UK Greens leader Polanski loses by-election amid Zionism row

Tap a highlight to see why it matters.2 findings

- Zack Polanski, leader of the UK Greens, lost the by-election in London

- He plans to continue as the Greens party chief

London: The leader of Britain’s left-wing Greens said on Friday he would stay on as party chief after he failed to grab a parliamentary seat in the wake of a row with Israel.

Zack Polanski, who is Jewish but has made the Greens avidly pro-Palestinian, was barred from Israel this month after his party backed a motion to define Zionism as racism.

The by-election to represent the Holborn and St. Pancras constituency in London after former UK leader Keir Starmer stood down was also an early test of Labour Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s popularity.

Polanski told Britain’s Sky News he would stay on as leader after coming second to Labour candidate Sagal Abdi-Wali, securing one-third of the vote compared to her 45 percent.

Abdi-Wali, who arrived in Britain as a child refugee in the 1990s after fleeing war in Somalia and now leads the local council, was declared the winner in the early hours of Friday.

Labour has held the seat continuously since its creation in 1983, and the contest was a two-horse race with the Greens, which have enjoyed a surge in membership since Polanski became its leader in September last year.

The 43-year-old former actor and hypnotherapist has moved the party leftwards and made it staunchly pro-Palestinian, capitalizing on anger at the Labour government’s stance on the Israel-Hamas war under Starmer.

Israel’s foreign ministry announced on Sunday that Polanski was barred from the country after Green Party members backed a motion saying Zionism would be “treated as any other form of racism.”

The text also voiced support for the establishment of a “single democratic Palestinian State in all of historic Palestine.”

It was widely condemned by mainstream UK parties, British Jewish groups and Israel’s government, which called it “a clear antisemitic text.”

A Green Party spokesperson said they were “disappointed” with the election result but celebrated a “huge swing in one of Labour’s safest seats.”

They said voters had “delivered a message” that “they want real change” on issues including climate change, soaring rent prices and “justice for Palestinians.”

Read the original article on arabnews.com

What we found (2)

Arab News reports Zack Polanski's by-election defeat accurately, with the result, the figures and the Israeli ban all attributed. Its faults are small. It sets his Jewish identity against his support for Palestinians with a 'but', and it lists only the motion's critics, with no voice from those who backed it.

Uses a loaded word
Minor
“who is Jewish but has made the Greens avidly pro-Palestinian”
Why this matters
The word 'but' sets Polanski being Jewish against his support for Palestinians, and 'avidly' adds a note of excess.
The impression it gives
A reader takes it that a Jewish politician backing Palestinian rights is odd or contradictory, and that his support is zealous.
The context
Being Jewish and supporting Palestinian rights are not opposites. Other coverage states plainly that Polanski is Jewish with no such contrast.
How we know
- The National reported““I believe everyone deserves a safe home,” Mr Polanski, who is Jewish, told the BBC.”Former refugee gives ‘This is Britain’ speech after defeating Greens' Zack Polanski in London byelection (opens in a new tab)
Show it in the article
One side gets the space
Minor
“It was widely condemned by mainstream UK parties, British Jewish groups and Israel’s government, which called it “a clear antisemitic text.””
Why this matters
The outlet lists only the motion's critics and quotes Israel's government calling it antisemitic. No supporter of the motion is heard on it, and 'mainstream' casts the Greens as outside the mainstream.
The impression it gives
A reader takes the motion to have been condemned almost across the board, with nobody making the case for it.
The context
Green members passed the motion 1,022 to 813, and after the result Polanski said he believed the displacement of Palestinian people was racist. The article reports neither.
How we know
- On the recordOn 4 October 2026 Green Party members voted 1,022 to 813 for a motion stating that Zionism is racism.newscord.org (opens in a new tab)
- Times of Israel reported“Polanski said he believed the displacement of Palestinian people was racist”Anti-Israel Greens’ chief Polanski loses UK parliamentary election to Labour candidate (opens in a new tab)
Show it in the article

What it gets right

“Green Party members backed a motion saying Zionism would be “treated as any other form of racism.””
It quotes the motion's own words rather than paraphrasing them, and it attributes the ban to Israel's foreign ministry.
“Israel’s government, which called it “a clear antisemitic text.””
The antisemitism charge is attributed to Israel's government inside quotation marks, not stated in the outlet's own voice.
“climate change, soaring rent prices and “justice for Palestinians.””
It gives the Greens' own account of the vote, including Palestinian justice, in their words.

UK Greens leader Polanski loses by-election amid Zionism row

Uses a loaded word

One side gets the space

What it gets right

How other outlets reported it

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