Wes Streeting is the current favourite to replace Angela Rayner.

Zack Polanski, a former actor and London Assembly member, has become the new Greens leader.

The Green Party has selected its next leader after a heated contest marked by a debate over the party’s direction.

The next leader was selected after three candidates stood up for the top role – current co-leader Adrian Ramsay MP, Ellie Chowns MP, and London Assembly member Zack Polanski.

Current co-leader Carla Denyer did not rerun after announcing her decision in May.

Polanski said after securing his victory: ‘My message to Labour is, we are not here to be disappointed by you. We are not here to be concerned by you.

‘We are here to replace you.’

He said he wants to ‘nationalise water and tax billionaires’ and challenge ‘the far-right.’

‘We never want to replicate what Nigel Farage is doing, but what Nigel Farage has demonstrated is bold communications,’ he said, adding that ‘Nigel Farage has more TikTok followers than all MPs combined.’

He said he wants to win ‘at least 30 MPs’ in the next general election.

He has vowed to be on the side of marginalised communities like trans people and migrant workers, and called for the rights and freedom of Palestinians in Gaza.

The race was dominated by a row over the future direction of the party, with Polanski insisting the Greens need to learn from Reform’s Nigel Farage.

Calling for an ‘eco-populist’ agenda, Polanski pledged to hold ‘this Labour government to account.’

However, Chowns accused him of using ‘polarising’ language that only appealed to a ‘narrow segment’ of voters.

Polanski responded: ‘They say I’m polarising but can’t name a single example.

‘So let me give them one, it’s the 99% versus the 1%. If you’re not Shell or a billionaire, I’m on your side.’

The new leader was announced this morning after voting closed following a fractious campaign.

Polanski secured 20,411 votes, while Chowns and Ramsay, who ran on the same bill to become co-leaders, received 3,705 votes.

The Green Party has positioned itself as an alternative to Labour and ‘an antidote to Reform,’ and it secured four MP seats in the general election last year.

Around 10% of voters would choose the Green Party if a general election was held tomorrow, the latest figures from YouGov show.

This is against Reform’s 28%, Labour’s 20% and Conservatives’ 17% predicted vote.

A record number of people have joined the Green Party, with membership reaching 68,500, the party said today.

Reaction to Zack Polanski’s win as new Green Party leader

The Labour Party has criticised Polanski for his ‘failure to support continued NATO membership.’

Ellie Reeves MP, the Labour Party chair, said today after Polanski’s victory: ‘Congratulations to Zack Polanski on his election as Green Party Leader.

‘We are living through serious times and the public rightly expect responsible and measured responses from all political leaders. Zack Polanski must level with the British people as to whether he stands by his recent failure to support continued NATO membership, and what it means for his Party’s stance on Putin’s appalling illegal war in Ukraine.

‘The Labour Government’s commitment to NATO membership is unshakeable and always will be.’

Meanwhile, the Conservative Party bosses didn’t mince their words following Polanski’s victory.

Kevin Hollinrake MP, the chairman of the Conservative Party, said: ‘The last leaf has fallen from the Greens’ withering tree. A party once rooted in care for the countryside has been captured by hard-left activists more obsessed with campus culture wars than farmers in Herefordshire.

‘From Solihull to Derbyshire councillors are walking away because only the Conservatives are serious about backing family farms, stopping good farmland being smothered by solar panels and protecting the countryside with local communities.

‘While the Greens indulge in extreme left-wing fantasies and failed socialist economics, only the Conservatives are committed to real stewardship of nature, energy security through nuclear power and safeguarding the fields and villages that make Britain home.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

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