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Zac Goldsmith is the Tory candidate for London mayor: now let the battle of ideas begin Zac Goldsmith is the Tory candidate for London mayor: now let the battle of ideas begin
(21 days later)
Zac Goldsmith, a good looking lad who got kicked out of Eton for possessing cannabis and thinks we should be kind to trees, has been named Conservative candidate to run for London mayor. I shouldn’t tease. Politician opponents like him, he seems neither mad nor weird, and his fellow Tories believe he has the right combination of personality, policy and derring-do to woo a city that’s been mostly swinging Labour’s way lately.Zac Goldsmith, a good looking lad who got kicked out of Eton for possessing cannabis and thinks we should be kind to trees, has been named Conservative candidate to run for London mayor. I shouldn’t tease. Politician opponents like him, he seems neither mad nor weird, and his fellow Tories believe he has the right combination of personality, policy and derring-do to woo a city that’s been mostly swinging Labour’s way lately.
They could be right. Like most respectable London Tories, Goldsmith, who won 71% of the “selectorate” vote against three other candidates, is both an economic and a social liberal – a default market forces man whose famous financier dad and fellow Eurosceptic Sir James was a Maggie Thatcher fan, but also a subscriber to those metropolitan social values some Tories elsewhere still despise. He voted for gay marriage and won’t have to grit his teeth when “celebrating diversity” in a city where 100 languages are spoken in almost all of its 32 boroughs.They could be right. Like most respectable London Tories, Goldsmith, who won 71% of the “selectorate” vote against three other candidates, is both an economic and a social liberal – a default market forces man whose famous financier dad and fellow Eurosceptic Sir James was a Maggie Thatcher fan, but also a subscriber to those metropolitan social values some Tories elsewhere still despise. He voted for gay marriage and won’t have to grit his teeth when “celebrating diversity” in a city where 100 languages are spoken in almost all of its 32 boroughs.
Related: London mayoral race: is Zac Goldsmith a 'proper Tory'?Related: London mayoral race: is Zac Goldsmith a 'proper Tory'?
It is the standard wisdom that to win City Hall you have to be a maverick, a fighter for London’s interests who is willing to dissent from your national party line. Labour’s Ken Livingstone, the first of the capital’s “executive” mayors, created that mould – he defied Tony Blair even before he got the job, running and winning as an independent and later fighting Gordon Brown through the courts over financing the London Underground.It is the standard wisdom that to win City Hall you have to be a maverick, a fighter for London’s interests who is willing to dissent from your national party line. Labour’s Ken Livingstone, the first of the capital’s “executive” mayors, created that mould – he defied Tony Blair even before he got the job, running and winning as an independent and later fighting Gordon Brown through the courts over financing the London Underground.
His successor Boris Johnson has also been hailed as a rebel too, though his deviations have been tiny by comparison and their significance over-inflated by a political media hopelessly obsessed with his ambition to become Conservative leader and his rivalry with David Cameron. Johnson’s has been a tame, compliant mayoralty whose main achievements have been completing projects he did not begin and whose whose oversold innovations have underwhelmed.His successor Boris Johnson has also been hailed as a rebel too, though his deviations have been tiny by comparison and their significance over-inflated by a political media hopelessly obsessed with his ambition to become Conservative leader and his rivalry with David Cameron. Johnson’s has been a tame, compliant mayoralty whose main achievements have been completing projects he did not begin and whose whose oversold innovations have underwhelmed.
Goldsmith has been careful to praise Johnson to the skies – a fiver says they’ll make a joint appearance at Tory conference next week – but he has signalled possible major breaks with the outgoing mayor’s approach in two important areas. Goldsmith has been careful to praise Johnson to the skies – a fiver says they’ll make a joint appearance at Tory conference next week – but he has signalled a possible major break with the outgoing mayor’s approach in the important area of house building and land development in general.
One is on house building and land development in general at a time when London’s population is growing fast and the pace and type of change is generating resistance and disquiet. Goldsmith has said that development should be done “with communities”, not to them – an important principle, especially where the imposition of stupid tall buildings and the “regeneration” of council-owned housing estates are concerned. There’s wide agreement that utilising publicly-owned land is the key to boosting housing supply. The vital battles, though, are about how this is done, who gains and who decides. London’s population is growing fast and the pace and type of change is generating resistance and disquiet. Goldsmith has said that development should be done “with communities”, not to them – an important principle, especially where the imposition of stupid tall buildings and the “regeneration” of council-owned housing estates are concerned. There’s wide agreement that utilising publicly-owned land is the key to boosting housing supply. The vital battles, though, are about how this is done, who gains and who decides. Let’s wait and see.
The Tory candidate has hinted that he might expand the London congestion charging zone, which Johnson halvedThe Tory candidate has hinted that he might expand the London congestion charging zone, which Johnson halved
The second way in which Goldsmith might reverse the Johnson direction of travel is over road pricing. A former editor of The Ecologist magazine with well-known environmentalist sympathises, the Tory candidate has hinted that he might expand the London congestion charging zone, which Johnson halved, with a view to improving air quality. If he gets that kite to fly it will be in the face of strong opposition from his own side: some London Tories, notably several on the London Assembly which holds mayors to account, loathe the “c-charge” with the same intensity as many Tory MPs loathe the EU. It would be a good policy. Let’s wait and see.
A proper contest can now begin between Goldsmith, the Liberal Democrats’ capable and experience Caroline Pidgeon, Sian Berry representing a buoyant Green party, Ukip’s Peter Whittle and Goldsmith’s main rival, Sadiq Khan for Labour. Khan will be a formidable opponent. He is confident, canny and full of energy. In the fortnight since becoming the Labour candidate he’s been securing his defences, shooting enemy foxes and conducting raids behind party lines.A proper contest can now begin between Goldsmith, the Liberal Democrats’ capable and experience Caroline Pidgeon, Sian Berry representing a buoyant Green party, Ukip’s Peter Whittle and Goldsmith’s main rival, Sadiq Khan for Labour. Khan will be a formidable opponent. He is confident, canny and full of energy. In the fortnight since becoming the Labour candidate he’s been securing his defences, shooting enemy foxes and conducting raids behind party lines.
This Muslim man from Tooting will stick up for London’s Jewish community and London’s gay people, just in case you were assuming otherwise. This “soft left” Fabian who was heavily endorsed by London’s union chiefs nonetheless loudly insists that business has to thrive in the capital if its proliferating populace is going to get work and enjoy opportunities. Goldsmith is green? He’ll be verdant. Jeremy Corbyn? Sometimes we’ll agree, other times we won’t, says Khan. He’ll be a Londonist first and a Labourite second, if needs be.This Muslim man from Tooting will stick up for London’s Jewish community and London’s gay people, just in case you were assuming otherwise. This “soft left” Fabian who was heavily endorsed by London’s union chiefs nonetheless loudly insists that business has to thrive in the capital if its proliferating populace is going to get work and enjoy opportunities. Goldsmith is green? He’ll be verdant. Jeremy Corbyn? Sometimes we’ll agree, other times we won’t, says Khan. He’ll be a Londonist first and a Labourite second, if needs be.
With no “Good old Boris” and no “Bad old Ken”, the campaign this time could be less about love-hate celebrities and, just maybe, more about policies. What a blessing that would be. Mayors lack the powers they should have, but wield more than is often assumed. The candidate who wins next May will have to bring them to bear on enormous challenges, many of them the consequences of the city’s magnetism and booming success: a fraught transport network desperate for more capacity; a shortage of secure, affordable homes; huge cuts to police resources; a stubbornly high rate of poverty. Meanwhile the city’s political landscape is shifting as its demographics evolve, with some parts of Inner London becoming less red, and some of its suburbs less blue. London’s triumphs are to be savoured, but its problems are as complex as they are huge. Let the battle of ideas begin.With no “Good old Boris” and no “Bad old Ken”, the campaign this time could be less about love-hate celebrities and, just maybe, more about policies. What a blessing that would be. Mayors lack the powers they should have, but wield more than is often assumed. The candidate who wins next May will have to bring them to bear on enormous challenges, many of them the consequences of the city’s magnetism and booming success: a fraught transport network desperate for more capacity; a shortage of secure, affordable homes; huge cuts to police resources; a stubbornly high rate of poverty. Meanwhile the city’s political landscape is shifting as its demographics evolve, with some parts of Inner London becoming less red, and some of its suburbs less blue. London’s triumphs are to be savoured, but its problems are as complex as they are huge. Let the battle of ideas begin.