Book: Greens' 'Watermelons' Predate Polanski by Decades — SkimNews
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- Russell Warfield's new book 'The Green Socialist: Zack Polanski and the Battle for Britain's Future' argues the Green Party has been 'watermelon' (green outside, red inside) for at least 10 years, tracing the eco-socialist line back to founder Teddy Goldsmith's 1970s-era writings
- Zack Polanski won the 2025 leadership contest with 85% of the vote against co-runners Adrian Ramsay and Ellie Chowns; roughly 160,000 people have joined the party since, most drawn to a left political space Warfield says has been 'vacated by the Labour party'
- YouGov polling shows 34% of voters trust the Greens more than any other party on the environment—the highest trust rating recorded for any party on any issue
- Polanski's standing has slipped: Green voting intention fell from 21% in March to 11% this month, and even former leader Caroline Lucas has said she would love him to talk about the environment more
- Polanski will contest the Holborn and St Pancras byelection on 8 October, a seat vacated after Keir Starmer announced his decision; Warfield frames the choice as backing 'another backbencher' Labour MP or a Green who can pressure the Burnham project from the left
- Controversies during Polanski's tenure include his criticism of the police response to the Golders Green attack—dismissed as 'inaccurate and misinformed' by Met commissioner Mark Rowley—a false claim he was a British Red Cross spokesperson, and sharing a photo of a man wearing a Farage-referencing guillotine T-shirt
Why it matters: For Polanski and the Greens, the 8 October Holborn and St Pancras byelection arrives as voting intention halves from 21% in March to 11% this month, and even former leader Caroline Lucas publicly says she wants him talking environment more. The contest is the first direct electoral test of whether the 160,000 new members can outweigh the slump in personal approval.
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