Zack Polanski replies to his critics

JVL Introduction

Zack Polanski has had a torrid week.

Not unexpectedly, but nevertheless disappointingly, he lost the by-election to replace Keir Starmer in Holborn & St Pancras. We all hoped for another triumph as at Denton and Gorton but Starmer’s demise – a direct result of that defeat – and his replacement by Andy Burnham has given Labour a new lease of life. We suspect the Burnham bounce will be short-loved.

Furthermore, Polanski is at the epicentre of a row being called out for not expressing his reservations about the Green Party’s motion  “Zionism is Racism” more forcefully, before it was passed at its conference the Sunday before the by-election.

We have already expressed our solidarity with the Green Party against the barrage of criticism it received from a hostile media.

Here Polanski replies to his critics. As usual he does not duck difficult questions but answers them head-on.

This article was originally published by the Guardian on Sun 11 Oct 2026. Read the original here.