“I will never, ever, vote Tory.” Except now maybe I might...

“I will never, ever, vote Tory.”
I’ve said this rather a lot over the years, but next year’s London Mayoral election poses a conundrum. Zac Goldsmith, the independent-minded, environmentalist Conservative MP for Richmond Park has thrown his hat into the ring for the Tory nomination. He ticks a lot of boxes for me that the Labour candidates don’t.
I’ll be blunt: if I had to choose tomorrow between Goldsmith and any of the hopefuls from my own Labour Party, I’d go for Goldsmith without hesitation.

Zac Goldsmith - hat now in the ring for London Mayor
So, why?
There are a few reasons. I would certainly never vote for a tribal Tory nor for one I had never heard of, but Goldsmith is neither.
First and foremost I like and respect his staunch opposition to the expansion of the sprawling monster that is Heathrow Airport (he has said he will resign the Tory whip and call a by-election if the government decides to go ahead). I was born and grew up under the Heathrow flight-path and have had respiratory problems ever since. Maybe they are not linked, but having an aircraft going over my head spewing aviation fumes every two minutes for eight or nine hours every day can’t have helped. Now where I live is under where Heathrow-bound aircraft sit in their holding patterns, often screeching over until past 11.30 at night - not great in summer when you've got your windows open. If this situation is not going to get better, at least let us not make it worse for many more people.
More generally, Goldsmith is a committed environmentalist. Now, detached from my distaste for the identity politics which dominates Labour politics, the environment is the biggest issue out there for me. We are progressively eating up our planet in the pursuit of more growth. Species are going extinct left, right and centre. It is about time we had someone somewhere in a major political position who gives a damn and can start to wield some influence against it. Goldsmith should do that; Labour’s candidates will say a few nice words but will continue the expansion of London into its surrounding environment as the population continues to explode. More urban sprawl is the only serious prospect they offer.
I’ve also admired Goldsmith's general independence of mind and respect for democracy, which is another issue on which Labour is weak (though the Collins reforms which let members of the public vote for leaders and Mayoral candidates for a fee of £3, is a big step forward).
As for Labour, what about the current candidates? I think the line-up is looking better than the leadership line-up, mostly down to the presence of David Lammy, who is the most impressive and convincing option for me. He is intelligent, thoughtful and independent-minded enough to appeal widely and do a decent job once in position. He has also been upfront about Labour’s need to appeal beyond inner London and areas with high ethnic minority concentration. But on the negative side he supports Heathrow expansion, continuing indefinite mass immigration and concreting over the Green Belt to provide enough homes for our rapidly expanding population to live in.

David Lammy - standing to be Labour's candidateSo, I find that on what are the touchstone issues for me personally, the potential Tory candidate holds more or less the same views as me (check out this on immigrationfor example) while even my favourite Labour candidate differs quite strongly.
[N.B. 10th June: In perhaps what is a harbinger of what is to come, Goldsmith's very sensible views on immigration have now been removed from his website. Thanks to Philip Duval for pointing out in comment below]

As for the other Labour candidates, Tessa Jowell as the female choice and Sadiq Khan as the male one have won most nominations from local parties so they must be the frontrunners.

Of these two I would favour Jowell above Khan, not least because of the latter’s staunch support for ethnic-based identity politics and his clear position as the candidate of Labour’s ‘machine’. He also doesn’t come across as particularly charismatic and I can't see him appealing much beyond Labour tribalists and client groups if put up against a decent Tory candidate. Jowell has many qualities and you would do well to find a nicer person in politics, but I can't help but feel that she is a voice from the past at a time when Labour needs to go somewhere new. (I do stand to be corrected on these points though).

Goldsmith is different and a much more interesting prospect. He has an opportunity to make an argument for quality of life over indefinite intensification, one which will not be easy to make. There will be plenty of pressure on him to dilute what he might want to say and do, not least from within his own Tory ranks and traditional Tory support in the City, from foreign zillionaires and the property industry. It cannot be a given that he will even win the nomination if these tensions come out in full view.
But he would be a powerful crossover candidate with potentially broad appeal. I hope he prevails and can at least make his case.