Zack Polanski elected Green Party leader in landslide victory

Zack Polanski won a staggering 84.6 percent of the vote to become the new leader of the Green Party (Picture: Wikimedia Commons/Bristol Green Party)

Zack Polanski has won the Green Party leadership election by a huge majority—20,411 votes compared to 3,705 for the rival candidates Adrian Ramsay and Ellie Chowns.

Speaking as the results were announced, he referred to the Labour Party’s failed and broken politics that have “caused devastation and destruction and allowed Reform UK to swoop in”.

One of the first things he will do is meet with the UVW union, which represents largely migrant workers. He said, “Migrants are very much the backbone of this country and our communities will always work together.”

The winning candidates for deputy leader, Mothin Ali and Rachel Millward, have both also put forward a radical message.

Mothin is a pro-Palestine candidate from Leeds, who was recently subject to a racist attack. He spoke about how the far right is targeting all minorities, including migrants and trans+ people.

Polanski’s win, like the huge numbers of people signing up for Your Party, reflects the depth of anger in Britain over the genocide in Gaza. And the collapse in support for the Labour government.

Polanski has said that “our government is not just complicit but active participants” in the assault on Gaza.

He wants the Green Party to be an insurgent movement with a vision of anti-racism, social and climate justice.

And he is one of the few politicians willing to say that refugees are welcome. In July, he produced a widely shared campaign video calling out anti-migrant hatred.

Growing numbers of people are attracted to the Green Party—and Polanski’s leadership—as Keir Starmer’s Labour Party pushes ahead with austerity, attacks migrants and locks up environmental and Palestine protesters.

But the Green Party is not a socialist organisation. It has within it moderate and right wing environmental activists—including the alternative leadership candidates who are still MPs. They will assert huge pressure on Polanski to tone down his radicalism.

Will Polanski run candidates in seats where a Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana led party has a chance of winning? He has said he is open to a pact. But others in the Green Party will say it should stand everywhere.

And when the Greens have won councils, they have a record of voting through austerity.

The more central issue is that the Green Party, whoever is leader, prioritises an electoral strategy. Winning more progressive councillors and MPs can’t be a substitute for struggle in the streets and workplaces.