The knives were out for Zack Polanski before the votes were even counted – and a convincing defeat to Labour in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election will only intensify the questions surrounding the Green Party leader.
Polanski enjoyed a meteoric rise as Green leader after being elected a little over a year ago, with his brand of eco-populism – heavy on the populism – pulling up the party’s poll rating and sparking talk of being a genuine challenger to Labour or even a coalition partner after the next election.
But just as fast as he rose, Polanski’s star has faded in recent months, with his criticism of the way police arrested the alleged Golders Green attacker who tried to murder two Jewish people coinciding with the Greens’ poll rating starting to plummet.
Andy Burnham’s ascent to No 10 and his pivoting of Labour towards winning back progressive voters from the likes of the Greens has compounded Polanski’s woes.
But the Green leader has hardly helped himself, sparking infighting in the party by failing to stop members passing a party conference motion last week that declared that Zionism is a form of racism, sparking allegations of anti-Semitism.
Labour and Liberal Democrat activists in Camden have suggested the Greens’ decision to back the anti-Zionism motion cost them votes in the by-election, with one councillor saying people were “clearly angry” on the doorstep.
Amid the so-called “Burnham bounce”, Polanski may have had a better chance with his insistence that he can carry on as Green leader, and that 33 per cent of the vote is a good return for an insurgent party.
But the circumstances that have led to the defeat sparked questions over Polanski shortly after the polls closed. Former Green leader and party grandee Caroline Lucas saying he had failed to “show leadership” over the Zionism conference vote by failing to turn up after departing to carry out last minute canvassing in the seat he failed to win.
Lucas also refused to endorse Polanski continuing in the role, saying “let’s just see what happens”.
There is no doubt Polanski – who has held back from standing in other by-elections at a time when he was more popular – decided to run in Sir Keir Starmer’s former seat because he thought he could win.
His failure to do so will raise questions over whether he can continue as leader in a party already divided.
And the victory of Labour’s Sagal Abdi-Wali, a former child refugee from Somalia who overcame racist attacks to win with 45 per cent of the vote, will provide another boost to Burnham as he seeks to revive Labour’s fortunes and consign the Greens back to the political fringe.
It may leave Polanski drawing on the unlikely inspiration of Nigel Farage, who tried and failed to get elected seven times before eventually becoming Clacton MP in 2024.
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