Green Party elects new leader Zack Polanski - 'If you're not a billionaire, I'm on your side'

The Green Party has unveiled the left-wing candidate Zack Polanski as its new leader today after a landslide victory.

Frontrunner Mr Polanski, who was the deputy Green leader and a member of the London Assembly, won 20,411 votes, compared to 3,705 votes for his rival candidates Adrian Ramsay - the current co-leader - and Ellie Chowns who ran on a joint ticket.

In his victory speech, the leader said the Greens have "an absolute moral responsibility in this moment" to stand for bold politics as he welcomed "thousands of new members" to the party.

In a message to Keir Starmer, he added: "We will hold this Labour Government to account. Because when we look at Keir Starmer and what this Government have been doing, whether it's the two-child benefit cap, the disability cuts, the genocide in Gaza, my message to Labour is very clear: we are not here to be disappointed by you, we are not here to be concerned by you, we're here to replace you."

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Rivals had accused Mr Polanski of using "polarising" language during the contest that only appeals to a "narrow segment" of the electorate. But before voting closed among Green Party's 68,500 members, he declared: "They say I'm polarising but can't name a single example. So let me give them one, it's the 99% versus the 1%. If you're not Shell or a billionaire, I'm on your side."

Mr Polanski has previously said he is open to pacts at the next election, with the new party being set up by ex-Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and the MP Zarah Sultana.

The new socialist party, which has attracted over 650,00 sign-ups on its website, has the holding name "Your Party" before a founding conference later in the autumn. Speaking in the summer, Mr Polanski said: “I’m open to working with anyone who’s up for challenging the far-right threat of Reform and this unpopular Labour government.

“Exactly what this might possibly look like with regard to any sort of arrangement is a bridge I’ll cross further down the line and will be in the hands of Green party members. The new party doesn’t exist yet, and 2029 is some way off."

Voting ran until August 30, with anyone who had joined the party by the end of July eligible to cast a ballot. Unlike other parties, the Greens hold leadership elections every two years.

This year's contest was to have been held in 2024, after Mr Ramsay and his co-leader Carla Denyer were elected for an extraordinary three-year term in 2021, but the poll was delayed in order to avoid a clash with the general election. Ms Denyer decided not to stand for re-election in May this year.

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