Polanski vows to carry on as Greens leader after by-election defeat to Labour
Zack Polanski has vowed to carry on as Green Party leader after he failed to win a seat in Parliament in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election.
Mr Polanski was defeated by Camden Council leader Sagal Abdi-Wali, who retained the seat for Labour after former prime minister Sir Keir Starmer resigned.
She secured 45% of the vote to the Greens’ 33%, a majority of 3,364 but seeing a 13% swing to the Greens, whose vote share was up by 22.4%.
The vote came in a week that has seen Mr Polanski under pressure after Green members backed a motion declaring Zionism is racism, but he insisted he would stay on as leader.
“Of course I can carry on as leader of the Green Party,” he said when asked about a potential threat to his leadership after the loss.
“Of course, I wanted to win. No-one runs an election to lose,” he said, but added that people on the doorstep had been excited about his plans for rent controls, tackling the climate crisis and nationalising Thames Water.
“Of course, we didn’t get over the line, but the point here is that ultimately, I want to make sure those were the options that people have.
“So many people told me on the doorstep, so they want to give Andy Burnham a chance. Well, he’s got a chance now. Let’s see what he does with it.”
A former Green leader earlier suggested Mr Polanski could face a threat to his leadership if he lost.
Caroline Lucas, the three-time former Green Party leader who was its first MP, said people should “see what happens in the coming days and weeks” when asked about his future the previous evening on BBC Newsnight.
She pointed to Mr Polanski’s failure to take part in the controversial anti-Zionism motion on Sunday, saying he “should have been there and he should have voted”.
Mr Polanski did not directly answer when asked if he believed that Zionism is racism after the by-election result, but said: “The displacement of the Palestinian people, the genocide is clearly racist.”
He denied he had lost control of his party.
“I don’t think that’s true at all. I’ve got a party that was 55,000, 60,000 members when I was running for leader, it’s now 220,000.
“Any member is entitled to their opinion. We’re a democratic grassroots party.”
The adoption of the motion at the party’s conference makes it policy, despite the opposition of Ms Lucas and four of the party’s five MPs, but it does not mean it will necessarily appear in the future manifesto.
The north London constituency has been a Labour stronghold since its formation in 1983, held by Frank Dobson for 32 years and Sir Keir for 11.
Conservative candidate Ewan Cameron came in third in the by-election, followed by Reform and the Lib Dems.
The Greens conceded ahead of the official declaration but said the “huge swing” was an “incredible result”.
A party spokesperson said: “We are disappointed to miss out tonight but any ideas of a return to the cosy two-party system is just wishful thinking on the part of the establishment. We are here to stay and just getting started.
“The voters have delivered a message to the Labour Government today. They want real change; they want rent controls, they want to see an end to the privatised water rip-off; and they want to see justice for Palestinians.
“On the climate crisis, Labour will not have an easy political ride if they bring in new North Sea drilling.”
Ms Abdi-Wali said her victory was a testament to the success of diversity in the borough.
“I hope this moment also says something about who gets to belong, for people who look like me, I hope they see themselves reflected in this place and know that their path too belongs here. This is Camden, and this is Britain.”
She added: “I’ve watched people across Camden work to build communities where difference is not something to fear, but something to value. We cannot allow that work, built over generations, to be casually undone by those who seek to divide us.
“We have a responsibility to defend what we’ve built, and pass it on. Hope is not naive. Without hope there is nothing to build on, and nothing to build for.
“People need to believe that politics can make their lives better and that their communities can thrive and that tomorrow can be better than today.”
She added: “That is what this victory represents. Winning not by making people afraid of each other, but by bringing people together.”
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He’s toast, and so is the party I’m afraid. There’s no coming back from last week, at least 2/3s of their voters will drift away now. When I was a green party member, I said he will implode the party with hypocrisy and contradictions- hate to say it, but proved right. Hoping the likes of Sian Berry and Caroline Lucas setup something alternative
There’s already something alternative: the Lib Dems
An alternative to what? The last time anyone voted for them we ended up with the hated Tory austerity government, in which they took full and gleeful part.
They sold off their beliefs in a heartbeat, in exchange for a handful of ministerial cars. Don’t think they’d do it again? Just remember that their leader is one of those who served as a cabinet minister under David Cameron.
Never again.
I know. I was referring to the fact that Lucas and Berry represent the “Lib Dems on bikes” type of Green Party that many seem to favour
The coalition government ended over a decade ago, Nick Clegg is gone and not coming back. As a centrist party, the Lib Dems are better placed to take votes away from the Conservatives and Reform than Labour or the Greens, particularly among moderate centre-right voters. Whatever criticisms we have of them, I would much rather see them as the UK’s third-largest party than Reform.
FYI I vote Plaid, and would only consider voting Lib Dem if I lived in rural England.
Yes it did. But the current Lib Dem leader was a minister in that coalition and has never repented for anything they did.
Shame he lost, the BBC will be insufferable about it for awhile now
His car crash Radio 4 interview this morning has been a 2026 political highlight.
Ita shame he didn’t participate in his own party’s vote on zionism is racism.
It is definitely racism. The souls of 80000 dead semitic Palestinians including 20,000 children can attest to that.
No right minded, straight thinking person could ever support or condone what USrael has been doing over the years, not just recently. And there is some doubt about who murdered who in 2023. Wholesale Murder of civilians, white phosphorous bombs, (biggest and best bombs in all the world) destroying whole infrastructures of ancient peoples. Anybody who says I am anti Semitic – well they can think again. The most anti Semitic people in the world must be Israel with their ongoing treatment of Lebanon, the nation who as far as i know has the highest, 90%, DNA Semitic connectivity to… Read more »
You appear to be suggesting 7/10 didn’t happen or is somehow in doubt? You also appear to be advocating for DNA purity? Very 1930s. Oh and Iran funds Hamas and Hezbollah who may just have carried the odd attack or two?
The doubt is whether Hamas was entirely responsible, and given USrael’s track record of un/truthfulness – babys in ovens etc.- well, what more can i say – but it leads me not to believe very much of what they say. I couldnt give two damns about DNA purity, 1930s style or otherwise!. Read the Bible to find about the Semitic people, maybe? I am a pacifist, against wars, etc. but its sufferers who are being murdered and tortured, day in day out, are bound to stand up to it. I probably would and so would you. From their point of… Read more »
Nothing wrong with the Jews having a country in their ancient homeland, especially after centuries of pogroms, The Holocaust etc (you forget to mention them).
Zack was stuck between a rock and a hard place as soon as Starmer resigned the seat. He did the right thing in my opinion by standing but was always facing an uphill battle in a safe Labour seat and with Burnham still hanging on to his honeymoon period. He speaks a lot of sense on the majority of issues not least when he said it’s up to the people of Wales to decide their future not Westminster. Finally not much said by the Britnat press about the 38.6 percent dismal turnout for a seat with Westminster right on its… Read more »