Green leader Polanski faces internal rival in UK by-election
In the United Kingdom, Zack Polanski, leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, has faced internal party competition for the nomination in the Holborn and St Pancras constituency in London, previously represented by Keir Starmer. Camden Green councillor Hamza Chowdhury has also announced his intention to secure the party’s nomination.
Support for a local candidate
As The Guardian reports, the by-election has been scheduled for 8 October after Starmer formally resigned his seat as a member of parliament. Chowdhury wrote on Instagram that his candidacy was nominated by six other Green members of Camden Council. According to him, this means that seven of the party’s 10 representatives on the council oppose Polanski’s nomination.
Those supporting Chowdhury include Lorna Russell, leader of the Green group in Camden. The Greens are the official opposition to the Labour Party on this London borough council.
Chowdhury said that he lives in Camden and knows the problems faced by local communities, including broken lifts, uncollected rubbish, uncleared roads and long housing waiting lists. In his view, the constituency does not need an MP who arrives only during the election campaign, distributes leaflets and disappears after the votes are counted.
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Polanski’s position
Polanski announced his intention to run in the constituency on Thursday. Local party members are due to select a candidate later this week; according to the publication, they generally support Polanski’s participation in the election.
While campaigning in the constituency, Polanski said that if he wins, he will not move to Camden from his flat in Hackney in east London. He noted that he would be able to reach the constituency quickly by bicycle and hold regular constituency surgeries.
Polanski called the Greens outsiders in the contest for the constituency, where Starmer won the 2024 election by a margin of more than 11,000 votes. The vote will take place a week after the party conference, meaning that the final campaign weekend will fall when many Green activists are gathered in Brighton. The party has already sent campaigners to the constituency, seeking to repeat the campaign model that helped overcome a Labour majority of more than 13,000 votes in Gorton and Denton in Greater Manchester in February.
