Zac Goldsmith faces tough battle in Richmond Park as ministers blocked from helping him

At risk: Zac Goldsmith
PA
18 November 2016
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Zac Goldsmith has just a handful of allies to fight for his London seat after Cabinet ministers were blocked from helping him, it was revealed today.

The former London mayoral candidate has been left without the support of a single minister after quitting his Richmond Park seat over Heathrow expansion to run as an independent.

Even friend Boris Johnson, an opponent of a third runway, must stay away.

Cabinet advice before the Heathrow announcement said members could not campaign against the Government, and a source said helping Mr Goldsmith would be seen as “incompatible”.

Tory HQ, however, is demanding MPs travel to Sleaford in Lincolnshire at least three times before the by-election there on December 8, sparked by the resignation of MP Stephen Phillips.

Mr Goldsmith is also facing a lack of electoral data which was carefully compiled by the Conservative Party. It is understood MPs are having to knock on every door to rally support as previous supporter data is off limits.

So far Theresa Villiers, Tania Mathias, James Berry and Jacob Rees-Mogg have visited Richmond Park. A spokesman said Mr Goldsmith “has built up his campaign from scratch”.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in