Zac Goldsmith, Tory MP for Richmond Park, and a leading campaigner against Heathrow expansion is to run for Mayor of London and is already the favourite.
Mr Goldsmith received the overwhelming backing of his constituents to make a bid to be the next London mayor.
He balloted voters in his Richmond Park constituency, in South West London, to ask for their consent.
The MP sent out 77,071 ballot papers and received 19,890 back, a turnout of 25.8%. The response was:
- YES: 15,802 (79%)
- NO: 3,569 (18%)
- Don’t Know: 503 (2%)
- Spoiled Ballots: 16 (<1%)
Mr Goldsmith, is strongly opposed to Heathrow expansion, and is now expected to be the Conservative party candidate to replace Boris Johnson in the election in 2016.
The current Mayor, Boris Johnson, is a fierce opponent of Heathrow expansion. Mr Johnson is now also an MP and is widely expected to be one of the main candidates to be the next Tory leader when David Cameron steps down.
Last month, John Ball, Editor of PassengerSelfService.com, spoke with Mr Goldsmith about the upcoming decision by the Airports Commission on a new London runway. Mr Goldsmith was as passionate as ever in his opinion and was certain that the argument against Heathrow had been won.
He said that in the event of a decision for a new runway at Heathrow that there was a campaign already organised to oppose it. The campaign would be of a level not seen before in the UK.
The Airports Commission is expected to deliver its final decision in the next few weeks.
Campaign shows noise from Heathrow flight paths
Earlier in June, Mr Goldsmith and Mr Johnson were the leaders in a launch of a campaign that shows just how much of London and how many people would be affected by noise and air pollution by an expanded Heathrow.
David Cameron in Richmond
The current Tory Prime Minister, David Cameron, promised in a campaign rally in Richmond when he looking for votes to become PM, that there would be no 3rd runway at Heathrow. He said “no ifs, no buts, no third runway”.
PassengerSelfService.com is based in Richmond and John Ball was about five metres away from David Cameron when he made that promise.
Mr Cameron has not been seen in Richmond since he founded the Airports Commission.
Boris Johnson enthusiatic about Stansted
This evening, in a live Q & A with about 1500 Londoners, the current Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, made clear what he would think of a decision for Heathrow. Boris has always favoured a new four runway airport to the east of London, but he opened up the possibility of making better use of Stansted.
Stansted is a north of London and is very under used. Crucially it has a direct train link from the airport to Liverpool Street, right in heart of the City of London, the financial capital of Europe.
