency meeting for the executive council for Wednesday evening to discuss the turn of events and will issue a full statement to members on the association’s position.
Following the Government’s catastrophic Heathrow announcement, I will be meeting my constituents later today before making a statement.
— Zac Goldsmith (@ZacGoldsmith) October 25, 2016
So here we go again!
* Mary Reid is a contributing editor on Lib Dem Voice. She was a councillor in Kingston upon Thames, where she is still very active with the local party, and is the Hon President of Kingston Lib Dems.
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26 Comments
We could win this one, I think a trip down south is in order 🙂
Wonder if the Tories will stand a candidate? If they do and split the tory vote between themselves and Zac we could romp home – especially as Labour are in favour of Heathrow.
I am not a member of the party, but since Brexit and now with the Heathrow decision I am despairing of the Tory government. Reintroducing grammar schools is not going to compensate for the misery the Heathrow expansion is going to inflict, and the cost of Brexit is only beginning to be seen.
We can win here.
The question is of course whether or not the Tories put up a candidate against Goldsmith and the other parties.
This has been coming for some time so I hope we hit the ground running in Richmond Park some time ago….
What is the point of Goldsmith resigning and forcing a by election where he will stand and probably get back in, despite our very best efforts. By Elections cost a lot of public money, cause school closures. It is empty gesture politics, taking the public for a ride, is it from somepne who has so much money he does not understand all this. Better from his point of view if he just carried on as the MP protesting as he went along.
theakes: What makes you so sure Goldsmith would get back in? If the Tories stand an official candidate, then the Tory vote will be split. And we Lib Dems will see to it that voters do not forget his disgraceful racist London Mayoral election campaign. Many people voted for him because they thought that, despite his party label, he was some sort of small-L liberal. That election shows how gravely mistaken they were.
“Many people voted for him” I mean as MP for Richmond Park, of course!
The Lib Dems are already odds on (4/5) to win the by-election. However, being the favourites brings different pressures and takes away some of the impact if you win. I’m not sure how it’s going to turn out, but it will be interesting. I’ve backed the Tories at 10/1 for a hopeful punt, but it’s hard to see how the Lib Dems can lose in an area that was 72% remain in the referendum.
This is more of a by-election worth going for than the Witney one. Zac Goldsmith ran a poor London mayoral campaign, backed brexit and the Lib Dems are anti-Heathrow expansion too.
Personally I don’t see what’s so bad about Heathrow expansion, but I don’t live near there! Boris compares it to Paris and New York, but Paris Charles De Gaulle airport is about the same distance from the centre as Heathrow. Same with New York’s JFK, from looking at Google Maps.
Now official – he has resigned
@Gareth Wilson: “… Labour are in favour of Heathrow.” Is that right? Does that apply to their local party, the London party and/or the national party? Or are they in disarray (which wouldn’t surprise me)?
Richmond voted heavily Remain, whereas Goldsmith is Brexit, so that will count against him. We do have a chance here, especially if Theresa May stands a Tory candidate.
If Theresa May doesn’t stand a candidate against Goldsmith she’ll come across as weak and risk opening the door for pro-EU Tories to do the same thing if Brexit becomes too hard to bear.
Tories not contesting by election.
The Labour Mayor of London opposes a third runway at Heathrow. I can understand local people being against it, especially for those who live in Harmonsworth, but if it was that bad why are they building more houses in the area ? They would not do that if they could not sell them. If you live in the West of England or the Midlands and need to get a plane form London then Heathrow is much more convenient than the other London airports and certainly better than the proposed Boris Island, which according to some people is subject to regular mists.
I think this could be a difficult by election for the Liberal Democrats because they share Goldsmith’s views on Heathrow expansion and he might be seen as the real thing but Brexit might just swing it. The whole thing seems to be a complete waste of time and money.
I personally support the expansion of Heathrow in this manner, what are my chances of campaigning there without pissing off the entire constituency?
Labour is split as usual. McDonnell on C4 News speaking against expansion, probably because he’ll lose half of his constituency under the tarmac. He believes Labour will take an anti position. But they have no chance in Richmond. The bogey is Zac and whether he can bring out his personal vote. Maybe he won’t stand in which case I see Tories heavily beaten. But if he does he could out-poll everyone.
This is an election the prospects for which , by our party should not be talked up. Goldsmith is going to stand unopposed and win by any level of logic, he has a 23,000 majority !
Sarah Olney now on The Daily Politics show on BBC 2.
Reason does not always prevail, however, with no official Tory, there is likely to be no candidate who represents the Tory’s plans for extending Heathrow. In which case the candidate most closely identified with the Tories will be Goldsmith himself.
A stronger opposing voice on this issue has to be a non-Tory, moreover by the Tories not standing, the by-election should be seen to be an utter sham. Goldsmith re-elected would signal that there is dissent over Heathrow, but not so much as to reject the Tory.
The Lib Dems need to paint Zac as someone who while opposing Heathrow as the Lib Dems do will vote for Brexit, NHS cuts and cuts to the local Council.
The Lib Dems can also add in his disgraceful Mayoral campaign.
Edit: opposing Heathrow EXPANSION
Martin: you assume that the by-election will only be fought on the issue of Heathrow. While Goldsmith would like it that way, it isn’t going to happen. The Lib Dems aren’t going to let it happen: we’ll be fighting on other issues such as Brexit, the government’s record (Goldsmith being the de facto pro-government candidate, whatever his position on Heathrow), and Goldsmith’s character (particularly wrt his dirty campaign for London Mayor), among other things. The issue of Heathrow airport expansion cannot be considered in isolation, and voters tend not to vote on single issues anyway.
Lorenzo: What do you mean “unopposed”? Lib Dems will be opposing him. And a 23,000 majority is nothing in a by-election in the right circumstances.
Sarah Olney said that normal processes for a by-election will be followed. She did not now about other possible Liberal Democrat candidates.
Martin: No. John Healey, the Labour MP on the Daily Politics, said that Labour will definitely put up a candidate. Other Labour MPs, such as Lisa Nandy, have written that Labour should not.
He personally supports Heathrow expansion. He does not know what Jeremy Corbyn thinks on the issue and said that they “had only just started to debate it”, which caused some surprise.
Did it not come up in either of The Labour Party’s two recent leadership elections?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Healey_(politician)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisa_Nandy
Typo, sorry.
She did not know about other possible Liberal Democrat candidates.
Tory MP Greg Clark (Tunbridge Wells) a cabinet member, said that ‘planes wold be taking off from the new runway in 2015-2016. After further questioning he said 2015-2026.
He also said that the purpose of the by-election is to elect an MP for Richmond Park, causing some merriment in the studio and beyond.
The fact that Labour have no clear position on this issue is extraordinary. I listened to their Transport spokesman in parliament the other day, and I couldn’t discern any clear message. Their mayor says one thing, their Business spokesperson says another; the local MP (and shadow chancellor) weighs in, the leader is silent. Just amazing.