The leader of ​Britain’s left-wing Green Party intends to stand in ‌an election for a seat in Parliament ​vacated by former Labour Prime ⁠Minister Keir Starmer, a local newspaper reported on Thursday (September 3, 2026).

Zack Polanski told the Camden New Journal he ‌would be the Green candidate for Holborn and St Pancras, a left-leaning constituency ‌which Starmer held comfortably in 2024 ‌though ⁠with a much-reduced vote share.

“Labour stands ⁠up for corporations and big money,” Mr. Polanski posted on X. “I’ll stand up for people and our communities.”

In ​an election two ‌years ago, an independent candidate who campaigned primarily on opposition to Israel’s war in Gaza took nearly 19% of the vote ‌while the Green candidate received over 10%, ​giving the party hope of taking the seat this time.

Since Mr. ⁠Polanski became Green leader a year ago the party has had successin taking support from ‌Labour’s left, winning a surprise by-election victory in Greater Manchester – where current Prime Minister Andy Burnham was a long-serving mayor – and nationally polling as high as 20%.

But Mr. Polanski’s personal popularity took a hit after ‌he criticised police officers for the way they ​arrested a man who allegedly stabbed two Jewish people in north London in ⁠April, according to pollsters YouGov.

A national YouGov poll ⁠on Wednesday (September 2, 2026) put Labour tied with the right-wing populist Reform U.K. party ‌of anti-Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage on 23% with the opposition Conservatives on 20% ​and the Greens on 13%.

Britain’s Green Party elected a self-styled “eco-populist” as its new leader on Tuesday (September 2, 2025), as it seeks to gain traction by exploiting dissatisfaction with the Labour government among left-wing voters.

Zack Polanski, a former actor, wants to make the Greens as noisy on the left as Nigel Farage’s anti-immigrant Reform UK party is on the right, at a time when British politics is fracturing into a multi-party system.

“My message to Labour is very clear. We are not here to be disappointed by you. We are not here to be concerned by you. We’re here to replace you,” he told supporters in central London after being elected.

Polanski, who does not sit in the U.K. parliament, was seen as the more radical candidate compared to his defeated opponents, MPs Ellie Chowns and Adrian Ramsay, who had stressed continuity.

Chowns and Ramsay said the party needed to appeal to a wide audience but Polanski’s election means the Greens will shift further to the left, where they will find competition from former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Mr. Polanski’s pugnacious approach and savvy social media campaign saw him win more than 20,400 votes compared to just 3,700 for the joint ticket.

The Greens increased their number of MPs from one to four in the 650-seat parliament at last year’s general election, which ousted the Conservatives and propelled Labour’s Keir Starmer to the premiership.

The party has the same number as Reform but has not been able to gain the same purchase as Farage, who taps into discontent over irregular immigration, now the issue that surveys say most concerns Britons.

“We should never ape the politics of Nigel Farage and Reform. But what Nigel Farage has demonstrated is bold communications that can cut through,” Polanski told reporters.

The 42-year-old added he “also” wants to “stop the boats”, echoing Farage’s number-one pledge to halt asylum seekers crossing the Channel from northern France in rudimentary vessels.

‘Left-wing populism’

“We can stop the boats today with safe and legal routes [for asylum seekers],” Mr. Polanski said.

The Greens advocate higher taxes for the super wealthy, the nationalisation of key industries including water, and has recognised Israel’s military actions in Gaza as a “genocide”.

It hopes to steal away voters angry at Labour’s continuation of a child benefits cap, its moves to reform the welfare system and its roll-back of some environmental pledges.

But a new party recently launched by Corbyn threatens to split votes on the left.

“There’s definitely space in the U.K. for some sort of left-wing populism,” said Chris Hopkins, director of polling firm Savanta.

“(But) they almost certainly will harm each other or, at the very least, put a cap on the other’s potential,” he told AFP.

Polanski, a member of the London Assembly whose role is to hold the capital’s mayor accountable, has repeatedly apologised for a 2013 article in the tabloid The Sun in which the then-hypnotherapist promised to use the power of the mind to try to enlarge a female client’s breasts.

Unlike other parties, the Greens normally hold leadership elections every two years, meaning Mr. Polanski may not lead the party into the next general election, expected in 2029.