Zac Goldsmith banned from driving for 12 months after speeding

Former environment minister Zac Goldsmith has been banned from driving for a year after he was caught speeding seven times last year.

The Conservative peer, 49, broke speed limits in his hybrid electric Volkswagen Golf on London roads in Paddington, Chelsea and Twickenham between April and November 2023.

He was also caught speeding on two motorways, most recently in December, Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard.

As he disqualified the Tory environmentalist from driving, District Judge Daniel Sternberg warned that drivers who speed “emit more harmful emissions” even in hybrid and electric cars.

The court heard that in April last year, Lord Goldsmith was caught driving at 29mph in a 20 zone on Chelsea Embankment, and in July he drove at 28mph in a 20 zone near Kensington Gardens.

In May, August and November of the same year, he broke the 40mph limit on the A316 in Twickenham by twice driving at 46mph and once at 47mph.

He was also caught driving at 62mph in a 50 zone at the M25 intersection with the M3 in December, and at 73mph between junctions 20 and 19 of the M4 in September – breaking a 50mph temporary speed limit.

Lord Goldsmith had been banned from driving since January, when an interim disqualification was imposed.

The former MP for Richmond Park, who unsuccessfully ran to be London mayor in 2016 before serving as a minister in Boris Johnson’s cabinet, did not attend the hearing.

Benjamin Waidhofer, defending, said Lord Goldsmith had shown “remorse” for his offending and is “not someone who is manifestly defying the usual speed limits”.

Having pleaded guilty to all of the offences, the peer was fined £5,500, and ordered to pay a surcharge of £2,000 and costs of £700.