Greens celebrate local election gains despite series of Polanski gaffes - as leader says two-party politics is 'dead and buried'
The Green Party is celebrating a series of wins including their first London mayoralty as Zoe Garbett takes Hackney
The Green Party is celebrating a series of wins, including their first mayoralty in London as Zoe Garbett takes Hackney
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The Green Party appears jubilant at the results of the local election, which saw it take 116 seats and the historic win of the first Green Party mayor in London, with Zoe Garbett winning Hackney.
Speaking outside the count, Green Party leader, Zack Polanski said: “The two-party politics is no longer dying; it is dead and buried.”
This election represents the first major test of public opinion since Starmer took office, with votes for 136 local councils in England and devolved parliaments in Scotland and Wales.
It marks a significant blow to Starmer and confirmation of Labour’s fears ahead of the election. Before the vote, polling showed the Greens’ popularity had increased by 10 points, positioning the party as a significant challenge to Labour's London stronghold, according to More in Common.
Read more: Starmer promised unity but the reality is Britain is more divided than ever, writes Nick Ferrari
Many commentators have questioned how well the Greens would perform on election day, after the recent PR blunders of Mr Polanski which have seen his popularity dwindle.
In the recent Golders Green stabbings, in which two members of the Jewish community were attacked, Mr Polanski took to social media to criticise police for their handling of the incident.
Mr Polanski retweeted an X post accusing Met officers handling the incident of “repeatedly and violently kicking a mentally ill man in the head”, when he had already been tasered. He also incorrectly claimed that the suspect was handcuffed.
His comments were met with backlash from Sir Mark Rowley, the Metropolitan Police commissioner, who called his comments “inaccurate and misinformed” and warned they would “inflame tensions”.
The Green Party leader later apologised, but it was not without consequence – his popularity ratings dipped 14 percentage points in a week as a result of the controversy, according to a poll by More in Common.
He currently faces scrutiny over his handling of anti-Semitism after two local election candidates were arrested last week on suspicion of stirring up racial hatred, the Telegraph reported.
Mr Polanski has long been outspoken about the need for better protections for the Jewish community and publicly condemned incidents of anti-Semitism.
In a 2019 Facebook post, Mr Polanksi highlighted the “concerning” levels of anti-Semitism in the Green Party and pledged to get “a grip” on the problem, the Telegraph reported.
Mr Polanski previously faced criticism for claiming that hypnotherapy could lead to bigger breasts. He made the controversial remark to a journalist for The Sun in 2013, before entering politics.
When he announced his bid for party leadership, he was asked about the article and expressed remorse, saying that at the time he was “a young Londoner who was holding down four jobs”.
“I think I saw it as a way to talk about body image and work that can happen where people don’t go under surgery, but can actually feel better about themselves,” he said.
“What I’m careful about, though, is that that is not justification … I’ve apologised for it, and I stick by that apology.”
He later doubled down on the theory, in a recently resurfaced 2013 interview with BBC Radio Humberside, he told presenter Peter Levy: “Actually, increasingly more and more as I work with people, there’s starting to become anecdotal evidence, at least, of a growth in breast size”.
The Green Party leader also faced backlash for claiming he was a spokesperson for the British Red Cross while campaigning to be the party's deputy leader in 2022.
When grilled on the claim, he said he “used the wrong word” and confirmed that the post in question had been removed.
He went on to say that he had “hosted various fundraisers for the British Red Cross, and indeed I would go on stage and speak for them about the amazing work they do tackling humanitarian crises, on the climate crisis, and indeed, for refugees all around the world”.
He added, “I used the wrong word, and I accept that, but I would essentially take words on stage with me and speak.“It’s important, though, and I accept this, that they don’t support any political party, and I’ve made sure that’s been taken down.”