Zac Goldsmith

Zac Goldsmith

Zac Goldsmith (born 20 January 1975) is a British politician, ecologist, journalist and the green adviser to David Cameron. He was selected as the Conservative Parliamentary candidate for Richmond Park and North Kingston at an Open Primary In March 2007.

Background

Zac Goldsmith is the son of right-wing financier and eurosceptic James Goldsmith.

Affiliations

• The Ecologist
• Conservative Party
• JMG Foundation

Conflicts of interest

Non-domicile status

He admitted in November 2009 that he claimed off-shore non-domicile tax status, "enabling him to avoid huge sums of tax on his estimated £200m fortune" from his late father, Sir James Goldsmith. Since the news became public and David Cameron publicly told him to end it, he renounced his non-dom status in December 2009.

The Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Chris Huhne "has calculated that Goldsmith is likely to have avoided, at a conservative estimate, around £580,000 a year in UK taxes over the past decade as a result of being defined as a non-dom." Although Goldsmith dismissed Huhne's figures as "fantasy", he has not yet published his tax returns to prove that the "vast majority" of his income comes to the UK and is taxed there as he claims.

Conservative Party donor

According to Times Online, "[t]he Conservative party hid donations of £40,000 from Zac Goldsmith, his brother Ben and two billionaire brothers in an apparent breach of the law." The donations adding up to £40,000 in series of cash gifts to the party between 2005 and 2008 were registered with the Electoral Commission as coming from Unicorn Administration, a wealth management firm. However, the money had been paid by a number of donors including Zac Goldsmith, his brother Ben Goldsmith, his wife Kate Goldsmith, a member of the Rothschild family.

There has been no suggestion that any of the donors or Unicorn Administration acted improperly, and all were eligible to provide funds. It is known that the Goldsmiths have been regular Conservative Party donors in the past and their names are lodged with the Electoral Commission. However, the Conservatives failed to tell the Electoral Commission, the official watchdog, even though electoral law makes it clear that the true source of funds must not be concealed.

Writings and publications on the LM network

Zac Goldsmith has written articles in mainstream newspapers exposing the links between Sense About Science and the LM network.

• Zac Goldsmith, So much for 'Sense' About Science, The Guardian, 5 Jan 2010, accessed 29 April 2010
• Zac Goldsmith, Sense about Science?, The Ecologist, 18 Jan 2007, accessed 29 April 2010. Also published in The Mail on Sunday, 7 January 2007, archived here http://www.naturalmatters.net/article-view.asp?article=2884

In 2003 Zac Goldsmith, in his role as editor of The Ecologist, published an article on Sense About Science and its links with the LM network:

• Andy Rowell and Jonathan Matthews, Strange Bedfellows, The Ecologist, May 2003, accessed 29 April 2010

Resources

• Helm, Toby and Rajeev Syal, "Tory candidate Zac Goldsmith accused of avoiding £5.8m tax as non-dom," Guardian, 13 December 2009, accessed 29 April 2010.
• Porter, Andrew, "Zac Goldsmith gives up non-dom status after row," Telegraph, 03 December 2009, accessed 29 April 2010.
• Prince, Rosa, "Zac Goldsmith donations 'improperly registered' by Tories," Telegraph, 10 January 2010, accessed 29 April 2010.
• Wintour, Patrick and Andrew Sparrow, "David Cameron tells Zac Goldsmith to end 'non-dom' tax status," Guardian, 01 December 2009, accessed 29 April 2010.
• Woolf, Marie, "Tory Zac Goldsmith admits he is a non-dom," Times Online, 29 November 2009, accessed 29 April 2010.
• Woolf, Marie and Solomon Hughes, "Tories covered up cash donations from Zac Goldsmith," Times Online, 10 January 2010, accessed 29 April 2010.
• Zac Goldsmith, About Zac, accessed 29 April 2010.