Greens choose Zack Polanski to fight Holborn and St Pancras byelection on climate and gas drilling
Zack Polanski will contest the Holborn and St Pancras byelection for the Green Party, putting climate politics and a North Sea gasfield at the centre
Zack Polanski will contest the Holborn and St Pancras byelection for the Green Party, putting climate politics and a North Sea gasfield at the centre of the race for one of London’s most watched seats.
The Green leader in England and Wales was selected on Friday to stand in the constituency, and he quickly cast the contest as a direct challenge to the government’s reported plan to approve new gas drilling in the North Sea. Strong words. Very local stakes.
Speaking to cheering party members after his candidacy was announced, Polanski said the climate crisis was already on the ballot in the seat and argued that voters there cared more about it than the national average.
Gasfield row lands on the doorstep
Polanski said the proposed Jackdaw gasfield had come up “on the doorstep” in the constituency. He described a vote for him as a vote against the government’s reported move to greenlight the field.
He said the issue was not abstract. It is personal, and immediate. Climate experts have recommended against allowing new drilling in the North Sea, but the prime minister, Andy Burnham, is widely expected to permit the project, according to the source material.
Extreme weather looms over campaign
Polanski also said he was considering building a personal stockpile ahead of the extreme weather forecast with the arrival of what was described as the biggest El Niño in 1,000 years, a phenomenon that can intensify floods and droughts.
The Green leader’s remarks suggest he intends to turn the byelection into a broader warning about climate risk, not just a local contest over representation. For Labour, which holds the seat in Westminster politics, that could make the campaign unusually sharp.
Holborn and St Pancras has become the latest flashpoint in Britain’s widening argument over energy security, climate commitments and how far governments should go in opening new fossil fuel projects. The campaign now moves into the next phase, with the gasfield dispute likely to shadow every argument on the doorstep.
