Richmond Park and North Kingston MP Zac Goldsmith has stayed quiet in the face of growing criticism over his “racist” and “disgusting” campaign as he returns to his constituency having failed in his bid to become London Mayor.
Zac Goldsmith with Greater London Authority member Tony Arbour
The Conservative candidate, whose campaign concentrated largely on his rival Sadiq Khan sharing platforms with those he described as “extremists”, has not been interviewed since his electoral defeat last Friday.
Labour’s Sadiq Khan won the race to replace Boris Johnson as mayor having received 1,310,143 votes to Mr Goldsmith’s 994,614 – becoming the first Muslim mayor of a major Western capital.
Friday, May 6: AS IT HAPPENED: Sadiq Khan elected new London Mayor after beating Zac Goldsmith
Friday, May 6: What next for Zac Goldsmith? Richmond Park and North Kingston MP defeated by Sadiq Khan in London mayoral race
Saturday, May 7: Sadiq Khan pledges to be a 'mayor for all Londoners' after victory in City Hall
Some senior Tories, including leader of the GLA Conservative group Andrew Boff, accused Mr Goldsmith of running the party’s relationship with Muslim voters.
He said: “Those bridges that have been built, a few of them have been blown up by this campaign. A lot of us on the ground are going to have to spend a lot of time re-establishing those links. I don’t want us to do this in London again, it’s done real damage.”
Mohammed Amin, chairman of the Conservative Muslim Forum, branded Mr Goldsmith’s campaign “disgusting”, saying it has “probably increased our risks of suffering terrorism”.
Writing for ConservativeHome, he said: “I could not develop the motivation to do a single days campaigning for Zac after January, because I was disgusted with the tone of his campaign and his repeated, and risible, attempts to smear Sadiq Khan.”
But Tony Arbour, who was re-elected as south-west London’s Greater London Assembly member on Friday, has defended Mr Goldsmith.
He said: “I have never heard Zac say any of the things he is being accused of. My confidence in Zac grew as his campaign went on.”
Mr Goldsmith was rushed out of City Hall after his defeat last Friday and despite requests from this paper has yet to comment on the accusations.
Mr Goldsmith did not reply to a request for comment and has not been interviewed by the media since his defeat.
Fellow Kingston MP James Berry said: “Past experience of Labour governments and mayors has not been a happy one for outer London boroughs like Kingston, and I hope Sadiq bucks that trend.
“London’s loss is our gain because we won’t lose Zac as an outstanding local MP.”
- Got a story? Call the newsdesk on 020 8722 6315 or sned an email to jonathan.mitchell@london.newsquest.co.uk
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