Zack Polanski refuses to resign as Green leader following election defeat

Green Party leader Zack Polanski has stated he will stay in his post after losing the Holborn and St Pancras by-election to Labour, the BBC and Politico Europe reported. The BBC reported that Polanski is facing internal pressure to resign following the loss and a dispute over a party conference motion. He told BBC Breakfast that he would stay on as leader and had not questioned his position. [1][2][4]

According to Politico Europe, Labour candidate Sagal Abdi-Wali won the central London seat in the House of Commons with 12,292 votes. Polanski finished in second place with 8,928 votes, giving Abdi-Wali a majority of 3,364 votes. Politico Europe added that the by-election occurred after Keir Starmer resigned as an MP after being ousted as Prime Minister. [2]

The BBC reported that Vivien Lichtenstein, the leader of the Jewish Greens, called for Polanski to resign on Friday. Lichtenstein said it was a mistake for Polanski to avoid a debate regarding a party conference motion that defined Zionism as a form of racism. Two former Green leaders also stated that Polanski failed to demonstrate leadership during the dispute. [1]

As FTMQ Politics reported earlier, Green Party members previously passed a motion defining Zionism as a form of racism, a vote in which Polanski did not participate. Following that vote, more than a dozen Labour MPs referred the Green Party to the equality watchdog. [12]