Zac Goldsmith's campaign to be mayor overshadowed by a row over benefits cuts

Zac Goldsmith meets Network Rail workers at Northumberland Park Station in Tottenham Credit: PA

Zac Goldsmith's campaign to be London mayor was today overshadowed by a row over benefits cuts.

The Tory candidate and Richmond Park MP was forced to resign as patron of a disability charity in his constituency after backing cuts to the Employment and Support Allowance.

Richmond AID claimed the loss of £30-a-week by some claimants would have a 'severe and detrimental impact on the lives of disabled people'.

The charity, run by disabled people in Richmond upon Thames, demanded Goldsmith's resignation after he voted in Parliament in support of government policy.

Conservative London Mayoral Candidate Zac Goldsmith Credit: PA

Goldsmith claimed he had a good relationship with Richmond AID and would continue to work with the charity.