Zack Polanski has claimed Green Party electoral victories push Labour towards a more progressive governing agenda, as he called for controls to hold down the costs of rent across the country.
In his speech to the Green conference in Brighton on Friday, Mr Polanski claimed his party made a difference to Labour’s political outlook.
“Vote Green and watch Labour move,” he told members.
By-election bid
The Green leader is standing in the Holborn and St Pancras parliamentary by-election, with the aim of winning the seat previously held by ex-prime minister Sir Keir Starmer from Labour for the first time in its electoral history.
He told the conference: “A few weeks ago, we heard that the Government had delayed giving the green light to new oil and gas drilling at Rosebank and Jackdaw.
“Why? Because they’re worried about losing votes to the Greens.
“That makes me hopeful, because that is the difference our party makes: Vote Green and watch Labour move.”
He added: “Voting Green, between general elections, with our six or five MPs, is the most powerful vote you can make and here’s two reasons why.
“First: more Greens in elected positions. Making the change our neighbours, our communities, so desperately need.
“And second: at general elections, the Government changes. But between general elections we change the Government.”
Rent controls plan
Mr Polanski used his address to set out a new Green Party policy to control rises in private sector rents, modelled on the pensions triple lock.
He called for a “a three-year emergency brake on private rents”, adding: “No rent rises above CPI, wage growth or 2% – whichever is lower. No sudden hikes. No evictions under the guise of rent rises. No more uncertainty, no more fear.
“That emergency brake would give renters vital breathing space.”
“Let wages begin to catch up with the rents that have outstripped them for far too long.
“And in the long term, we’ll put in place a national fair rents guarantee to keep rents affordable for everyone, forever.”
Palestine Action call
Elsewhere in his speech, Mr Polanski called for Palestine Action to have its status as a banned terrorist organisation revoked.
He told the audience: “The sight of pensioners being put in handcuffs and bundled into police vans for holding up cardboard signs – that has been a stain and a shame on this country’s reputation for far too long.”
Chants of “Free, free Palestine” could be heard from some Green members in the hall, who were wearing Palestinian keffiyeh scarves around their necks or across their shoulders.
Mr Polanski was expected to leave the party conference after his speech to continue campaigning in the by-election.
Signs around the conference centre encouraged Green members to also leave Brighton to join the campaign, knocking on doors across the north London constituency.
