The invitation promised that the results of the Green party leadership election would be one of the most consequential political events of the autumn. That might be pushing it, but they were certainly more consequential than Kemi Badenoch’s “drill, baby, drill” keynote speech in Aberdeen. Not a single broadcaster could be bothered with that one. It might as well not have happened. Shame. Because as well as receiving a scholarship to Stanford University to study medicine at 16, it’s a little-known fact that Kemi was also invited to be a visiting professor in climate science at Harvard at the age of 11. One day her true talents will be revealed.
But not today. Tuesday morning was all about the Greens, and Harriet Lamb, the party’s chief executive, seemed rather overwhelmed by the attention. Standing room only at the Coin Street neighbourhood centre in central London. A phalanx of news cameras and journalists. It’s been a while since there’s been this much interest in the Greens. Lamb bobbed up and down behind the lectern, gulping nervously.
This was a pivotal moment for the whole country, she said. The Greens were poised to help create the next government. Er … Run that one past me again. Just who will the Greens be going into coalition with, given that they’ve ruled out any deals with Reform, the Tories and Labour? That just leaves Jeremy Corbyn’s as yet unnamed party and possibly the Lib Dems. If they aren’t too rightwing. Not sure I can see that coalition getting enough seats to form a government. But maybe I’m just nit picking.
In any case, this wasn’t a time to sweat the small stuff. If you can’t dare to dream on your first day in the new job, than when can you? For this day was all about Zack Polanski. Everyone knew that Zack was going to win weeks ago: the only question was by how much. Even so, nobody quite expected the scale of the victory, with Polanski getting 85% of the vote. A landslide. Out with the old, easy-does-it, Lib Dem-adjacent gradualism of previous Green leaders. In with a more radical, leftist eco-populism.
Zack was all smiles. Big hugs for the defeated Ellie Chowns and Adrian Ramsay. You would never have guessed the leadership campaign had been a fairly bad-tempered affair. For the Greens, that is. During an LBC debate, Ramsay had refused to say whether he liked Polanski or not. I think we can assume not. But for now, all was forgiven.
Then came the victory speech. Mainly a list of thank yous and tributes. Starting with the four Green MPs. Just as well. Zack is only a member of the London assembly and is going to have to work closely with his Westminster colleagues. No point alienating anyone just yet.
“I stand on the shoulders of giants,” he said. Starting with Ramsay. Adrian had been brilliant. Just brilliant. Couldn’t have managed without him. Same with Ellie. Her work in holding the government to account over the genocide in Gaza had been matchless. It made you wonder what all the problems between them had been. Carla Denyer and Siân Berry both got a drive-by accolade. They were great because they just were.
Let bygones be bygones. Zack was there for everyone. Not just those who voted for him. Everyone in the party had a common cause, but no one had to feel the same way about everything. Finally he took aim at the enemy. The water companies pumping sewage into rivers. The charlatans of Reform who were part of the millionaires’ cabal. Last, but not least, the Labour party. The lowest of the low. A party that had pretended to be on the side of workers but was no better than Reform. He didn’t even mention the Tories because everyone now treats them as irrelevant.
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We’re not here to work with Labour, Polanski declared. We’re here to replace you, Keir Starmer. We will have the people’s back. We will talk truth to power. In the blink of an eye, Westminster would be full of Green MPs. This was a pivotal moment in the country’s politics. The day the world changed. Those of us with long memories might feel we have heard all this before. Not just from Corbyn when he became Labour leader, but from every party leader who has ever been elected. But Zack sounded as if he believed it more than most. This was his moment and he was going to make the most of it.
After a brief interlude in which the deputy leaders were announced, Polanski took to the stage once more to take questions from journalists. The first reporter asked why Zack felt he could succeed with a radical left agenda where Corbyn had previously failed. He would succeed because he would succeed. The people wanted what he had to offer. Nationalising the utilities. Taxing the billionaires. Acting on climate change. Not so much radical leftism as a no-brainer.
Zack began to warm to his theme. He would think big. Aim to win 30 Westminster seats. Within half an hour he had increased that to 40. Who knows where we would have been if the interviews had gone on any longer? It wasn’t all about him, he insisted. It was the members who decided policy. But just at this moment it did feel all about him. The man who wanted to take on Farage at his own social media game. The man who would deal with “despicable” Starmer only if he had a brain transplant. The man who doesn’t think twice about calling people fascist.
It’s been quite the journey for Polanski. From actor to hypnotherapist promising to increase women’s breast size. Bygones, he says. From Lib Dem to eco-populist. It’s also been quite the journey for the Greens. No longer playing it safe. Choosing a leader who is not afraid to say what he thinks. Fighting fire with fire. Happy to make enemies. Leave Nato? Why ever not? Doing anything for attention. Just desperate not to be ignored. They’ve had enough of that.
