Zac Goldsmith Loses Richmond Park To Lib Dems… Again

Zac Goldsmith, the former Tory London mayoral candidate, has lost his seat of Richmond Park to the Lib Dems – again.

Goldsmith’s second loss to Sarah Olney in three years represents the Liberal Democrats’ first gain of the night.

He took 26,793 votes to Olney’s 34,559 with a high 79% turnout.

Goldsmith has now been in and out of parliament twice: he stepped down in December 2016 over the expansion of Heathrow, which he had vowed to oppose.

In the by-election that followed, he stood as an independent but was trounced by Olney for the Lib Dems. When Theresa May called the snap election in May 2017, he was accepted back to the Tories and won the seat back from her.