London mayoral election 2016: Eurosceptic Conservative candidate Zac Goldsmith refuses to align with campaigns to leave the European Union
Despite saying he has "always" been a eurosceptic, Conservative candidate for mayor of London Zac Goldsmith would not commit this morning to campaigning for Britain to leave the European Union.
Appearing on the BBC's The Andrew Marr Show, Goldsmith said he believes "that the European institutions are profoundly undemocratic, unaccountable and far too centralised".
But the Tory candidate to replace Boris Johnson in City Hall added that he "wouldn't describe [himself] as a head-banger on this issue" and would not rule out backing the UK's membership in the EU.
Goldsmith has been the MP for Richmond Park since 2010. His father, Sir James Goldsmith, was a well-known eurosceptic, even forming a new political party, the single-issue Referendum Party, in the mid-1990s to campaign for a referendum on Britain's EU membership.
The younger Goldsmith, however, said today that he has "deliberately prevented [himself] from taking a view" on the forthcoming referendum until Prime Minister David Cameron completes his renegotiation efforts.
Cameron has promised an in/out vote by the end of 2017, and is looking to secure a reform deal in Brussels at next month's European Council meeting.
"I want to judge the final offer as a whole," Goldsmith said today, adding, "I will take a view based on the national interest."
Goldsmith avoided criticising Cameron's ongoing efforts, saying: "He is doing as good a job as he is able to do at the moment."
"If he succeeds, this is going to benefit the whole of Europe, not just the UK," Goldsmith added.