The Green’s New Deal: Reaction to Zack Polanski’s Victory in the Green Party Leadership Election with Jonathan Bartley

Zack Polanski’s victory in the Green Party leadership election has hailed in a a new political moment and couldn’t have arrived at a more turbulent time. With Reform surging in the polls, the Labour government struggling to gain any traction, the Conservatives fighting for relevance and the Liberal Democrats looking to capitalise in their heartlands, the Greens find themselves balancing their own member’s interests between dynamic leftism and seat-winning localism. But with Polanski defeating MP’s Ellie Chowns and Adrian Ramsay by 20,411 votes to 3,705, his mandate for ‘eco-populism’ couldn’t be clearer.

Yet the formation of a new Left party by Zarah Sultana and Jeremy Corbyn threatens the cut-through of a Polanski-led Green Party. So what are they to do now and what does Polanski’s victory mean for the future of politics in Britain?

To discuss this, Compass Director Neal Lawson is joined by former Green Party co-leader, Jonathan Bartley. Jonathan led the Greens between 2016-2021 alongside Caroline Lucas, and then Sian Berry, and was a councillor in Lambeth between 2018-2022. But taking a step back from frontline politics has allowed him to develop a thoughtful, nuanced perspective on the Green Party – you won’t want to miss this one.

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