He will take on Labour candidate Sadiq Khan next May in the battle to succeed Boris Johnson in City Hall.
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He also wants to protect and enhance London’s green areas.
Or perhaps that Party membership in London is down: but CCHQ has been insisting for the past two years that it is rising overall.
He said: “It’s certainly not going to be an easy fight”.
Goldsmith and Khan both represent parliamentary districts in London and have promised to resign their seats if elected to the mayoralty, which is Britain’s most powerful directly elected post and commands a budget of almost £18 billion ($27.3 billion).
Zac, real name Frank Zacharias Robin Goldsmith, has been announced as the Conservative candidate for London Mayor.
Goldsmith is a lawmaker and former editor of The Ecologist magazine from a prominent wealthy family. If you look at the votes cast in the most recent election that puts Labour considerably ahead, so we have got our work cut out.
The Prime Minister acknowledged that Mr Goldsmith had a rebellious streak but insisted “if you are mayor of London, you are your own man”.
Mr Goldsmith, the MP for Richard Park, won the Conservative nomination today after scooping 70.6% of the vote.
He told Channel 4 News he had sensed a “changing mood” within the party and added: “I would be astonished if the party or the Government comes out in favour of Heathrow expansion”.
Speaking after the announcment this morning, Mr Goldsmith said London had “come a long way” under Mr Johnson.
Mr Boff said: “It was a convincing win for Zac and we are all united behind him”. But that’s all for the good.
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She said: “Zac knocked on doors with me and was fantastic at engaging with people – I have total confidence he understands this area”. He then travelled the world, working for environmental think tanks in the USA and even spending time living in an ashram in India.
