Zack Polanski launches Green Party local election campaign

Good morning. Thank you very much. It is amazing to be here in Deptford, and I just found out about half an hour ago this building used to actually be used to build kitchens, which means we've got a plumber, Hannah Spencer, at the back of the room. The jokes about changing the system write themselves, but I won't make them. It's been a remarkable moment for the Green Party.

We have tripled our membership, we've tripled our poll ratings, and so the question I know every journalist is going to be asking me today is what does success look like at these local elections. So, I want to address it right up front. In 2023, we had a record-breaking results as a Green Party. We got over 241 new councilors. Now, 2023 was an election where double the number of seats were in play than there are at this election.

Nevertheless, I am confident, but not complacent. In this election, we are going to beat 241 councilors, and we are heading for a new record-breaking result for the Green Party.

Now, I want to talk in a moment about why those local results and local campaigns are so important, but I want to spend a moment to zoom out to talk about what we've all seen on our TV screens and our phone screens both over the last few years, but in Lebanon in the last 24 hours. What is it going to take for this government to actually put robust sanctions on Israel? It is outrageous that Israel are still enjoying diplomatic and trade privileges from the international community. And as a Green Party, we are calling on this government to make much more robust sanctions, to withdraw the UK-Israel trade agreement, and to end the genocide.

And we know it's not just Lebanon. We also see this going on in Iran. And the Prime Minister is not being entirely truthful with us all, with the country. He keeps saying that we are not involved with this war, but we still have UK soil and UK bases where US bombers are flying over to Iran. And what we need to do is disentangle the UK military and the US military, ban the US from using our air bases, and do exactly what other European allies, like Pedro Sanchez in Spain, have done, and say this war is not in our name, and we want nothing to do with it.

BECAUSE THE FINAL THING I WANT TO NOTE ON THIS war is Reform's response to it, and Nigel Farage. On day one and day two, calling for us to get even more involved with the war, which it would not just be a humanitarian disaster, but for people in this country, we know that would mean higher bills. We're already seeing sky-high bills, we're seeing rising rents, and we're going to see increasing energy shocks and prices that are already coming down the track. And so, I can understand why people are looking for an alternative to the Labour government, but we know Reform are not that alternative. And why are people looking for an alternative?

Well, we had 14 years of Conservative austerity, and then we elected a Labour government 2 years ago that promised change. I don't know about you, but I've not seen much change. In fact, what we have seen is a toxic combination of chaos and cowardice. A government that has no plans, no vision, and no real change. A government that has not just been complicit in genocide, a government that has watered down its promises on workers' rights, and a government that brought Peter Mandelson into the very heart of its administration.

And the reason why I talk about all of this now is because it's the rot, the hypocrisy, the cynicism we see in government that has filtered down to Labour-run councils. And there is no better demonstration of that when we look at the situation around housing and Labour councils, and that's what I want to focus in on for the next few moments. Let's start with the fact that we had a government that promised to ban Section 21 evictions. This is no-fault evictions. But while they dithered and delayed for ages about doing it, Labour councils were still using loopholes to evict their own tenants around Section 21, including in Lambeth next door, where they were still proclaiming themselves to be the party of renters.

Yet, they were investigated for maladministration. Uh essential repairs weren't being carried out. There were people living with no heating, no hot water, while they were still claiming to be the party of renters. And then we've got Hackney, very similar situation. We heard a story of an older woman living for 7 weeks.

You heard me right, 7 weeks without hot water and without heating. And so, for a party to hire vans when they're the party of government, what are they doing hiring vans and pointing and criticizing? Actually, they should be delivering the promise and the change they were elected on. Now, we know they're not going to do that.

We know they're not going to do that. But we know it's also not enough just to criticize them. People are so tired and so sick of a broken political system that far too often has sold itself out to oil and gas companies, arms trade companies, gambling companies, and property developers. We'll get onto those in a moment. And instead, what we need is an alternative.

And I know there are many Green Party members in this room, in fact, candidates. You might have heard of a constituency called Gorton and Denton.

AND EVEN STILL LOOKING AT HANNAH, I STILL feel emotional about what Hannah pulled off, what Gorton and Denton pulled off, but frankly, what the entire country pulled off in that moment. Because we took on Reform and the billionaire donors, and we now have Hannah Spencer MP.

AND HANNAH, IN JUST WEEK one of being an MP, set up an APPG. This is an all-party parliamentary group on fuel poverty. And the reason why this matters, if what is whether it's at the national level with our peers and our MPs, whether it's in the London Assembly, or whether it's in councils right across the country, you can see the difference when you get elected Greens. They work hard in their community, and they only have two vested interests, to protect people in the local community, and to protect the planet. So, let's look at some examples.

Lewes. In Lewes, Greens have built hundreds of council homes over the last 4 years, and there are still in the pipeline. And the key here is it's not just about quantity, the quality of the homes, too. They have set up a future home standard to make sure that every home that is built is affordable, accessible. That's really key.

Disabled people far too often are kept out of the conversation about housing, rather than being at it at the very beginning, that it's co-designed and co-produced with the people who need it, and also that those homes are sustainable and good for the planet. And then we've got Bristol. Bristol, a place that has built more affordable homes in the last few years, uh breaking records with that. This is despite the fact, by the way, Bristol has a 43 million pound budget shortfall. Now, this is outrageous that we have a Labour government that was voted in on a promise of change and are still forcing austerity on local councils.

They say there's no money left, but we live in the sixth wealthiest economy in the world. 50 of the wealthiest families in this country own more wealth than the bottom 50% of the the country. That's 50 families versus 34 million people. There is plenty of money and wealth in this country, and we need to see that wealth where it belongs, in our communities, in our council chambers, so that it can be spent on the communities who are desperate for change.

And so, we know this change is so desperately needed, and we are definitely not going to get it from Labour councils or a Labour government. I talked about rot in housing. Let's look at the very top. Steve Reed, the housing secretary. He just charged 2,000 pound a pop to property developers to have a curry with him.

Now, I don't think I'm being naive. The curry better have been nice, because that money is not worth Steve Reed.

But we know property developers were not spending 2,000 pounds to have a nice chat. They were spending it to make sure that the MPs and the ministers and the secretaries who make the decisions, they're in their ear. That is totally unacceptable. And it makes sense why we've seen far too often labor councils destroy communities, destroy homes that people actually live in, and instead build unaffordable buildings that are empty, that are then sold off to foreign investors. It is outrageous and it is time for change.

And that change is coming in 28 days time. Because the battle lines are drawn. This election is between the Green Party and the Reform Party. It is a straight-up battle between hope and hate. Reform, the party of war, the party of high bills, the party of corporate backers.

Versus the Green Party, the party of hope, hope with a plan, and that plan starts with the homes that people need. I want to rewind to last night. Uh so yesterday, as you'd expect, I was getting ready for the launch today where I'm giving this speech and then lots of interviews. But there's a party in Kent, in Cliftonville, that had a huge council election today. It's the Green Party versus Reform.

Now, the Greens came fourth in this election last time, and it's a place that if you looked on it on paper, should be solid Nigel Farage territory. Farage is there. It should have been a Reform heartland. But I spoke to the local party and they've told me it is on a knife edge. Now, it would be foolish of me here to come and make any predictions, but even a second place in Cliftonville would be a pretty incredible result.

But I turned up last night. I got a train. It took about three or four hours. We should do something about the state of trains in this country. Side note.

Right.

And when I arrived, there were 400 people on the beach. 400 people for a rally that had been organized with less than 24 hours notice for a council election uh in Margate. And I think the reason why that's happening is people are rejecting the old party politics of labor and conservative, but they can see the divisive, the toxicity, and the awful politics that Reform Party are trying to bring to this country in our councils. And we as a Green Party are the last stand against that. We can reject the hate of Reform, and instead we can bring in a politics that actually benefits people's lives, that improves their living standards, lowers bills, and redistributes power and wealth from the super wealthy into our communities.

So this is it, folks. 28 days to do everything we can. Every door we knock on, every leaflet we deliver, every social media video we push out. You'll notice that the polls say that under 65s, we are polling first place. That's a remarkable stat.

Under 65s, we are polling first place across the country. The reason why I'm highlighting it though might sound quite odd, cuz every time I say this, I always get lots of messages from people who are over 65, in their 70s, 80s, and 90s who go, "Please do not forget about us." Yes, the Green Party is having this amazing moment across the country, particularly I was going to say younger people. As a 43-year-old, I don't know if I count as younger. Um and 50s and 60s, so it's not just young people, but also to recognize the people in this party who have stood by the Green Party for decades before it was cool. And I want to thank you for everything.

It's always been cool. Thank you.

I want to thank you for everything that you've done to keep the party moving because we are in this incredible moment that I think we're really seeing this fusion between people who've been in this party a long time and the new energy. An energy that is built on environmental, social, racial, and economic justice, and an energy that is ready to have a record-breaking election. Thank you.