Live updates
NewsHub

Why is Zack Polanski trending?

Updated

Zack Polanski is drawing attention across 3 news outlets right now. The reports below are the current coverage, newest first.

The coverage

Zack Polanski calls for three-year cap on rent price increases in Green party conference speech – UK politics live
PoliticsThe Guardian

Zack Polanski calls for three-year cap on rent price increases in Green party conference speech – UK politics live

The Green party is holding its largest-ever conference, while its leader runs as a candidate in the Holborn and St Pancras byelection Zack Polanski also insisted his authority as leader of the Green party of England and Wales does not depend on winning next week’s Holborn and St Pancras byelection , amid suggestions that the party’s popularity has peaked. Polanski, who is trying to take Keir Starmer’s former seat from Labour, described the contest as “probably 50/50 right now” and “really on a knife edge”. This will be our biggest and most exciting Green party conference ever, coming on the back of a year of unprecedented membership growth and extraordinary electoral success. Greens have turned hope into electoral wins – in councils, boroughs, in mayoral elections and with our exciting breakthrough in Gorton and Denton. Continue reading...

Polanski says he does not need to win ‘50/50’ byelection to stay Green leader
PoliticsThe Guardian

Polanski says he does not need to win ‘50/50’ byelection to stay Green leader

Exclusive: Party leader says outcome of ‘knife edge’ vote in Keir Starmer’s former seat will not affect his position UK politics live – latest updates Zack Polanski has said his authority as leader of the Green party of England and Wales does not depend on winning next week’s Holborn and St Pancras byelection, amid suggestions the party’s popularity may have peaked. Polanski, who is trying to take Keir Starmer’s former seat from Labour, described the contest as “probably 50/50 right now” and “really on a knife edge”. Continue reading...

‘Watermelons’: Zack Polanski and the rise of the ‘green outside, red inside’ eco-populists
PoliticsThe Guardian

‘Watermelons’: Zack Polanski and the rise of the ‘green outside, red inside’ eco-populists

Author Russell Warfield argues the Green leader’s brand of politics is not new but has evolved in the party over time Watermelons: the term used to describe the members of the Green party of England and Wales who are green on the outside and red on the inside. People in this faction are environmentalists but bleed socialist ideologies. Of the roughly 160,000 people who have flocked to the party since Zack Polanski became leader last year, most are thought to be in this camp, drawn to a political space on the left that they see as vacated by the Labour party. Continue reading...

It’s easy to ignore the Lib Dems, but they could soon hold the balance of power | Rafael Behr
PoliticsThe Guardian

It’s easy to ignore the Lib Dems, but they could soon hold the balance of power | Rafael Behr

Ed Davey’s strategy is meant to build a ‘firewall’ of MPs to prevent Reform UK entering government. The stakes are high if he gets it wrong No politician craves obscurity, but it is better to be unknown than despised. That is consolation for Liberal Democrats, gathered in Brighton for their annual conference, fretting about Ed Davey’s low profile and wondering whether a more prominent leader would hoist their flagging poll ratings. Renewal by decapitation is a concept that has succeeded twice this parliament for other parties. Labour’s fortunes were transformed when Andy Burnham entered No 10. The Greens enjoyed a polling surge last year when Zack Polanski was elected leader. In the fidgety culture of British politics, Davey’s six-year reign feels like an aeon . But the experience of other parties has little to teach the Lib Dems. Continue reading...

Polanski request to postpone Greens’ conference to focus on byelection refused by party
PoliticsThe Guardian

Polanski request to postpone Greens’ conference to focus on byelection refused by party

Exclusive: Leader understood to have wanted to concentrate on Holborn and St Pancras campaign in London but executive committee voted against plan Zack Polanski requested that the Greens’ ruling executive committee postpone the party’s imminent annual conference so they could focus on the Holborn and St Pancras byelection but was refused. While party officials say the formal request came from staffers worried about diluting resources by staging a conference a week before Polanski tries to win Keir Starmer’s former Commons seat, the Guardian understands the party leader wanted this to happen. Continue reading...

Greens urge Zack Polanski to take stance on proposed policy declaring ‘Zionism is racism’
PoliticsThe Guardian

Greens urge Zack Polanski to take stance on proposed policy declaring ‘Zionism is racism’

Exclusive: The Green leader has not spoken publicly about the motion, which is likely to be debated at the party’s conference in October The Greens are pushing Zack Polanski to take a stance on a potential party policy stating “Zionism is racism”, with some fearing it could alienate Jewish supporters if it was passed. Polanski, who leads the Greens in England and Wales, has not spoken publicly about the motion, which came top of a members’ vote of policy motions to be debated at the party conference in Brighton at the start of October, and is thus almost certain to feature. Continue reading...

Greens just four points behind Labour in urban areas, poll reveals
PoliticsThe Guardian

Greens just four points behind Labour in urban areas, poll reveals

Exclusive: UK’s Green parties could take 40 seats if result replicated at next election, according to Labour-linked thinktank The Greens are just four points behind Labour in urban constituencies across the UK, putting them within touching distance of taking as many as 40 seats if the result was replicated at the next election, according to new polling by a Labour-linked thinktank. The survey by ThinkLabour, which has extensive links to Andy Burnham’s government, finds that urban voters have moved in large numbers towards the UK’s Green parties since the 2024 general election. The research highlights the challenge Labour faces in holding on to the Holborn and St Pancras seat in the face of a challenge from Zack Polanski, the party leader in England and Wales, at next month’s byelection. Continue reading...

North Sea gasfield decision likely delayed until after Holborn and St Pancras byelection
BusinessThe Guardian2 outlets

North Sea gasfield decision likely delayed until after Holborn and St Pancras byelection

Greens accuse Labour of hiding position to avoid criticism before contest, in which Zack Polanski is standing A decision on approving the controversial Jackdaw gasfield in the North Sea is to be delayed until later this autumn, with the Greens accusing Labour of hiding their position before the crucial Holborn and St Pancras byelection. Miatta Fahnbulleh, the energy secretary, had been poised to give her recommendation to approve the Jackdaw field off the coast of Aberdeen next week . Continue reading...

People ‘incensed’ by North Sea plans can vote Green in byelection, says Zack Polanski
PoliticsThe Guardian

People ‘incensed’ by North Sea plans can vote Green in byelection, says Zack Polanski

Party leader, who will contest Starmer’s former seat of Holborn and St Pancras, says gas drilling has come up on doorstep Zack Polanski has said a vote for him in the upcoming Holborn and St Pancras byelection is a vote against the government’s reported plans to greenlight a North Sea gasfield. The leader of the Green party in England and Wales, who was selected on Friday to contest the London seat, also said he was considering building a personal stockpile for the extreme weather predicted with the arrival of the biggest El Niño in 1,000 years, a meteorological phenomenon that supercharges floods and droughts. Continue reading...

This explainer is written from the reports listed above. Follow any headline for the original coverage.

Take a quiz