Zack Polanski Vows to Stay as Green Leader After By-Election Loss

Zack Polanski says he will stay on as leader of the Green Party of England and Wales after finishing second in a London by-election and facing calls to resign from inside his own ranks, according to BBC News.

What happened in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election?

Labour's Sagal Abdi-Wali won the seat, previously held by former Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, with 45% of the vote, the BBC reported. Polanski took 33%. The Greens had hoped to capture the seat following a separate by-election win earlier this year, but the party's vote share still rose by 22 percentage points compared with the 2024 general election, according to the BBC's figures.

Why are Jewish Greens calling for Polanski to resign?

Vivien Lichtenstein, leader of the Jewish Greens, told Times Radio on Friday that Polanski should resign, calling it a "big mistake" for him to have skipped a floor debate at party conference on a motion declaring Zionism a form of racism. "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," Lichtenstein said, per the BBC.

Former Green leader Caroline Lucas made a similar criticism, saying Polanski should have attended the vote. Adrian Ramsay, a Green MP and former co-leader, declined to back Polanski when asked on the BBC's Politics East whether he should remain. "A lot depends on what happens in the days and weeks to come," Ramsay said, adding that Polanski "did not show leadership I would have been looking for" and that he is now working to reverse the motion.

What does the conference motion actually say?

The motion, passed by rank-and-file members and now official party policy, defines Zionism as an ideology supporting "an ethnonationalist Jewish state" and backs a "single democratic Palestinian state in all of historic Palestine," which would include modern-day Israel, the BBC reported.

How has Polanski responded to the criticism?

Polanski told BBC Breakfast he would "absolutely" stay on and said he had never questioned his position. He said he had been busy campaigning in north London rather than attending the conference vote, and confirmed Friday that he would not have supported the "imperfect" motion without amendment. He also said "the displacement and genocide of the Palestinian people is clearly underpinned by a racist ideology," according to the BBC. Several UN reports have accused the Israeli government of war crimes amounting to genocide in Gaza; Israel has repeatedly denied the allegations, the BBC noted.

Asked directly if he would quit, Polanski said: "Of course I can carry on as leader of the Green Party," adding, "Yes, I've taken a loss tonight but our movement is so much bigger than one election or one motion."

What happens next for the Green Party?

With Ramsay saying he is working to reverse the conference motion and Lichtenstein and Lucas both questioning Polanski's leadership, the dispute over Zionism language is set to continue inside the party even as Polanski insists he has no plans to step aside. The BBC reported no fixed timeline for any internal vote on his leadership.