Zack Polanski says he can remain Green leader after Holborn defeat

Zack Polanski said on Friday, 9 October, that he could carry on as Green Party leader after losing the Holborn and St Pancras by-election in London. Labour’s Sagal Abdi-Wali won Thursday’s contest with 12,292 votes to Polanski’s 8,928, according to Camden Council. The result and a dispute over a Green Party conference motion have put his leadership under scrutiny.

The council recorded turnout of 38.76% and a margin of 3,364 votes. Abdi-Wali’s victory settles who represents the constituency; it does not settle how Green members will respond to their leader’s defeat. Polanski told reporters that members would ultimately decide whom they wanted as leader, The Guardian reported.

What Polanski said after losing in Holborn and St Pancras

Asked about his future on Friday, Polanski said, ‘Of course I can carry on,’ according to The Guardian. ITV News reported his fuller response as, ‘Of course I can carry on as leader of the Green Party.’ He acknowledged that he had wanted to win and had not, while saying voters he met had responded to his proposals on rent controls, climate policy and nationalising Thames Water.

Polanski presented the Green result as progress despite the loss. The Guardian reported that Abdi-Wali took about 45% of the vote and Polanski about 33%, and described a 13-point swing from Labour in a seat traditionally safe for the party. Polanski said the Greens had tripled their vote share and achieved their second-best by-election result. The official vote totals establish the outcome, while those comparisons are claims reported from the campaign and subsequent analysis.

Why the Green Party conference motion matters

The by-election came after a Green Party conference motion earlier in October declaring Zionism racism. Associated Press reported that the motion also backed a single democratic Palestinian state across Israel and the Palestinian territories. Polanski missed the debate and vote while campaigning in Holborn and St Pancras. AP reported that he said he would not have voted for the motion, although he agreed with it ‘in substance’.

ITV reported that the motion became party policy, although that does not necessarily mean it will appear in a future manifesto. The broadcaster said former Green leader Caroline Lucas and four of the party’s five MPs opposed it. Lucas said Polanski should have attended and voted, according to The Guardian. Asked whether he should stand down, she said people should see what happened in the coming days and weeks.

The disagreement has produced opposing calls about Polanski’s future. Vivien Lichtenstein, chair of Jewish Greens, called for him to resign, AP reported. The Guardian reported that Greens Organise, a faction that backed his leadership bid, urged him to stay. Its statement said political growth would have ‘ups and downs’ and argued he remained the leader who could take the party forward. Those positions show pressure and support; neither establishes that a leadership challenge has begun.

What happens next for Polanski and the Greens

The Guardian reported that Green membership had risen above 230,000 since Polanski became leader in September 2025. ITV separately quoted Polanski putting the current figure at 220,000, compared with 55,000 to 60,000 when he ran for leader. The differing figures should be read as attributed estimates, rather than a reconciled membership count. They nevertheless show why the views of party members matter to the leadership question.

The Guardian quoted More in Common director Luke Tryl as saying Polanski had become more polarising while Andy Burnham’s replacement of Keir Starmer as Labour leader had drawn some disillusioned progressive voters back to Labour. James Baggaley of UCL Policy Lab told the paper that rebuilding support would require attention to economic messaging and concerns about antisemitism. These are assessments of the political challenge, not a decision about Polanski’s position.

For now, the confirmed developments are Abdi-Wali’s election and Polanski’s stated intention to continue. AP reported that a Green leadership vote is due next year. The cited reporting establishes no resignation or immediate challenge, and it does not say the party has decided to change the conference policy. Polanski’s future therefore remains a question for the party rather than an outcome of Thursday’s count alone.