Zac Goldsmith

Frank Zacharias Robin Goldsmith, Baron Goldsmith of Richmond Park, (born 20 January 1975) is a British politician, life peer and journalist serving as Minister of State for Overseas Territories, Commonwealth, Energy, Climate and Environment since 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, he was its candidate at the 2016 London mayoral election and was Member of Parliament (MP) for Richmond Park from 2010 to 2016 and 2017 to 2019. Ideologically characterised as having liberal and libertarian views, he is known for his support for environmentalism and localism.

Born in London into the Goldschmidt family, the son of billionaire businessman and financier Sir James Goldsmith, he was educated at Eton College and the Cambridge Centre for Sixth-form Studies. In 1998, his uncle Edward Goldsmith made him editor of '' The Ecologist'', a position he retained until 2007. Goldsmith was appointed Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Quality of Life Policy Group in 2005, co-authoring its report published in 2007. Goldsmith was placed on the Conservative A-List of potential candidates in 2006 and, in March 2007, was selected through an open primary to contest the constituency of Richmond Park against incumbent Liberal Democrat MP Susan Kramer. At the 2010 general election, he was elected to Parliament winning the seat with a majority of 4,091 votes.

At the 2015 general election, Goldsmith was returned to the Commons with a majority candidate for the 2016 election for mayor of London, which he subsequently lost to Sadiq Khan of the Labour Party. Goldsmith announced his resignation as an MP following the government's decision in October 2016 to approve construction of a third runway at Heathrow Airport. His resignation triggered a by-election in the Richmond Park constituency in which Goldsmith stood as an independent candidate. He was defeated by Sarah Olney of the Liberal Democrats with a majority of 1,872 votes. After Theresa May called the 2017 general election, Goldsmith was reselected as the Conservative Party candidate for Richmond Park and won with a narrow majority of 45 votes.

Goldsmith was made Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment and International Development on 27 July 2019 and was promoted to Minister of State with the right to attend Cabinet on 10 September 2019. He was defeated at the 2019 general election, again by Sarah Olney, with a majority of 7,766 votes. After the election, Boris Johnson awarded Goldsmith with a life peerage, making him a member of the House of Lords and allowing him to retain his ministerial position. On 13 February 2020, he acquired additional responsibility for the Pacific. After Liz Truss became Prime Minister in September 2022, Goldsmith became Minister of State for Asia, Energy, Climate and Environment, later being reappointed by Rishi Sunak with new responsibilities for overseas territories and the Commonwealth.

Early life and career

Goldsmith was born on 20 January 1975 at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in Chelsea, London. He is the middle child of Sir James Goldsmith, a member of the Goldsmith family of German Jewish and French descent, and his third wife, the Anglo-Irish aristocrat, Lady Annabel Vane-Tempest-Stewart, the daughter of The 8th Marquess of Londonderry. Goldsmith has stated "I was brought up by my father to identify very strongly as Jewish." He was raised at Ormeley Lodge in Ham with his siblings, Jemima and Ben. He is half-brother to Robin and India Jane Birley, his mother's children from her first marriage. As a child, he was an avid reader of naturalist Gerald Durrell's works and developed a committed passion for David Attenborough's wildlife documentaries. He later recalled, "He was my hero, and it was his work that made me fall in love with the natural world". His ecological interests were nurtured further when his father gave him a copy of Helena Norberg-Hodge's book '' Ancient Futures'', with a note saying: "This will change your life".

Goldsmith was educated at four independent schools: King's House School in Richmond and The Mall School in Twickenham, followed by Hawtreys School, near Great Bedwyn in Wiltshire, and Eton College in Berkshire; he was expelled from Eton after drugs were found in his room. Goldsmith later said of the event "Cannabis was found in my room. I was guilty throughout my time at school, but on this one occasion I was innocent. But it seemed pointless at the time to put up any resistance. I learned my lesson, I think you could say." He went on to achieve four A-Levels at Cambridge Centre for Sixth-Form Studies.

Goldsmith travelled throughout the world with the International Honours Programme (courtesy of his uncle Edward Goldsmith), including to Thailand, New Zealand, Mexico, Hungary and Italy. Goldsmith lived in California for two years, working at first for the think tank ''Redefining Progress'' from 1995 to 1996, and later as a researcher for Norberg-Hodge's International Society for Ecology and Culture (ISEC) during 1996–98. While working with ISEC, Goldsmith travelled to India, spending a short time on an ashram

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