Zack Polanski hopes the contrast could not be more stark. As hundreds of suited-up lobbyists swirl around a convention centre in Liverpool for Labour’s conference, he is strolling up and down Bold Street, a short walk away, to hear what “real people” care about.
Donning his go-to olive anorak over a black tieless suit, the Green Party leader is pounding the pavement, making the case for disgruntled Labour voters to join his growing ranks.
“Keir Starmer has been complicit in the racist narrative in this country,” he told The Independent over coffee, setting out his stall. It came after Sir Keir and his cabinet went on the attack against Nigel Farage, branding Reform UK’s latest immigration policy as “racist”.
Explaining his claim, the firebrand left-winger, who was elected leader of the Greens this month with 85 per cent of member votes, said Sir Keir’s premiership has been “an unmitigated disaster” and paved the way for the rise of the populist right in Reform UK.
He said Sir Keir failed to challenge Reform through its rise in the polls over the past year, and “it has got to the point where Farage has created a public conversation about ending indefinite leave to remain (ILR)”.
He also pointed to the fact Sir Keir did not address the nation from Downing Street in the wake of Tommy Robinson’s Unite the Kingdom rally earlier this month, a demonstration which attracted around 150,000, saying it “demonstrates the utter vacancy of moral and ethical leadership”.
Mr Polanski’s appearance outside Labour’s conference comes on the party’s business day, which sees lobbyists and executives pay thousands of pounds for facetime with senior members of Sir Keir’s cabinet.
Asked what his pitch is to disgruntled Labour backers he hopes to win over, Mr Polanski said: “The Labour Party has sold you out to corporate capital.”
He pointed to the £55,000 package available for those attending the so-called business leaders’ summit at the conference, allowing business leaders to sponsor and introduce the session.
Mr Polanski said he had been asking members of the public about the slot, with the most common response being that they were “not surprised”.
The Green Party’s only vested interests are, by contrast, “people and the planet”, he said.
The Independent saw Mr Polanski approach several groups of voters, while some who recognised him flocked towards him.
In a separate interview with The Independent this month, Mr Polanski said he has spoken to multiple Labour MPs considering defecting to the Greens.
And in Liverpool on Monday, The Independent saw Mr Polanski approached by a sitting Labour councillor considering a defection himself.
The man, who asked not to be identified, took Mr Polanski’s email address and agreed to be in touch. He described the Labour Party under Sir Keir as “always hoping they will change, and they always let you down”.
One voter who met Mr Polanski said he had supported Labour in 2019 and the Conservatives at the last general election, but that he was leaning towards the Greens next.
Shakile, a former takeaway owner in Liverpool who is now a carer for his mother, said his main worry is the increasingly divisive political climate and the tensions being spurred on by campaigns such as the Operation Raise the Colours flag campaign.
He said Sir Keir is not doing enough to combat the rise of the far right and ease tensions, adding “you’ve got the power, you’ve got to tackle it”.
“Keir Starmer is afraid of Nigel Farage,” he added.
Mr Polanski’s main focus on Monday was talking to Labour backers disgruntled with Sir Keir’s leadership, and he said the message he took away was: “People aren’t leaving the Labour Party, the Labour Party has left them.
“I’m meeting so many voters who supported Labour and are now looking for an alternative, and even Labour members who are looking for an alternative.
“I want to show there is an alternative that is not the politics of hate and division.
“What Nigel Farage has done is rocket boost Reform’s poll ratings, and there is no reason that should not happen with the Green Party.”
Since Mr Polanski announced his leadership bid, the Green Party’s membership has grown by a third to pass 80,000.
He faces a challenge uniting the left-wing anti-Labour vote behind the Greens, however, with the rise of Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana’s Your Party. But the Greens have been boosted by the left-wing upstart party’s descent into infighting and chaos.
Mr Polanski said: “My door is totally still open to Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana, but my argument is still the same.
“If you want a party that is a socialist party with progressive values… the Green Party already exists.
“It doesn’t make any sense to me why people are creating alternative vehicles.”
