Green Party leader Zack Polanski has received a Hanukkah present already — in the form of pro-Green polls and defections. What better way to celebrate the Jewish holiday than:

• Councillors and a prominent ex Labour MP defecting to the Greens
• Greens being the main contender to Reform in the polls, rising higher than ever
• Party projected to take major Labour seats
• A high net favourability for Polanski compared to other politicians

Defections

Former Brighton Kemptown MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle defected to the Greens on 20 November. He said:

For almost ten years I worked alongside Caroline [Lucas] as the MP next door. My old party has left behind millions of people who want hope and want to see change in their lives, their communities and the world around them. In the Greens I see a party that is offering that. In the Greens I see a party I have worked with for years and I am making the jump to join them today. I urge others to do so too.

Russell-Moyle was removed as a Labour candidate in the 2024 election because of a complaint he described as “vexatious and politically motivated”. His deselection coincided with Keir Starmer’s purge of left-wing candidates including inequality economist Faiza Shaheen. The complaint about Russell-Moyle was later dropped.

Six councillors across England and Wales have also defected to the Greens. Swindon Borough Council’s Tom Butcher and Repi Begum both defected, with Polanski saying:

Swindon is a political bellwether, and what we’re seeing here is happening across the country

In Newcastle, councillor Alistair Chisholm also quit and joined the Greens. In Bristol, councillor Alsayed Al-Magrabi defected, bringing the Greens one short of a majority on the Bristol council.

On top of that, two councillors in Wales defected to the Greens. They are both high profile and former leaders: Robert James of Carmarthenshire and Sean Morgan of Caerphilly.

Most of the defections came about because of disillusionment with Labour’s neoliberal direction and its complicity “in genocide”, in the words of Morgan.

Zack Polanski—Highest-ever polling

The Greens have continued to rise in the polls and they are above Labour across pollsters. A 19 November poll from Find Out Now has the Greens on 18% and Labour on 16%. Although Reform still leads on 32%. Another consistency in the polling is that the sell-out Lib Dems are well below at around 11%.

Taking high-profile Labour seats

The gifts keep on coming for Polanski and the Greens. An estimated result in former foreign and current justice secretary David Lammy’s seat projects a Green win. In Tottenham, the Greens are projected to take 34% with Labour in second on 33%.

Further, Russell-Moyle is estimated to reclaim his Brighton Kemptown seat as a Green. At an 18% swing, Russell-Moyle is projected to win on 36% of the vote, with Labour trailing on 25%.

Promising for the Greens: favourability for Zack Polanski

Polanski is enjoying the highest net favourability of any party leader at -2, although he currently does not have the name-recognition of the others. Meanwhile, Starmer has the lowest rating on -54.

Also troubling for the governing party is that, among 2024 Labour voters, 35% have a favourable opinion of Polanski, compared to 11% who don’t. With those voters, that’s a higher net favourability than Jeremy Corbyn, Rachel Reeves, Starmer, Ed Davey and Nigel Farage.

Will Polanski prove to be another historic left-wing Jewish figure? While he certainly doesn’t have the academic credentials of people like Noam Chomsky and Karl Marx (both born to Jewish parents), perhaps that’s not what it takes to succeed in politics, as long as you bring in expert critics in for policy development.

What’s certain is Hanukkah has come early for Polanski.

By James Wright

This post was originally published on Canary.