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Richmond Park by-election defeat sends message from London to the UK Richmond Park by-election sends message from London to the UK
(35 minutes later)
A bizarre suburban byelection has been rescued from meaninglessness by 20,510 Richmond Park electors who have put Liberal Democrat Sarah Olney into the House of Commons and given erstwhile Tory pin-up boy Zac Goldsmith an almighty boot in the Brexits. The billionaire’s son who was once the environmentalist facelift of David Cameron’s rebranded Conservatives and who began the year with hopes of becoming London mayor will end it twitted, tarnished and politically unemployed.A bizarre suburban byelection has been rescued from meaninglessness by 20,510 Richmond Park electors who have put Liberal Democrat Sarah Olney into the House of Commons and given erstwhile Tory pin-up boy Zac Goldsmith an almighty boot in the Brexits. The billionaire’s son who was once the environmentalist facelift of David Cameron’s rebranded Conservatives and who began the year with hopes of becoming London mayor will end it twitted, tarnished and politically unemployed.
Everything about the contest was unreal. Goldsmith resigned as the affluent, Thames-side seat’s Conservative MP in protest at the Conservative government’s decision to expand capacity at Heathrow airport despite regretting having promised to do so when initially winning the seat in 2010. The party he has formally left in order to see that pledge through indulged him in his act of reluctant principle by not standing a pro-expansion candidate against him. Everything about the contest was unreal. Goldsmith resigned as the affluent, Thames-side seat’s Conservative MP in protest at the Conservative government’s decision to expand capacity at Heathrow airport despite regretting having promised to do so when initially winning the seat in 2010. The party he has formally left in order to see that pledge through as an independent indulged him in his act of reluctant principle by not standing a pro-expansion candidate against him.
They weren’t alone. Olney and Labour’s candidate Christian Wolmar didn’t want a bigger Heathrow either, leaving the way fatally clear for a contest Goldsmith had intend to be a referendum about aircraft noise in south-west London to instead became one about the even bigger and more polluting din that is the aftermath of the EU ballot held in June. Goldsmith, like his father before him, is a dedicated Leaver in one of the most Remain-leaning quarters of Remain City. Ukip stepped aside to help him win. He was in trouble from the very beginning. They weren’t alone. Olney and Labour’s candidate Christian Wolmar didn’t want a bigger Heathrow either. The Greens opted out to assist the Lib Dem. The way was left fatally clear for a contest Goldsmith had intend to be a referendum about aircraft noise in south-west London to instead became one about the even bigger and more polluting din that is the aftermath of the EU ballot held in June. Goldsmith, like his father before him, is a dedicated Leaver in one of the most Remain-leaning quarters of Remain City. Ukip stepped aside to help him win. He was in trouble from the very beginning.
Goldsmith’s EU view wasn’t the only reason the anti-airport man was cruising for a bruising. He’d fought his wretched mayoral campaign claiming that the greatly increased majority he’d secured in 2015 showed that his constituents valued his independent spirit and personal style. Yet the air war part of that mayoral campaign was the nastiest example of negative tactics the capital has seen since the notorious 1983 Bermondsey byelection - won by the Liberal Democrats, by the way - and the most sly and pernicious example of dog-whistle politics the capital has yet endured.Goldsmith’s EU view wasn’t the only reason the anti-airport man was cruising for a bruising. He’d fought his wretched mayoral campaign claiming that the greatly increased majority he’d secured in 2015 showed that his constituents valued his independent spirit and personal style. Yet the air war part of that mayoral campaign was the nastiest example of negative tactics the capital has seen since the notorious 1983 Bermondsey byelection - won by the Liberal Democrats, by the way - and the most sly and pernicious example of dog-whistle politics the capital has yet endured.
The Tory muck machine fed its media conduits - primarily the Evening Standard and the Sunday Times - guilt-by-association non-stories designed to stir Londoners’ anxieties about Islamist terror to the disadvantage of Labour’s candidate, the Muslim Sadiq Khan. Called out, Goldsmith became indignant. His defence was that he’d never claimed Khan himself held extreme views but that his past support for causes also backed by alleged fanatics brought his judgment into question.The Tory muck machine fed its media conduits - primarily the Evening Standard and the Sunday Times - guilt-by-association non-stories designed to stir Londoners’ anxieties about Islamist terror to the disadvantage of Labour’s candidate, the Muslim Sadiq Khan. Called out, Goldsmith became indignant. His defence was that he’d never claimed Khan himself held extreme views but that his past support for causes also backed by alleged fanatics brought his judgment into question.
But it was Goldsmith to whom London voters assigned guilt by association. Rather than Khan being “linked” with extremists in the majority’s minds, Goldsmith became linked with dirty politics. This was the direct antithesis of all he claimed he stood for, and it did not go unnoticed in Richmond Park. The issue came up on the doorstep. Challenged about it, Goldsmith stuck to his stubborn denials. A politician long hailed for his grace and purity has become indelibly soiled.But it was Goldsmith to whom London voters assigned guilt by association. Rather than Khan being “linked” with extremists in the majority’s minds, Goldsmith became linked with dirty politics. This was the direct antithesis of all he claimed he stood for, and it did not go unnoticed in Richmond Park. The issue came up on the doorstep. Challenged about it, Goldsmith stuck to his stubborn denials. A politician long hailed for his grace and purity has become indelibly soiled.
For Olney and her party, victory will feel like the next step on a national comeback trail in a part of the capital used used to be an orange stronghold. For London, it is a local reassertion of its people’s disquiet over the turbulence triggered by the Brexit vote and the ugly mentalities it has unleashed in the country as a whole. A freak of a byelection that risked being pointless has ended up as a restatement of some of the capital’s most distinctive values. It won’t be the last time the city makes its feelings known. For Olney and her party, victory will feel like the next step on a national comeback trail in a region of the capital that used to be an orange stronghold. For London, it is a local reassertion of its people’s disquiet over the turbulence triggered by the Brexit vote and the ugly mentalities it has unleashed in the country as a whole. A freak of a byelection that risked being pointless has ended up as a restatement of some of the capital’s most distinctive values. It won’t be the last time the city makes its feelings known.
Dave Hill is the author of Zac versus Sadiq: the Fight to Become London Mayor, which can be bought from the Guardian Bookshop or directly from the author.Dave Hill is the author of Zac versus Sadiq: the Fight to Become London Mayor, which can be bought from the Guardian Bookshop or directly from the author.