Zack Polanski has won the Green Party leadership election. The result was announced at an event in central London this morning. Polanski won 20,411 votes, to Ellie Chowns and Adrian Ramsay’s 3,705, an overwhelming margin of victory. In a speech following his announcement as leader, Polanski said: “Thank you to every single person who voted for me. I promise to work every single day to deliver environmental, social, racial and economic justice. And for those of you who didn’t vote for me, this is a democracy. We don’t have to agree on everything. We just have to have common cause. And I give the same commitment to you. I will work every single day to grow this party. So, thank you very much.”
The contest has been running since 2 June, when nominations opened, but the race truly took off when Polanski announced his decision to run shortly after the local elections at the start of May. Running on a platform of “eco-populism”, Polanski has aimed to emulate the loud and bombastic communication style of Nigel Farage from the left. And he attracted support from former members of the Corbynite movement, including Jeremy Corbyn’s former spokesperson Matt Zarb-Cousin and the political commentator, Grace Blakeley. Chowns and Ramsay, who ran on a joint ticket, represented the continuity candidacy. As two of the Green Party’s four MPs, they pledged to maintain the party’s “distinct identity” and to appeal to a “broad coalition” of voters, including the former Conservative voters in their respective constituencies. Until today, Ramsay was already a co-leader of the party alongside the Bristol Central MP, Carla Denyer. But Polanski, who was previously the party’s deputy, did not inform Ramsay or Chowns of his decision to throw his hat into the ring (a decision which caused some animosity).
This race has been characterised not only by discussions around what the Green Party should be, but around the future of the British left itself. The arrival of Your Party and renewed potential for an electoral coalition to damage Labour from the left has become an even more pressing discussion during this race. As analysis seen by the New Statesman has shown that Labour risk losing far more votes to their left than to their right at the next election. Now that Polanski has won, this potential for a coalition is a material reality as he has already been in discussions with senior figures within Your Party about a closer working relationship. Now he has secured the Green leadership, Polanski can turn his gaze to the rest of the electorate.
[See also: The new Green Party leader will shape Britain’s future]
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