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Zac Goldsmith temporarily banned from driving after speeding four times

The former environment minister cannot drive until March 18.

Ted Hennessey
Thursday 11 January 2024 08:45 EST
Lord Zac Goldsmith has received an interim driving disqualification (Stefan Rousseau/PA)
Lord Zac Goldsmith has received an interim driving disqualification (Stefan Rousseau/PA) (PA Archive)

Former environment minister Zac Goldsmith has been temporarily banned from driving after he was caught speeding four times in London last year, including twice on the same road.

The Conservative peer, 48, cannot drive until mid-March when he will be sentenced for exceeding speed limits in a hybrid electric Volkswagen Golf on roads in Paddington, Chelsea and Twickenham between April and August 2023.

Lord Goldsmith, who has pleaded guilty to the four incidents, also faces three other driving-related offences, including one in Somerset, Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard on Thursday.

On April 27 last year, he was caught travelling along Chelsea Embankment at 29mph, despite the limit being 20mph, according to court papers.

Just over a month later, on May 31, the Tory environmentalist drove at 46mph on the A316 in Twickenham, which has a 40mph limit.

He was caught speeding on that same road on August 3, while driving at 47mph.

A month before the August incident, on July 18, Lord Goldsmith exceeded the 20mph limit on Bayswater Road, next to Kensington Gardens, while travelling at 28mph.

District Judge Nina Tempia imposed an interim disqualification, banning him from driving until his sentencing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on March 18.

Lord Goldsmith, who unsuccessfully ran to be London Mayor in 2016 before serving as a minister in Boris Johnson’s cabinet, did not attend the hearing.

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