Polanski faces Green revolt after Zionism vote and by-election loss
Green Party leader Zack Polanski is facing renewed criticism after members backed a motion declaring Zionism a form of racism and he lost the Holborn and St Pancras by-election. He says he will remain leader, but senior Greens are pressing him to address divisions over the motion.45
This brief is being refreshed as the reporting or market odds change.
TL;DR
- Polanski says he intends to stay, but criticism from former leaders and sitting MPs means his ability to unite the party remains in question.34
- Prediction markets put the chance of Polanski leaving by October 31 at 46.5% earlier on October 9, reflecting substantial uncertainty about his short-term future before the by-election result was reported.5
Still to come
- Will Polanski retain the Green leadership through October 31?
- Will senior Green MPs and party members seek to amend, reverse or clarify the conference motion?
The dispute escalated after former Green leader Caroline Lucas said Polanski should have attended the conference debate and voted on the motion, which also backs a single democratic Palestinian state across historic Palestine. Polanski had left the conference to campaign in the by-election. Lucas called the motion dangerous and divisive, but stopped short of calling for him to resign, saying she wanted to see how he responded in the coming days and weeks.12
The party’s internal rift has since sharpened. Four of its five MPs opposed the motion, and Green MP Adrian Ramsay has called for Polanski to work urgently with senior colleagues to address the crisis. After the by-election defeat, Polanski said he could continue as leader and described the motion as imperfect: he said he would have supported it with amendments but not in the wording members passed.345
The result and the leadership row now overlap: the motion had already complicated Polanski’s campaign, and the loss has added to pressure on his leadership. The party’s member-approved positions become official policy, though they are not necessarily included in a general-election manifesto. Polanski has said he wants all members to feel welcome, while Lucas and other critics want a clearer response to the vote.245
Earlier on October 9, prediction markets priced the chance that Polanski would leave the leadership by October 31 at 46.5%. That near-even expectation gives a sense of the immediate uncertainty, though it was recorded before the later-reported by-election defeat and is not evidence of what will happen. The next tests are whether Polanski can secure backing from senior MPs and whether the party takes steps to change or clarify its position.34
Sources
AI-generated from the linked reporting and prediction-market data. Market prices reflect traders’ expectations and can change.