Zack Polanski is being challenged for selection as the Green Party candidate in Holborn and St Pancras.
Hamza Chowdhury, a councillor for Holborn and Covent Garden, announced this morning that he will put himself forward for selection as the party’s candidate. Green candidate selection is completed by the local party – for Holborn and St Pancras, this is the Camden Greens. Expressions of interest for candidates hoping to run for selection close at 8pm this evening, with a formal selection meeting taking place on Thursday 10 September. The chosen candidate will be announced on Friday 11 September.
Chowdhury – who was elected as a Green councillor in May, said: “This is an incredible constituency, and as a British Bengali who was born here, I believe a Global Majority candidate is best placed not only to win this seat, but to properly represent the extraordinary diversity of the communities who call Holborn & St Pancras home.” He added: “We don’t need another MP who arrives during an election campaign, puts out a few leaflets, makes a few promises and disappears once the votes are counted no matter how famous they are!”
He has been nominated by six of the party’s 11 Camden councillors. The New Statesman understands that at least one did so in order to widen the ballot, rather than in explicit support of Chowdhury. Lorna Jane Russell, the leader of the Green group on Camden council, who has nominated Chowdhury said: “Democracy works best when members have a genuine choice when they cast their vote. Widening the ballot and giving more voices the opportunity to be heard is healthy for democracy and gives members the opportunity to make an informed choice about who they want to represent them.”
Polanski has been out campaigning in the constituency this weekend. He announced his own plans to run for selection on Thursday 3 September, in an interview with the Camden New Journal. Green Party insiders expect Polanski, as leader of the party, to win the selection. But not everyone in the local party backs his candidacy.
As I have reported previously, some members of the Camden Green Party urged him not to run, pointing to concern over the circumstances of the party’s recent loss to Labour at the Regent’s Park ward by-election in July. They called for the party to back Andrew Feinstein. One senior source within the Camden Greens told me at the time: “Those of us with considerable campaigning experience in the constituency know that Zack is not the right candidate here. The route to a Green win in this constituency lies through global majority voters, in particular the Bengali community, who really showed up for the Greens in the May local elections.” Feinstein said last week that he will not be putting himself forward as a candidate in the by-election.
Candidates must be nominated by at least two Green Party members living in the borough of Camden. After the deadline for expressions of interest passes, candidates will be invited to two interviews with a panel of elected Greens, officers and staff members with relevant experience – an MP readiness interview and a due diligence interview.
Once these have been completed, the local party will host an online hustings on the evening of Thursday 10 September at which members will be invited to participate in an online ballot. In order to vote, members must be paid-up by 9am on Thursday.
[Further reading: Could Labour lose London?]
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Subscribe here to commentAmusing to see them fighting among themselves with cant phrases like “Global Majority” being brandished as weapons. Surely the preferred candidate would be not only black but also female and a trans of same-sex orientation?