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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Peter Walker Senior political correspondent

‘We were missing in the conversation’: how Zack Polanski hit on plan to beat Reform at their own game

Zack Polanski stands in front a brightly graffitied wall, looking off to the side
Zack Polanski decided to stand for leader of the Greens after Reform UK won nearly 700 councillors at May’s local elections in England. Photograph: Linda Nylind/The Guardian

Zack Polanski finally decided to stand as the Greens’ leader, he says, after witnessing the party being eclipsed by Reform in last May’s local elections across England, and realising that British politics had changed for good.

While the Greens made yet more steady gains, Reform won nearly 700 councillors from a standing start. As deputy leader, it was Polanski’s job to speak to losing candidates to both offer consolation and ask what lessons could be learned.

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