Ellie Chowns, a Green Party MP, criticized her party's leadership over recent controversial policies, particularly a motion declaring Zionism as racism that passed with a narrow margin of 1,000 votes in favor and 800 against at the Brighton conference. She warned that the party must guard against being captured by extremists and racists while calling for more robust structures to prevent such policy decisions from minority factions dominating the conversation. Chowns acknowledged that this motion does not reflect the views of most Green Party members and suggested there may be "entryism" among new members who joined solely to push through specific policies rather than supporting the party's overall platform.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-10,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
The Holborn and St Pancras by-election took place on Thursday to replace former Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who had resigned from his seat in Parliament. The race is between Labour's Dani Arbid-supported candidate Fadila Halima, also known as Ms Abdi-Wali (the exact name varies across sources), and the Green Party leader Zack Polanski. This election is significant for Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who needs to restore faith in Labour among left-wing voters after its decline during the Gaza war.
The North London constituency has been a Labour stronghold since 1983, held by Frank Dobson for 32 years and Keir Starmer for 11. Polanski is hoping to break this streak and secure his seat in Parliament. However, it's noted that Polls indicate the contest between Labour’s Halima and Green Party leader Polanski is close.
Polanski has faced a difficult week after his party passed a controversial motion at its conference asserting “Zionism is racism,” though he abstained from voting on this resolution. He later stated his commitment to inclusivity, rejecting exclusion based on religious or communal affiliation.
The election also marks a critical moment for Polanski's leadership of the Green Party, which has seen significant growth, gaining over 440 councillors and control of five councils in recent local elections.
Polanski appeals to voters by arguing that a Green voice can push Labour on issues such as rent controls and putting Thames Water into public ownership. He also emphasizes the importance of voting against new drilling in the North Sea, an issue that Labour delayed addressing until after the election results.
Overall, while polls suggest a close race, it remains uncertain whether Polanski can upset the long-standing Labour dominance in this constituency.
Written for “Holborn By-election Campaigns” on 2026-10-10,
grounded in this article and the 47 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it -0.45, but all 2 of its quote(s) are attributed speech - words the article quotes from someone, not the article's own narration, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph
rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score withheld for article 70175: attributed speech only · logged 2026-10-10
Mr Polanski attempted to put a positive spin on his defeat in Thursday’s Holborn and St Pancras by-election, saying the Greens had significantly increased their vote share in a usually safe Labour seat.
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Greens → attempt → seat
But the result has intensified criticism of his leadership.
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result → intensify → leadership
One of his five MPs, Ellie Chowns, said there had been a “lack of leadership” from Mr Polanski on the Zionism motion – which he did not take part in – but that he now had an “opportunity” to bring the party together in its wake.
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he → say → wake
She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I think it is clear that if we have policy, such significant and damaging policy, made by a vote of just 0.4% of our members, that something isn’t working in our structures and our policy-making process.
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something → tell → structures
“And I don’t think that policy ‘Zionism as racism’ represents the views of the large majority of Green Party members, nor of people in the country.
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policy → think → country
“And I do think that it’s a problem that this has come to dominate the conversation about the Green Party over the past week.”
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this → think → week
Asked if there were “extremists and racists” entering the Greens that needed to be dealt with, she said: “I don’t know if there are extremists and racists in my party, but I want to make sure that my party isn’t vulnerable to capture by extremists and racists.
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is → ask → extremists
“I want to make sure that my party’s policies represent the views of the majority of members of the Green Party who absolutely are not that sort of person at all.”
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who → want → person
The motion passed at the Brighton conference with around 1,000 members voting in favour and some 800 against.
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members → pass → favour
Although she stopped short of saying Mr Polanski should resign, Ms Lucas said there were “huge issues” in the party that he should help to resolve.
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he → stop → that
She also suggested there had been “entryism”, in which activists joined the Greens solely to back last weekend’s motion rather than because they supported the party.
uncertain
they → suggest → party
She said: “I think we need to make our party structures much more robust so it’s not the case going forward that 1,000 members – some of whom, frankly, have been encouraged to join the party simply to push this motion through – 1,000 members should not be deciding a policy of such significance on behalf of 220,000 members.”
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members → say → members
Mr Polanski sought to distance himself from the vote on Friday saying he would only have supported an amended motion.
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he → seek → motion
He told Sky News: “Ultimately, I agree with the substance of the motion.
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I → tell → motion
Where I disagree is the idea the Green Party should be deciding what the future of the region looks like.”
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future → disagree → region
But his stance on the motion has brought calls for him to resign, with the chairwoman of the Jewish Greens, Vivien Lichtenstein, saying she was considering leaving the party and criticising his failure to take part in the debate as a “dereliction of duty”.
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she → bring → duty
Mr Polanski has said it would be up to Green Party members whether he continues as leader, with a scheduled leadership vote due next year.
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vote → say → leader
Asked how confident he was to be re-elected as leader, he told Sky News: “That’s going to be up to the members and that’s going to be up to the leadership election that happens next summer.
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that → ask → election
“What I’m experiencing, though, is an immense amount of people who are saying actually they’ve never been prouder to be a Green Party member.
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they → experience → people
A YouGov poll published on Friday found 47% of people who voted Green at the last election thought he should remain leader, with only 22% saying he should go.
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he → publish → election
But among the wider public, only 20% said he should stay as leader and 34% said he should resign, with 47% telling the pollster they were unsure.
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they → say → pollster
The Aporia
