“Zac is a principled person. He’s done it because he is fulfilling the promise he gave to his constituents and that’s an honourable thing to do.” Thus spake Labour shadow chancellor when Tory MP Zac Goldsmith resigned his seat in parliament in protest at the government’s decision to build a third runway at Heathrow. Not only did he resign from parliament, he resigned from the Tory Party, too, and stood as an independent. Gloriously, he has lost the by-election and his political career lies in ruins. It couldn’t happen to a nastier person.
Goldsmith’s defeat is a joyous victory for those of us who have recoiled at the hate that has triumphed this year following our calamitous decision to leave the EU. And the verdict of the voters of Richmond has effectively ended a very ugly political career.
Don’t forget that Goldsmith was involved in the overtly and ultimately failed racist campaign to win the London Mayoral election, all but suggesting that the victor Sadiq Khan was a card carrying member of ISIS and the friend of terrorists. I am not interested in hearing what a jolly good chap he is – this is just politics after all – because racism is racism is racism. If someone else actually ran and organised the campaign and turned it into pure racism, then so what? Being someone else’s puppet is no excuse.
I have no idea what the result means in terms of national significance. Goldsmith stood against the third runway but so did the Lib Dems. He stood for a hard Brexit in a constituency which voted 70% remain whereas the Lib Dems are either for a second referendum or a soft Brexit, depending on what day it is. My guess is a lot of Tories stayed at home and a few of them switched to the Lib Dems, but is only a guess. Goldsmith was nominally an independent, but really the candidate of the Conservative Party who stood aside to give him a free run and whose members campaigned for him and, more tellingly, Ukip, who also stood aside and told their supporters to vote for him. Good luck to the political experts in working that one out!
Hopefully, it’s a double whammy, the start of the fightback of hope against hate and a lightbulb moment for the increasingly out-of-depth PM Theresa May who must surely know that whilst the majority of the country voted for Britain to leave the EU, an even bigger majority opposes the hard Brexit to which the madmen and women of the hard right are taking us.
As ever, John McDonnell got it wrong. Goldsmith is just another machine politician who is prepared to employ the politics of hate to get what he wants. Goldsmith is neither “principled” or “honourable” and as someone who is also neither of these things, McDonnell probably realises that in his heart of hearts.
All in all, though, a rare good day in British politics. Hope triumphs. More please.
