Zac Goldsmith, the multimillionaire Conservative Party candidate, came close to buying The Independent in the late summer after holding talks with executives from the struggling newspaper’s owner Independent News & Media.

The discussions could have led to the Goldsmith family, including Zac’s brother Ben and sister Jemima Khan, taking control of a title that is officially not for sale. However, The Independent is under such financial pressure that its publisher is considering all options.

After “a couple of months” of talks, in which Simon Kelner, the managing director of the title, was closely involved, it is understood that Zac Goldsmith and fellow family members decided not to proceed in the light of the newspaper’s financial position.

Sir Anthony O’Reilly, Independent News & Media chief executive, was aware of the discussions, although it is not thought that they had progressed to the point where a firm offer was made. However, the idea was that the Goldsmiths would have paid more than a nominal sum.

Zac Goldsmith was felt to be a good match for The Independent because of his environmental credentials, even if his membership of the Conservatives did not match the left-leaning newspaper’s politics. The Goldsmiths also own The Ecologist, a specialist Green publication, which Zac edited until he became the Conservative parliamentary candidate for Richmond Park.

Mr Kelner and Mr Goldsmith are friends, sharing a similar outlook. In 2001, Mr Goldsmith ironically presented President Bush withThe Ecologist’s “Environmental Steward of the Year” award, saying at the time: “While he is hated by many in the environmental movement, he is in fact our saviour. He has put lead in the Green pencil.”

The middle child of three from Sir James Goldsmith’s third marriage, Zac, at 33, is one of the principal inheritors of his father’s billion-pound fortune. Educated at Eton, he was expelled at the age of 17 after cannabis was allegedly found in his room. He never went to university, starting work at The Ecologist, then owned by his uncle. It is not clear how the Goldsmiths would have been able to make a substantial investment to support The Independent, the fourth-selling upmarket title in London.

Instead, Independent News & Media is poised to announce a string of redundancies at its loss-making flagship paper as it battles with a 10 per cent decline in advertising revenue. The newspaper is expected to lose more than £10 million this year.

The cutbacks could come as soon as today and a 10 per cent cut in the workforce ofThe IndependentandThe Belfast Telegraph, the company’s other UK newspaper, which is also suffering from the downturn, would mean that more than 90 jobs would go from a total workforce of 935.

Further job cuts in the newspaper business will be hinted at on Thursday when Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) reports annual results, its first under Martin Morgan, the new chief executive. DMGT is not expected to give an exact figure on the job losses, but the total is likely to run into hundreds. Associated Newspapers, the DMGT division that owns theDaily Mailand theLondon Evening Standard, employs 4,700 according to its most recent annual report.

A spokesman for Zac Goldsmith declined to comment. Mr Kelner also declined to comment.

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