Polanski vows to stay on as Green leader as criticism mounts
Polanski insists he will remain Green leader after Holborn defeat
Constantvpn.com – Zack Polanski has said he will continue as leader of the Green Party despite losing the Holborn and St Pancras by-election and facing increasingly public criticism over the party’s new policy on Zionism.
Labour’s Sagal Abdi-Wali won Thursday’s contest with 45% of the vote, ahead of Polanski on 33%. While the result left the Greens short of a hoped-for breakthrough in a constituency formerly represented by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, the party’s share rose by 22 percentage points compared with the 2024 general election.
Speaking after the result, Polanski rejected suggestions that the setback should prompt him to step down. He argued that the party’s wider campaign and membership base should not be judged solely through one election or one disputed conference decision.
“Yes, I’ve taken a loss tonight but our movement is so much bigger than one election or one motion.”
When asked whether he could remain in post, he replied that he could continue leading the party.
Pressure over the Zionism motion
The by-election followed a difficult week for Polanski, centred on a motion approved by Green Party members at the party conference in Brighton. The measure became official policy after being passed by the membership.
It described Zionism as an ideology that supports an “ethnonationalist Jewish state” and supported the creation of a single democratic Palestinian state across historic Palestine, including the territory of present-day Israel.
Polanski did not attend the vote, saying he was campaigning in north London. He later said he would not have backed the motion in its existing form, calling it imperfect and saying it would have required amendments before he could support it.
His response has dissatisfied critics from different parts of the party. Some longstanding Green figures believe he should have taken a clearer position sooner, while some supporters of the motion have also been frustrated by his refusal to give it public backing.
One internal critic said Polanski risked losing trust across both sides of the dispute. The central political challenge is that he now leads a party whose formal Middle East policy he has indicated he would not personally have endorsed without changes.
Calls for resignation
Vivien Lichtenstein, leader of the Jewish Greens, said Polanski should resign. She described his decision to avoid debate around the conference motion as a serious error and questioned his engagement with Jewish members of the party.
“I don’t know which Jewish members of the party he’s been working with – it certainly hasn’t been with the Jewish Greens committee.”
Former Green Party leader Caroline Lucas also criticised Polanski’s handling of the vote. She said he should have been present when members considered the motion and described its contents as dangerous and fundamentally flawed.
Asked whether he ought to resign, Lucas did not issue an immediate demand for his departure. She said the coming days and weeks would reveal what happened next, noting that Polanski had been heavily occupied by the by-election campaign.
Lucas later softened the tone of her intervention, praising Polanski for having transformed the party and expressing hope that he could now help resolve the major issues confronting it, including its internal structures.
Questions over Israel and Palestinian rights
Polanski faced repeated questioning about whether he believed Israel had a right to exist. His answer focused on equal rights and on his opposition to state oppression, apartheid and genocide.
“I don’t believe any state has the right to oppress or to commit apartheid and certainly not genocide on another people.”
Pressed for a direct yes-or-no reply, he said he wanted Israelis and Palestinians to have equal rights, adding that Palestinians do not currently enjoy equality.
He has argued that the displacement and genocide of Palestinians are underpinned by a racist ideology. Several United Nations reports have accused the Israeli government of war crimes amounting to genocide in Gaza, allegations Israel has consistently denied.
The exchange illustrates why the dispute has become more than an internal procedural argument. Questions of language, policy and political representation have placed the Green leadership under scrutiny at a time when the party is seeking to convert growing electoral support into parliamentary gains.
A mixed result for the Greens
The Holborn and St Pancras result delivered both disappointment and evidence of progress for the Greens. Polanski did not win the seat, and Labour retained it with a clear margin. But the increase in the Green vote share showed that the party had become a more substantial force in the constituency than it was at the last general election.
The contest had been seen as an opportunity for the Greens after a by-election success earlier in the year. Instead, it has left Polanski managing two connected pressures: explaining a high-profile electoral defeat while restoring confidence after a divisive policy decision.
For now, his standing among grassroots members may protect him from an immediate leadership challenge. Yet the coming period is likely to test whether he can bring together members who disagree sharply over the party’s position on Israel, Palestine and Zionism, while maintaining the campaign momentum reflected in the Holborn vote.
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