New Greens leader Zack Polanski tells Labour: 'We are here to replace you'

The new Green party leader, Zack Polanski, has said he would need to see "very strong arguments" before agreeing any electoral pact with Jeremy Corbyn's mooted party, arguing there is enough space on the left of British politics for both to thrive.

- Peter Walker

Polanski earned a resounding mandate to take the Greens in England and Wales in a more explicitly leftwing direction yesterday, winning 85% of party member votes.

It was a crushing defeat for the joint ticket of Adrian Ramsay and Ellie Chowns, two of Westminster's four Green party MPs.

Cheered by supporters at an event in London, Polanski, a self-styled "eco-populist", promised to mimic the media-friendly tactics of Nigel Farage to tackle not just Reform UK but also Labour, saying the Greens under his leadership would not support Keir Starmer's government.

Calling Farage a "charlatan" who only pretended to care about ordinary people, Polanski added, to cheers: "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."

While Ramsay and Chowns have been largely dismissive of the planned new party to be co-run by Corbyn and another former Labour MP, Zarah Sultana, Polanski said during the campaign that he was open to potential cooperation.