Zack Polanski, leader of the Green Party in England and Wales, has declared Britain's two-party system 'dead and buried' after his party secured its first two directly elected mayors and won outright control of four councils. Speaking at the Hackney count centre in east London, Polanski hailed the results as evidence of a political shift, stating: 'It is very clear that the new politics is the Green party versus Reform.'
The Greens won the mayoralty in Hackney, where Zoë Garbett defeated Labour with 35,720 votes to 26,865, ending Labour's 24-year hold on the position. Liam Shrivastava was elected mayor of Lewisham hours later. The party also took majority control of Hackney council for the first time since 2002, ousting Labour, and won outright majorities in Norwich, Hastings, and Waltham Forest from no overall control or Labour control.
With 127 of 136 councils declared by 11pm, the Greens gained 297 new council seats. In Hastings, the party added 10 seats while Labour lost seven of its nine councillors. Council leader Glenn Haffenden described the results as 'beyond our wildest dreams', attributing the success to the party's prudent financial management and Polanski's national messaging on the cost of living crisis.
However, Professor Tony Travers of the London School of Economics noted that the Greens' performance in London had not met expectations, with momentum appearing to 'fizzle out slightly'. Pollster Peter Kellner warned that the party faced the same first-past-the-post constraints as Reform, gaining votes but struggling to convert them into seats. 'They would be much better off doing really well in a handful of places,' he said.
In a symbolic blow to Labour, the party lost the seat of Camden council leader, whose borough includes Keir Starmer's Holborn and St Pancras constituency, to the Greens. Garbett promised the victories were 'just the beginning', framing the contest as 'a system of fear versus a movement of hope'.
