Zack Polanski has been elected leader of the Green Party of England and Wales by a landslide, beating joint Green MPs Adrian Ramsay and Ellie Chowns 20,411 votes to 3,705.
The result was greeted by whoops and cheers, and Polanski pledged to “work every single day to grow this party” while paying tribute to his defeated rivals.
A former actor and the party’s deputy leader, Polanski campaigned on an “eco-populism” platform and vowed to make the Greens bolder and more radical.
He framed his aim as building a “green left” and said “the party had an absolute moral responsibility in this moment” to stand for bold politics.
In a defiant victory speech, Polanski warned Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour directly, saying the Greens were going to replace him and challenging Labour’s record.
He said”Because when we look at Keir Starmer and what this government have been doing, whether it’s the two-child benefit cap, the disability cuts, the genocide in Gaza, 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.”
On policy, he was explicit, promising “We will nationalise the water companies” and saying the Greens would hold the Labour government to account.
He tied that pledge to critiques of welfare and disability measures and to international concerns, presenting a confrontational, justice-focused agenda.
Thousands of new members joined during the leadership campaign, swelling the Greens’ membership to 68,500 and reinforcing Polanski’s mandate.
The contest, normally held every two years, had been due in 2024 but was delayed to avoid clashing with the general election after Ramsay and co-leader Carla Denyer were elected to an extraordinary three-year term in 2021, and Denyer decided not to stand for re-election in May this year.