New Green leader Zack Polanski wants 'very strong arguments' before agreeing to Corbyn pact

The new leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, Zack Polanski, has said he wants to see "very strong arguments" before agreeing to an electoral alliance with Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana's upcoming left-wing party.

Speaking to The Guardian, Polanski said that forming a pact would not be his first priority as leader because he was "not quite sure what Zarah Sultana’s and Jeremy Corbyn’s platform is going to be".

Advocating a platform of "eco-populism", Polanski picked up 85 percent of the vote in the leadership contest, beating a joint ticket by Green Party MPs Adrian Ramsay and Ellie Chown.

Polanski, who is a member of the London Assembly, is expected to push for a more pronounced left-wing tilt in the Green Party.

His platform is expected to overlap in many important areas with the party Corbyn and Sultana are setting up, leading to speculation that there might be some sort of electoral alliance between the two.

A pact would help ensure the two left-leaning parties do not eat into each other's voter share, as they challenge a Labour Party that is increasingly seen as out of touch with its traditional voter base.

Britain's First Past the Post electoral system heavily disadvantages newer parties, whose support is spread across large regions.

For example, the Green Party received just over six percent of the vote in the 2024 election, but picked up just four MPs, which amounts to just 0.6 percent of seats in the House of Commons.

No working with Starmer

Speaking immediately after his victory on Tuesday, Polanski said: “My message to Labour is very clear: We are not here to be disappointed by you, we are not here to be concerned by you, we are here to replace you.”

He added that he could not see any scenario in which he would work with Prime Minister Keir Starmer's Labour.

Polanski has been a strong critic of Israel's genocide in Gaza and opponent of the Labour government's decision to proscribe the Palestine Action group as a terrorist organisation.

On the issues, Polanski says he is "proud to be Jewish" but is "certainly not a Zionist".

The Green leader has previously told Middle East Eye that his party would be willing to work with other MPs on select issues, including on Gaza.

"Pluralism runs throughout every single thing we do. The crises facing us, from the riots to the massacre in Gaza, mean we've got to be more than our differences, we've got to work with others," he said.

"It's got to be on a case-by-case basis. There will be differences between us and the independents. But there are other issues we're aligned on besides Gaza too." 

Polanski's challenges will include securing more media space for the Greens in an environment where traditional outlets have excluded it from debate on key issues.

As things stand according to pollsters, the Greens are well poised to capitalise on a collapse on the Labour vote.

The party of government has just 20 points in a recent YouGov poll, placing it behind Reform on 28 points but ahead of the Green party on 11 points.