Zac Goldsmith banned from driving after being caught speeding four times in London in less than four months
11 January 2024, 15:37
Former environment minister Zac Goldsmith has been banned from driving after being caught speeding four times in London in less than four months.
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Lord Goldsmith pleaded guilty the four incidents at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Thursday. The driving offences took place between late April and early August last year. He was banned until mid-March.
The Conservative peer's four offences were:
- Driving along the Chelsea Embankment at 29mph in a 20mph zone on April 27
- Speeding at 46mph in a 40mph zone on the A316 in Twickenham on May 31
- Driving at 28mph on the Bayswater Road - which has a 20mph limit - on July 18
- Going at 47mph on the A316 again on August 3
Lord Goldsmith, who served as a junior environment minister from September 2022-June 2023, also faces three other driving offences, including one in Somerset.
The former Conservative candidate for London mayor was driving a hybrid electric Volkswagen Golf at the time of the offences in the capital.
District Judge Nina Tempia imposed an interim disqualification, banning Lord Goldsmith from driving until his sentencing at Westminster Magistrates' Court on March 18.
Lord Goldsmith, who did not attend the hearing, resigned from government last summer, sparking a war of words with Rishi Sunak.
James O'Brien on Zac Goldsmith's resignation
He said that he quit because of the Prime Minister's show of "apathy towards the environment".
But Mr Sunak hit back, claiming that Lord Goldsmith stepped down after failing to apologise for undermining the Privileges Committee in connection with its investigation into Boris Johnson's Partygate conduct.
