Green Party leader Zack Polanski came second in the by-election (Alamy)
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Exclusive: A former leader of the Green Party has slammed the by-election result, claiming it will “demand some serious soul searching” in the aftermath of a huge swell of support for the party in the last year.
Jonathan Bartley, who co-led the Green Party between 2016 and 2021 and is now a cabinet member for Lambeth council told PoliticsHome that there is now a “toxicity of the Green party brand” and that allegations of antisemitism, along with the “Zionism is racism” motion “are clearly having an impact”.
Labour swept to victory in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election overnight, winning 45 per cent of the vote, with the Greens’ Zack Polanski coming in second on 33 per cent.
While Labour’s majority fell from 11,000 to 3,000 votes compared to the constituency result in the 2024 general election, the Greens may have been hoping for a bigger boost from the independent candidate Andrew Feinstein two years ago who decided to back Polanski.
While Feinstein polled at 19 per cent in 2024, the Greens’ vote share increased by just 11 per cent.
While support for the Green Party peaked in March, it has fallen since the spring, with the number of Britons willing to consider voting for the party now lower than before Polanski stepped into the role, according to research from YouGov.
A person close to the Lib Dem campaign in Holborn and St Pancras told PoliticsHome ahead of the result that they feared the “Zionism is racism” motion passing at Green conference would cost the Lib Dems votes as those who were willing to show their support instead vote Labour to keep the Greens out.
Responding to the possibility of tactical voting against the Greens, Bartley said: “What’s striking about the result is that it isn’t hugely different from 2024 if you consider the vote for Andrew Feinstein – who stood as an independent but backed Zack this time – as essentially Left and Green.”
“And after the huge surge of support for the party over the last year that is going to demand some serious soul searching. “
“What has also changed however is the toxicity of the Green Party brand,” Bartley, who once co-led the party with former leader Caroline Lucas, added.
On Sunday, Green Party conference voted for the controversial “Zionism is racism” motion, making the stance party policy.
Bartley said: “Allegations of anti-semitism against candidates during the local elections in May, the string of stories against Zack and now the Zionism is Racism motion are clearly having an impact. And at a time where people vote against what they don’t like as much as for what they believe in, it would not be surprising if people voted tactically to keep the Greens out.”
He is not the only former leader of the party to speak out in light of the vote.
Lucas, who also sat as a Green MP for 14 years, told BBC Newsnight on Thursday evening ahead of the result that Polanski had failed to show leadership over the motion.
Lucas, who described the motion as “dangerous” and “divisive” said that she wanted to hear from Polanski: “I want him to show the leadership that was frankly missing on Sunday.”
