Zac Goldsmith MP has been appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and at the Department for International Development.
Conservative MP for Richmond Park, Mr Goldsmith was a candidate in the 2016 London mayoral election and a member of the Vote Leave campaign.
Previously, he announced his resignation as a Member of Parliament following the Government’s decision in October 2016 to approve the construction of a third runway at Heathrow Airport.
His resignation triggered a by-election in the Richmond Park constituency in which Goldsmith stood as an independent candidate. He was defeated by Sarah Olney of the Liberal Democrats.
After Theresa May called a snap general election in April 2017, Mr Goldsmith was reselected as the Conservative Party candidate for Richmond Park and won with a narrow majority of forty-five votes.
The appointment is part of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s cabinet reshuffle, which saw Michael Gove replaced by Theresa Villiers as Environment Secretary.
The reshuffle has also seen resources minister Therese Coffey promoted to Minister of State and the retention of George Eustice as Minister of State at Defra.
Thrilled to be asked by the PM to work across Defra & DfID to expand Protected Areas around our overseas territories, continue Britain’s leadership Vs the Illegal Wildlife Trade, make sure nature recovery is at the heart of UK Aid, & that we raise animal welfare standards at home
— Zac Goldsmith (@ZacGoldsmith) July 27, 2019