Green Party leader Zack Polanski has confirmed he wants to stand in the by-election brought about by Sir Keir Starmer’s resignation as an MP.
Polanski, who is currently a London Assembly member but not a member of Parliament, said he was “so excited by the prospect” of being the first Green MP for Holborn and St Pancras.
The Greens are targeting the seat, until now a Labour stronghold, after coming second to Labour in the area in local elections earlier this year.
Sir Keir announced on Tuesday that he was quitting as MP for the London constituency, two months after he stood down as prime minister, setting up a challenging by-election for his successor Andy Burnham.
In comments to the Camden New Journal, external on Thursday morning, Polanski said: “I have lived and worked in this community over many years, I know it well and I love it.
“It represents so many of the things that make London so special. I am so excited by the prospect of representing this place in Parliament.”
He added: “It’s a clear fight between Labour and the Green Party.”
The Green Party currently has five MPs.
In order to officially be the Green candidate for the seat, Polanski needs to be selected by local party members – something his comments suggest will happen.
But there have been reports in recent days of splits among local Green activists, some of whom are said to favour a Palestinian candidate or a pro-Gaza independent.
And it is currently unclear whether Andrew Feinstein, the independent runner-up to Sir Keir in the constituency at the 2024 general election, will stand too which could split the vote.
A date has not yet been set for the by-election.
The stakes were already high for Labour at this by-election, because it offers an early test of Burnham’s ability to stave off the Green threat in inner-city constituencies.
With Polanski’s candidacy, the stakes are even higher for the Greens, to see whether they make good on their leader’s oft-stated ambition to replace Labour.
Polanski said a Green victory would be a “clear message that we won’t sit by as we get poorer and extreme wealth is concentrated at the very top.”