Polanskis Strong Hint He Will Contest Crunch By Election

Zack Polanksi has dropped his heaviest hint yet that he will stand for the Greens in the crunch Holborn and St Pancras by-election.

The party’s leader said the contest – triggered by Keir Starmer’s resignation yesterday – would be “a referendum on ending rip-off Britain” as he launched a bitter attack on the former prime minister.

A Green Party spokesman on Tuesday refused to rule out Polanski would be a candidate, pointing out “he has always made it clear he would like to be a London MP”.

Speaking as he marked his first anniversary as Green leader, Polanksi said: “The Holborn and St Pancras by-election will be a referendum on ending rip-off Britain. Only the Greens have a real plan for real hope and change.

“We will announce our candidate in due course and they will set out an exciting agenda for the deep change our country needs.

“I am proud of what I have achieved in the first year of my leadership of the Green Party but it is just the start.

“I am very excited for the next chapter for myself, for the Greens and for people across the country.”

Taking aim at Starmer, Polanski attacked his decision to remove winter fuel payments from millions of pensioners, initially keeping the two-child benefit cap and trying to cut the welfare bill.

“He wanted people to honour him for being an international statesman but his pick for US ambassador was Peter Mandelson, friend and confidant to the world’s most notorious paedophile,” the Green leader said.

“He allowed Donald Trump to use air bases in the UK to wage his war on Iran, while cutting international aid to low-income countries.

“Worst of all, he said Israel had the right to cut off water and power to Gaza as part of his government’s ongoing support for the genocide of the Palestinian people.

“And back in the UK he made it a crime to oppose this genocide, locking up scores of peaceful protesters.

“This is not a legacy to be proud of, it is a legacy of shame. One that only the Greens can draw a line under and offer a real alternative.”

No date has been set yet for the by-election, although it is likely to take place at some point in the autumn.

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