Polanski selected as Green Party candidate for Starmer's former seat

[Twiglets1]

The BBC report that Polanski, who is a London Assembly member, will stand in Holborn and St Pancras on 8 October as he seeks to become an MP.

He was voted to be the party's candidate by members of the Camden Green Party ahead of local councillor Hamza Chowdhury.

Polanski said the Greens "might be the underdog in this election but we have the momentum and we can win".

Let's hope not and that Camden council stays Labour.

This is an interesting strategy for them. If he loses then then I think they are finished. Their own obsession with identity politics will make it hard to attack Labour's candidate as she's not white, male and stale. I certainly hope so.

Hamza Chowdhury the candidate who competed against Polanski isn't happy.

He argued that Polanski, who lives in east London, would be unable to properly represent the area if he won.

Chowdhury wrote: “I know Camden because I live it every day. I know the challenges facing our communities, our estates, our broken lifts, our unpicked bins, our unclean roads and endless housing register waiting list because these are the places I have grown up and continue to call home.

“We don’t need another MP who arrives during an election campaign, puts out a few leaflets, makes a few promises and disappears once the votes are counted. We need an MP who is present, accessible and visibly part of the community all year round.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/sep/07/polanski-faces-green-rival-in-his-pursuit-of-keir-starmers-old-seat

I thought he had been earlier, I didn’t realise there was still a decision to be made.

It’s a gamble, there’s a lot on the line for him.

as he couldn’t even be arsed to be registered to vote I really hope he loses

If, as expected, Polanski doesn’t win, it will confirm that the surge in support for the Greens which enabled to win in Gorton & Denton has dissipated, and that Burnham is succeeding in persuading large numbers of left wing voters to ‘come home’ to Labour.

Given that Reform are bogged down in a seemingly endless succession of scandals, and the Tories are benefiting in the polls, it’s looking like the two traditional parties are starting to get their act together again.

He also didn't pay council tax for three years while living on a house boat in East London.

Think Hamza Chowdhury was a better person to be representing this North London seat. Too many question marks over Polanski's conduct and ethics.

I think he’ll lose and he’ll be toast

it’s a shame really as he’s raised the profile of the green party and has the right things to say about the environment (as he should) but his profile has been totally derailed by his questionable views on other things

If he loses then then I think they are finished.

Finished?? The Greens are not going to be finished because they don't overturn this 11k majority.

Labour are fielding a strong candidate in Camden Council leader Sagal Abdi-Wali. She has led the council since May and has been a councillor for Camden Square since 2022.

Abdi-Wali said she was "delighted that local members have put their trust in me to be Labour's candidate in the area I've grown up in".

She said: "This place welcomed my family as refugees and gave us hope when we needed it most.

"I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to build a life here, serving our community as a councillor, school governor and community activist."

Maybe not but they will probably be looking for a new leader.

If, as expected, Polanski doesn’t win, it will confirm that the surge in support for the Greens which enabled to win in Gorton & Denton has dissipated, and that Burnham is succeeding in persuading large numbers of left wing voters to ‘come home’ to Labour. It won't confirm that. Yes Green support has dropped slightly, Burnham's personal ratings are currently positive, and Polanski's very negative. But Labour voting intention isn't much improved.

The Jackdaw announcement has just been delayed? This will help the Greens potentially.

Yes, if Polanski is a negative then this will be considered presumably.

Polanski was elected September 2025 (hustings and voting in August, result announced in September).

He's up for re-election next year as the Green Party has a two year leadership term.

The result of the by-election will probably determine whether he stands for re-election (he can spin coming a close second to a popular, local Labour candidate but a very poor 2nd will be bad for him) and will play a part in whether anyone stands against him

Hope so.

I know we always feel like it would be nice if elections weren't such a two horse race, but looking at the options ... Reform are too right wing and the Green party are too left wing, so the traditional parties look quite appealing to moderates like me.

Id very much welcome seeing the back of both the extreme ends of the spectrum. I'm nostalgic for the two party system with the Greens pottering benignly on the sidelines issuing the odd gentle reminder about the environment.

But they will be if their leader is a loser.

Total snake oil salesman

So today's the day ... do the right thing Holborn and St Pancras!

Hopefully Polanski has lost popularity since this thread was started and it will be a clear win for Labour.

I really hope that it's a Labour landslide and I say that as someone who is still a member of the Green Party.

I have got used to the pitying looks from fellow women's rights activists when they find that I'm a member of a party that officially believes that men are women if they say they are.

But after Conference, the Party has sunk still further. The vote in favour of Zionism is Racism has made me thoroughly ashamed of the Green Party.

The fact that it was then followed by a vote in favour of nuclear energy shows that we are no longer a Green Party.

I am hoping that a big defeat might be a turning point and either the entryists will give up on us or some of the actual Greens will finally stand up to them.

You sound like a traditional Green voter who joined the party when their main concern was still environmental issues.

I sympathise that the party you felt most represented you then turned into something quite different. I hope there is a big defeat for Polanski too as I would like to see him leaving or being rejected from the party so that someone more sensible - and with genuine concerns for the environment - can replace him.

It's embarrassing that Britain has an antisemitic Green party that the European Green Party have had to publicly distance themselves from.

What worries me is that Polanski is probably seen as a useful idiot by the Islamist entryists (much like the Left wing students who joined the Iranian revolution to overthrow the Shah).

There's a danger that if he is heavily defeated in the by election, he could be replaced by Mothin Ali, the deputy leader whose wife is completely covered in public and who supports Zionism is Racism.

I agree with what you say re Polanski being a useful idiot by the Islamist entryists.

That has become more obvious now with the way he as Leader has allowed the anti Israel section of the party to grow to the point they have now passed a very obviously antisemitic motion as party policy.

My personal opinion/guess is that he will be replaced by Mothin Ali before the next General Election.

But I also think - maybe it's better that we all know now that the party has been hijacked by those with extremist views. They are literally admitting that they don't want Israel to exist any more. This will have been a big wake up call to a lot of traditional Green voters.

I think it’s great if Zac Polanski gets replaced by Ali. It will show what the Green Party really is. It will also expose the mad coalition between people who are single issue on Palestine and the people who are single issue on trans rights, at the expense of local and green issues. Moderate Greens will have to accept that this is their party and either fight for it or join other parties.

I don't think there was a surge in favour of the Greens so much as against Labour/Starmer. And the votes on Palestine.

Labour will win this one comfortably.

Greens concede defeat in the Holborn and St Pancras by election.