Green Party officials confirmed that the party considered delaying its annual conference to direct resources towards securing a parliamentary seat for leader Zack Polanski.
Polanski is contesting the Holborn and St Pancras by-election, which was triggered by the resignation of former Labour prime minister Sir Keir Starmer in early September. The vote is scheduled for October 8 and is widely seen as a head-to-head contest between Polanski and Labour candidate Sagal Abdi-Wali, the leader of Camden Council.
Conference postponement was one option
Green Party figures confirmed that postponing the conference was only one possible option considered during discussions. A party spokesperson said the Greens were exploring different ways to allocate their resources effectively while campaigning in Holborn and St Pancras.
The spokesperson said the party remained committed to running an ambitious by-election campaign and holding its biggest-ever conference. The event is scheduled to take place from October 2 to October 4 in Brighton.
Thousands of Green Party members are expected to attend after the party’s performance and membership grew over the previous 12 months. The conference is taking place just over a year after Polanski assumed the Green Party leadership.
By-election seen as test for Labour
A victory for Polanski would increase the Green Party’s total number of MPs to six. The party previously won a by-election in Gorton and Denton in 2026.
Labour sources told The Independent that the Holborn and St Pancras by-election is being used as a test run for Andy Burnham to decide whether to call an early general election.
Labour strategists around Burnham told the newspaper that Polanski’s candidacy would test whether the change of leadership had ended the Greens’ rising threat to Labour. A Labour source also said Starmer’s former seat and Polanski’s candidacy gave the prime minister an opportunity to assess whether that threat had disappeared after the change of Labour leader.
The Labour Party remains concerned about the Green Party’s performance in Gorton and Denton, where Green candidate Hannah Spencer finished third behind Reform earlier in 2026. A Labour source told The Independent that some people were returning to Labour after previously moving from Labour to the Greens.
Source: The Independent UK
