Zac Goldsmith banned from driving after being caught speeding four times

Former environment minister quit as minister last summer, accusing Rishi Sunak of ‘apathy’ towards climate change

Former environment minister Zac Goldsmith has been banned from driving after he was caught speeding four times in London last year, including twice on the same road.

The Conservative peer, 48, cannot drive until mid-March when he will be sentenced for exceeding speed limits in a hybrid electric Volkswagen Golf on roads in Paddington, Chelsea and Twickenham between April and August 2023.

Lord Goldsmith, who has pleaded guilty to the four incidents, also faces three other driving-related offences, including one in Somerset, Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard on Thursday.

On April 27 last year, he was caught travelling along Chelsea Embankment at 29mph, despite the limit being 20mph, according to court papers.

Just over a month later, on May 31, the Tory environmentalist drove at 46mph on the A316 in Twickenham, which has a 40mph limit.

He was caught speeding on that same road on August 3, while driving at 47mph.

A month before the August incident, on July 18, Lord Goldsmith exceeded the 20mph limit on Bayswater Road, next to Kensington Gardens, while travelling at 28mph.

District Judge Nina Tempia imposed an interim disqualification, banning him from driving until his sentencing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on March 18.

Lord Goldsmith, who unsuccessfully ran to be London Mayor in 2016 before serving as a minister in Boris Johnson’s cabinet, did not attend the hearing.

In June last year, Lord Goldsmith quit as a minister blaming Rishi Sunak’s “apathy” toward climate change and warning lack of action will hurt Tory votes at the next general election.

In his resignation letter, he wrote to Mr Sunak: “Before you took office, you assured Party members, via me, that you would continue implementing the Action Plan, including the Kept Animals Bill and measures like ending the live export of animals for slaughter, banning keeping primates as pets, preventing the import of shark fins and hunting trophies from vulnerable species.

“But I have been horrified as, bit by bit, we have abandoned these commitments - domestically and on the world stage. The Kept Animals Bill has been ditched, despite your promises. Our efforts on a wide range of domestic environmental issues have simply ground to a standstill.

“More worrying, the UK has visibly stepped off the world stage and withdrawn our leadership on climate and nature. Too often we are simply absent from key international fora.

“Prime Minister, having been able to get so much done previously, I have struggled even to hold the line in recent months.The problem is not that the government is hostile to the environment, it is that you, our Prime Minister, are simply uninterested.”