Zack Polanski’s popularity ratings have taken a major hit days before crucial local elections following a row with the chief of the Metropolitan Police over a post he shared about the Golders Green arrest.
New polling has shown the Green Party leader’s net approval rating has fallen 14 points in the wake of being publicly criticised by Sir Mark Rowley last week.
In a rare intervention, Sir Mark hit out at Mr Polanski for sharing an “inaccurate” post on X that accused officers detaining the Golders Green attack suspect of “repeatedly and violently kicking a mentally ill man in the head” when he was already incapacitated from being tasered.
He has faced criticism from within his own party, as well as from prime minister Sir Keir Starmer, who branded him “disgraceful” and “not fit to lead any political party”.
Mr Polanski apologised for the post on Friday, but days later said the commissioner’s move to publish an open letter was not “an appropriate way to do politics”, and added that the police should not be above scrutiny.
It appears the ordeal has prompted his popularity ratings to plummet, in bad news for the party leader days before the Greens are expected to make big gains at the local elections on Thursday.
Data from More in Common suggested Mr Polanski had dropped 14 points over the last week, to a net approval rating of minus 27, leaving him below Kemi Badenoch, Nigel Farage and Ed Davey.
Luke Tryl, the UK director at More in Common, said that while there was no doubt Mr Polanski was “inspiring” some voters, he had seen a significant drop this week.
“He fell 14 points in his net approval rating over the past week,” he said. “And from our focus group conversations, it seems like the Golders Green response, the subsequent retweet, apology, criticism from other political parties has very definitely cut through.”
He added that the Green Party’s image as a being associated with “politics for the good” may have been damaged by the ordeal.
He added: “I think that the association [of] some of the things which Green candidates have said about antisemitism, and perhaps Zack Polanski not being since being seen as robust enough on Golders Green, or reacting in and the way he did to the police, and the response from Starmer and others is making some people think twice.”
However, the Greens are still expected to be one of the big winners of this week as they head to the polls with “real momentum” – particularly in some London boroughs where they could wipe out Labour’s historic stronghold on the city.
Mr Tryl said: “If the Greens do well in the elections – which we expect them to along with Reform – it is normally the case that strong horse theory leads to people to changing their approval.”
Both Reform and the Greens are forecast to be the big winners at the polls this week, as opinion polling shows discontent with both Labour and the Conservatives growing.
The Greens are expected to do well in London and are in line to form a minority of councillors in six boroughs across the capital, possibly even taking outright control of Hackney. Mr Polanski’s party is also polling well in Hastings, which currently has no overall control, and is understood to be targeting the seat to take over.
