Understand
Zack Polanski vows to stay on as Green leader despite mounting criticism over by-election defeat and Zionism motion
Overview
Green Party leader Zack Polanski has stated he will remain in his position following a by-election defeat in Holborn and St Pancras, despite facing calls to resign from figures within his own party. Polanski has faced intense pressure regarding his absence from a party conference vote on a motion that declared Zionism a form of racism, with critics including Jewish Greens leader Vivien Lichtenstein and former leader Caroline Lucas condemning his handling of the issue.
Key points
- Zack Polanski has vowed to stay on as Green Party leader following his defeat in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election by Labour candidate Sagal Abdi-Wali.
- Vivien Lichtenstein, leader of the Jewish Greens, and former party leader Caroline Lucas have called for Polanski to resign over his failure to show leadership during a party conference vote on a motion declaring Zionism a form of racism.
- Polanski defended his absence from the Brighton vote by stating he was focused on campaigning for the by-election.
- The controversial motion defined Zionism as an ideology supporting an ethnonationalist Jewish state and backed a single Palestinian state.
- The leadership crisis has also drawn criticism from other political figures, including Prime Minister Andy Burnham and Labour chair Bridget Phillipson, who warned the Greens face a serious problem with antisemitism.